Peoria Station

  Late this morning, Canadian National Railway local L557 left Wesley with 58 cars. Besides the unusually long train, lone IC 1034 was on the point! More than 20 years after CN absorbed the Illinois Central Railroad (October 1, 2000), that carrier's units remain operational in their original paint! Video shows it crawling along the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad double track as it approaches Pekin, Illinois and snakes through the downtown area. The train then races across 5th Street near South Pekin (where it picked up 25 grain empties). The final scene showns the now 83-car train is at Worner Road near Green Valley. The block of 26 empty plastics covered hoppers was a little unusual. A sprinkling of eight empty gondolas tells me CN is still handling scrap metal to TZPR for delivery to Liberty Steel & Wire Co. - David P. Jordan

  Allegiant Air is adding two new destinations from Peoria! Nonstops to Sarasota/Bradenton, Florida begins May 27, and will be offered Thursdays and Sundays through at least August. Denver nonstops will begin May 28, and will be offered Mondays and Fridays through at least August. (Flights for both are only bookable through August 2021, but service may last longer based on demand.) Schedules can be found at allegiantair.com  Interestingly, I posted this article in August 2019 speculating that Sarasota flights for Peoria were a possibility.  - David P. Jordan

  I tried something different this morning.  Norfolk Southern Railway local D49 is shown leaving the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard, passing both BNSF's M-GALPEI (which had just arrived from Galesburg) and a TZPR 1521, working a yard job. Later, it is shown climbing the hill at N. Main Street outside Morton. I shot it here specifically for the "Winter Wonderland" scenery. NS 9814-9554 have just nine cars. Train lengths do vary quite a bit from day to day. This train operates Monday through Friday. It goes on duty at 0600 hours at Good Yard, classifies the inbound local from Decatur (D32), switches local customers and makes the run to East Peoria and return. On weekends, usually on Sunday afternoon, an extra local (D47) makes the East Peoria run.  - David P. Jordan

Although events of 2020 were sad (and arguably unnecessary), I decided to do my annual analysis of airline service at the Peoria International Airport.  Normally, I pick June or July for this annual post. With the year nearly concluded, I decided that the week of December 13-19 was best for this analysis. There were even a few surprises, mostly related to the expected surge in holiday traffic. Changes by each carrier serving Peoria in 2020 are detailed below.   ALLEGIANT AIR In mid-January, this Las Vegas-based carrier announced seasonal, twice-weekly nonstops to Nashville, Tennessee would start June 4. Given subsequent events, it is surprising Allegiant Air went ahead and started the new route!  Load factors must have been more than satisfactory. Service was slated to end in November, but it apparently got extended into December.  Recently, the season was extended yet again from December 19 through January 2. I couldn't find schedules for December 19, so I'm un...

  Delta Connection's suspension of service to Peoria is officially "permanent."  WMBD TV-31 posted the news on its website this morning. In May, the airline petitioned the Department of Transportation to temporarily suspend service. This was a requirement after receiving aid through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The suspension took effect July 6, per comment by the adminstrator of the airport's Facebook page. Service had been cut to a single Peoria-Atlanta roundtrip on weekdays. Airline traffic at Peoria Int'l Airport dropped 96 percent in April. The sting of this loss is especially aggravating given the record tally for 2019 (689,416 passengers) and record numbers in both January and February 2020. Although I haven't yet found numbers for this year, it has been reported that traffic in 2020 hasn't been this slow since 1973 (the year an Ozark Air Lines strike suspended all passenger flights for 77 days. Less than 250,000 ...

I usually detail local commercial aviation happenings mid-year. But this year's happenings were too sad. Virus hype and self-inflicted economic destruction have devastated Peoria Int'l Airport's airline service and passenger numbers. And yet, there is some good news.  The Peoria Journal Star reported Monday that Allegiant Air is extending its Peoria-Nashville route beyond November. Flights operating Wednesdays and Saturdays will now also operate from December 19 to January 2. Airport officials hope service will return in the spring or summer.   - David P. Jordan

 I caught two local train movements today. First, was Iowa Interstate train PESI (Manifest, Peoria IL to Silvis IL). it was leaving East Peoria as soon as I drove by Wesley. I followed it through downtown Peoria and shot video as rolle through the San Koty area. IAIS 514-516-715 have 70 cars. All were empties except for two alcohol loads. The other tank car might have been a tallow empty going back to Council Bluffs, Iowa.    Second was Canadian National Railway local L557 (E. Peoria IL to Decatur IL). CN 5633 was parked on the Creve Coeur Team Track when PESI departed. When I returned, it was on the point of a 31-car freight on one of the Long Tracks. It departed a short time later. Video was taken at Hilliards. CN seems to be getting regular scrap metal business, probably loads for Liberty Steel & Wire. One of the empties on today's L557 displayed GSSX markings, which belong to Alter Metal Processing. CN serves Alter scrap facilities at Green Bay and Wapauca, Wiscon...