Peoria Station

It is time for my annual update on local airline service.  A summer month is best for this update. I used July for 2023's update, and I have every reason to do so again this year. Barring last minute changes, the schedules and route map below are accurate. So let us delve into the present situation.  ALLEGIANT AIR Like last year, schedules for July 2024 show most flights operated with Airbus A320 equipment. They do not discern between 177-seat A320s or brand-new 186-seat A320SEOs. Smaller A319s, configured for 156 seats, are now only used on Las Vegas flights. Subsititutions happen and due to complexity with Allegiant Air schedules, the equipment shown below may be at times oversimplified.  Seasonal nonstops to Destin/Fort Walton Beach and year-round nonstops to Phoenix-Mesa have gained one weekly roundtrip each as compared to last year. So there are now 25 weekly departures this month versus 23 in July 2023.  Deliveries of 50 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft was to start in ...

The crew was switching out one of the locomotives when I swung by Adams Street Yard this afternoon, and it wasn't until well after 4:00pm that it departed.  I believe a work train was somewhere up north, so MPECL initially received a track warrant to Pottstown and Pioneer.  CAPTION: Union Pacific MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) rolls by W. Farmington Road shortly after departing Adams Street Yard in Peoria, Illinois on a soggy late-afternoon Friday, June 28, 2024. UP 5767 has 54 cars. - David P. Jordan

Hearing an SD38-2 rattle by me is a good sound. I hope 151 and 153 continue to roam the Iowa Interstate for a long time.  CAPTION: Iowa Interstate manifest SIPE (Silvis IL to Peoria IL) is shown at six locations along the Peoria Subdivision late-afternoon and early-evening Thursday, June 27, 2024. IAIS 153 and IAIS 518 have 45 cars (42 loads/three empties). Locations are Putnam, Henry, south of Henry, Sparland, Rome and San Koty, Illinois.   - David P. Jordan

When I swung by Adams Street Yard Tuesday afternoon, I could not confirm yet that a crew was aboard Union Pacific's MPECL. So I parked off Krause Ave. and waited. But BNSF had brought in an X-SMRPEI empty feed pellet train for Decatur (via Canadian National) and the crew radioed the dispatcher shortly after I arrived.  CAPTION: BNSF Railway train X-SMRPEI (Grain Empties, Summerfield TX to Peoria IL) has just entered the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad at S. Darst Street in Peoria, Illinois mid-afternoon Tuesday, June 25, 2024. BNSF 6952 and BNSF 6614 were on the point. Gluten feed empties will move via Canadian National to ADM at Decatur, Illinois.   After grabbing video of the BNSF feed empties, the Union Pacific crew asked the dispatcher for instructions. A work train was moving north, so MPECL was given a track warrant to Pioneer in the interim. Tuesday's train was unusually short. The third unit, however, makes me think Monday's MCLPE must have been a big train.  CAPT...

One of the few things left to draw fans to the Peoria railscene is a switching and terminal line which rosters end cab switchers. The Tazewell & Peoria Railroad put two of its own and one from sister Illinois & Midland Railroad on the point of an Iowa Interstate unit potash train this morning for the trip across the river and then down to Mosaic Crop Nutrition.  I didn't stick around to see it, but I know the units returned to East Peoria engine lite.  CAPTION: A Tazewell & Peoria Railroad unit potash train rolls by Mendenhall Road just south of Bartonville, Illinois shortly after entering the Union Pacific's Peoria Subdivision to reach Mosaic Crop Nutrition midday Saturday, June 22, 2024. TZPR 1351, IMRR 43 and TZPR 1521 were on the point. Train arrived the area as the Iowa Interstate Railroad's DAVPE (Davenport IA to Peoria IL).   David P. Jordan

It has been hot all week, which makes railfanning a bit uncomfortable. Fortunately, Union Pacific's MPECL departed around 1530 hours this afternoon, which minimized waiting in the heat and humidity.  CAPTION: Union Pacific train MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) rolls by W. Farmington Road shortly after departing Peoria, Illinois mid-afternoon Friday, June 21, 2024. UP 5767 and UP 7113 have 58 cars. Note the first 12 are empty ballast cars stored at Adams Street Yard since March.   - David P. Jordan

Last week was a dud for catching Union Pacific's MPECL trains. Both days, it ran late and I wasn't going to wait around not knowing if and when a crew was called. Despite MCLPE's late arrival on Monday, MPECL departed Peoria around the usual time (4:00pm).  Tuesday's train had a typical consist, including those wheel shipments in boxcars from the KJRY. It is always good to see boxcars on any merchandise train, especially blocked right behind the locomotives! CAPTION: Union Pacific train MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) rolls by W. Farmington Road late afternoon Tuesday, June 18, 2024. UP 5767 and UP 7113 have 47 cars.   As I waited just off Krause Avenue on Peoria's south side for Union Pacific's MPECL to receive dispatcher's instructions, a pair of BNSF units rolled by me engine lite, heading west toward homes rails at S. Darst Street. I assumed the crew had just dropped off an empty feed pellet train (X-SMRPEI) for Canadian National on the Tazewe...