Peoria Station

Changes are coming... Houston, Texas-based BioUrja Group has agreed to purchase Archer Daniels Midland Co's Peoria dry corn mill. Approximately 150 employees are affected.  ADM's plant began life as a Hiram Walker & Sons, Inc. distillery, which opened in 1934. It was sold to ADM in 1980 as Hiram Walker transitioned to a smaller blending facility at Fort Smith, Arkansas. ADM began ethanol production at its Peoria plant in 1981. ADM's plant complex is served by the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad (both Alcohol Tracks and Riverside Track) and by the Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway and Union Pacific Railroad, which access the South Yard on the Riverside Track. The latter carrier has rarely done this in recent years, however.  - David P. Jordan

I overlooked this one, which was announced September 28 .  Frontier Airlines is offering nonstop service to Tampa International Airport in Florida beginning December 17. Flights will be operating Mondays and Fridays.  Interestingly, this new service appears to be offered year-round. Flights shift to a thrice-weekly Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday pattern beginning Thursday, April 28, 2022. Tampa flights are shown through November 15.  I can't tell whether service will be offered by Airbus A-319 or A-320 aircraft, but it will one or the other (or both).  - David P. Jordan

Time for more Q&A.  If I don't have an answer, I'll find one.  (Bear with me on answers...I no longer receive email notifications. I'll try to look for questions as often as I can so I can respond in a timely manner.) - David P. Jordan

  Early Friday evening, I happened upon a Tazewell & Peoria Railroad switch engine (TZPR 1352) pulling eight tank cars along Wesley Road on the double track Pekin mainline. The tank cars displayed no haz-mat placards. Some had Cargill (CRGX) reporting marks. I quickly realized a yard crew was about to deliver them to Gavilon Fertilizer's nearby facility.  The video above shows most switching moves. In summary, the crew first pulled a tank car already on spot and set it over to another tracks (NOTE: there are three parallel tracks on the plant's south side, and one on the east side). Then, they spotted the eight tank cars, four on each of two tracks. The crew then returned to the East Peoria Yard.  Note at the 9:18 mark, 1352 struggles to gain speed up the steep incline. They first tried to move four tank cars, then three. After the conductor made a cut for the first two, 1352 could pull.  The tank cars contained soybean oil, which moves to Peoria periodically on ...

  Allegiant Air will offer nonstop service to Fort Lauderdale, Florida beginning December 15. Technically, service is a resumption of a route suspended 13 years ago. Allegiant Air previously offered such service from December 13, 2007 until late-May 2008.  The revived flights will be on Wednesdays and Saturdays to start. A look at the airline's website shows that this shifts to Thursdays and Sundays starting January 6 and 9, respectively until February 10 and 13. Wednesday and Saturday flights resume February 16 and 19, continuing through May 11 and 14.  Discounting the brief Rapid City flights offered this month (which could return annually), Fort Lauderdale gives Peoria a tenth nonstop destination on Allegiant Air. As several of these are seasonal, not all ten will be offered at once, though this could change as demand increases.  I should also note that with new route announcements by Allegiant Air include nonstop service between Springfield and Phoenix (Mesa) beg...

The politicians are jumping on the passenger rail bandwagon again . PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Peoria representatives are once again trying to bring the downtown train to Peoria. State leaders said, for too long, the city has been left behind when it comes to passenger rail. (I'm scratching my head on the term "downtown train." Never heard of one.) What stood out for me in this article was how much Ray LaHood has changed his tune since his days in the U. S. Congress.  When you look at a map of Illinois there’s no reason why Peoria does not have rail service,” Ray LaHood, former Illinois congressman and U.S. Transportation Secretary said. “It’s the second-largest metropolitan area in Illinois. Remember back in 2007 how LaHood suggested to WCBU radio that Amtrak would never come here again and that bus connections to passenger services at Galesburg and Normal were satisfactory? His history is fuzzy as well... LaHood said it’s probably been about 50 years since the last time pas...

  It is time for my annual update on local airline service.  Normally, a summer month, usually July, is best for this update. I nearly skipped this annual exercise for 2020 due to unfortunate events, but after some clearer thinking, I chose one week in December for analysis. So in a bid to return to normalcy for 2021, I again chose July for the update. Save for the loss of Delta Connection service a year ago, July 2021 is the closest to normal as possible. Lets first look at changes by carrier -  ALLEGIANT AIR Peoria's Low Cost Carrier keeps expanding service options. Last year, it went ahead with Nashville nonstops, despite all of the "pandemic" panic and lockdowns. In 2021, it added (or will add) no fewer than three more nonstop destinations - Sarasota/Bradenton, Denver and Rapid City. As a result PIA will briefly offer ten nonstop destinations on Allegiant Air.  I think it is appropriate to review the carrier's history with Peoria. First, here are inaugural d...