Peoria Station

  Delta Connection is resuming nonstops to the Motor City from CIRA. Officials made the annnouncement September 22 that daily service resumes October 11, 2020.  Flights from Detroit Metropolitan Airport will arrive at 4:17pm and leave at 5:10pm. Earlier service had been dropped in July 2016.  Rivian Automotive was influential in the deal. According to this WGLT article , the Detroit, Michigan-based automaker plans to use between 50 and 150 seats per week.  Carl Olson, airport director, said a deal to resume Detroit service had been made back in February but startup was delayed by COVID-19.  - David P. Jordan

  Norfolk Southern's Sunday extra local, probably D47, arrives and departs East Peoria, Illinois Sunday mid-afternoon and early evening, respectively, September 13, 2020. NS 5315 and NS 6964 led 28 cars into the Tazewell & Peoria RR's East Peoria Yard. Later, NS 6964 and NS 5315 are shown at Farmdale with 45 cars. Norfolk Southern Railway's weekday E. Peoria (IL) turn, D49, rolls under TP&W's famed Farmdale Trestle on its return to leg to Good Yard in Normal, Illinois at mid-day Thursday, September 17, 2020. NS 6964 and NS 6948 have 38 cars. Norfolk Southern Railway local D49 rolls through Deer Creek, Illinois at mid-day Friday, September 18, 2020 on its return trip to Good Yard in Normal. NS 7032 and NS 6976 have 34 cars. Note the empty autorack tucked behind three Komatsu truck chassis loads.  - David P. Jordan

  Peoria International Airport is getting $1.1 million for runway improvements and airline apron expansion. WEEK TV-25's website posted this story on its website on Wednesday .  The funds will be used to strengthen 5,650 feet of Runway 4-22, which is 8,004 feet in length. The improvement is needed for continued use by heavier aircraft. Subsurface conditions are causing deterioration of this runway, and part of the funds will be used to investigate this issue. Funds will also be used to design a much-needed airline apron expansion. Before coronavirus lockdowns, which crashed local passenger traffic starting in March, some carriers were using bigger planes, which limited parking space at the terminal. The apron expansion will increase the apron's size to allow for more and larger planes in the 76- to 90-seat class.  - David P. Jordan

Union Pacific couldn't run MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) Friday, July 17, 2020 because a crew was unavailable. So the train ran Saturday.  I'm glad for two reasons: (1) I could see it and (2) it dropped an electric transformer load at Akron Services.   The crew used UP 5517 and UP 5870 to assemble its 67-car train, but had orders to deliver the latter to the Illinois & Midland Railroad at Crescent (Powerton) near Pekin. So before departure north, actually made the delivery. This consumed at least three hours.  I missed MPECL's departure, but knew I could beat it to a location north of town. The first scene is at Legion Hall Road, east of Dunlap. I made it to Akron in time to record MPECL dropping the transformer load and two buffer cars. Edwards Moving & Rigging of Shelbyville, Kentucky is handling unloading and trucking to final destination. Buffer car markings tell me the transformer came from Canadian National origins.  ...

Early Sunday afternoon, I found a Norfolk Southern freight train in the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard readying for departure back to Good Yard in Normal. The Komatsu truck chassis and four Caterpillar tractor loads were a nice treat! Komatsu loads have appear regularly on weekday local (D49) in recent weeks. I saw three on July 2's train, and two on July 9. Notably absent are Caterpillar tractor loads. Norfolk Southern handles these out of East Peoria on occasion, but I rarely catch them. Until Sunday, July 12. Extra local D47 had four loads - three D11s and a D9. This traffic is for export via three ports - Baltimore, MD (Dundalk Marine Terminal), Portsmouth, VA (Portsmouth Marine Terminal) and Savannah, GA (Ocean Terminal - Georgia Ports Authority). As states reopen and economic activity returns, truck rates have risen. So it is logical to assume that Caterpillar has begun to shift some export shipments back to rail. Increased orders are also a likely...

Delta Connection's last flight into Peoria will be on July 6.  That's according to an administrator's comment on Peoria Int'l Airport's flypia Facebook page.  Present schedules show a single, weekday nonstop roundtrip between Peoria and Atlanta. Arrival (Flight #4832) is at 2:45pm and departure (Flight #4647) at 3:35pm. Flights are operated by a 50-seat CRJ200 belonging to Endeavor Air.  Another administrator's comment on PIA's Facebook page hopes the carrier returns in October.  - David P. Jordan

Tuesday, June 23, 2020, offered me an opportunity to watch Canadian National Railway local L557 (E. Peoria IL to Decatur IL) switching two customers at Pekin, Illinois' Riverway Business Park. I found the train pausing along Route 29, which enabled me to wait off of N. 3rd Street in downtown Pekin for its passage. CN 5735 and KCS 5019 had departed the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard with 34 cars.  The train stopped at the siding near Derby Street to twelve cars - two lumber loads for Amerhart Ltd., a coil steel load for Hanna Steel Corp., and nine grain empties. Switching operations begin at the 7:11 mark. Final scene shows the now 43-car train at Fifth Street near South Pekin, where the nine grain empties will be setout. Back in April, Canadian National implemented a new schedule for its local trains here. Northbound L556 runs from Decatur to E. Peoria Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Southbound L557 runs Tuesday and Thursday. Friday's L556 ...