Peoria Station

I found 2024 passenger stats for Bloomington-Normal's Central Illinois Regional Airport! Radio station WGLT 89.1 FM posted a story May 27 with lots of good detail. Last year, CIRA recorded 165,701 enplanements and 163,947 deplanements for a total of 329,648. In 2023, these figures were 167,597 and 167,291, respectively, for a total of 334,888. So CIRA saw only a slight decline in traffic last year. One wonders, though, if continued commercial airline operations are sustainable. CIRA has never recovered after losing AirTran Airways in 2012. Southwest Airlines, which acquired AirTran, decided that CIRA did not fit into its plans. Capacity was cut and low-fare connections via an Atlanta hub ended.  What CIRA has going for it is Delta Connection nonstops to Atlanta, two roundtrips daily, on 76-seat CRJ900 equipment operated by SkyWest Airlines. This service draws travelers from through the Central Illinois region, including Peoria. Moline/Quad Cities is the only other Illinois facilit...

PIA is still on a role. WMBD Radio 1470 posted an article late this morning , detailing the great success Peoria International Airport has had in recent months. It handled 72,774 passengers in May 2025 and 78,892 in June. The latter is 20 percent higher than the same month in 2024! All airlines have added capacity - Allegiant Air by 10 percent, American Eagle by 20 and United Express by 67. Additional capacity and new service (Denver) reflects surging demand. Pricing is likely more reasonable, i. e. the airlines are not discouraging passengers from using small airports like PIA.  Director of Airports, Gene Olson, said the facility is attracting passengers from outside the Peoria region. I would interpret that as Bloomington-Normal, Champaign-Urbana, Decatur and Springfield metro areas. As scheduled commercial airline service at those cities is quite limited these days, Peoria is benefitting from travelers who will drive some distance, but avoid Chicago or St. Louis if they can....

This is the third Tuesday in a row that Norfolk Southern's D49 local has left East Peoria around 1600 hours. They don't seem to be coming up on Mondays anymore, and a second run is made on Thursdays or Fridays. At least the accummulation of traffic makes for nice-sized trains heading back to Good Yard in Normal.   This afternoon's train had three Caterpillar D11 tractor loads. I could only glance as they passed, but I believe the information card on the tractors said South Africa. There were more of those empty Primient (Tate & Lyle, STSX) corn syrup tank cars.  CAPTION: Norfolk Southern Railway train D49 (Normal IL to E. Peoria IL turn) departs East Peoria, Illinois mid-afternoon Tuesday, July 22, 2025. Later, it is see rolling by the TP&W crossing at Crandall Junction. NS 7021 and NS 6923 have NS 3067 (from Des Moines) and 51 cars (40 loads/11 empties). Note three Caterpillar D11 track-type tractor loads.   - David P. Jordan

I missed M-GALPEI's arrival but after my routine visit to the downtown library, I returned to East Peoria to check on M-PEIGAL with the assumption it would run in the evening.   Sure enough, the crew was putting together its train but re-crewed before departure. Highlights on today's train include one more of those Dash 9-44CW Norfolk Southern sold to Relco (Albia, Iowa), four Caterpillar D9 track-type tractor loads and the three iron oxide loads TP&W delivered to TZPR on Sunday.  CAPTION: BNSF Railway train M-PEIGAL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Galesburg IL) comes off the "New Horn" after crossing the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Illinois River Bridge early evening Monday, July 21, 2025. BNSF 7475 and NS 1078 have ex-NS 3946 (sold to Relco) and 28 cars. The three BNSF steel hoppers mid-train contain iron oxide, and were delivered to TZPR by TP&W on Sunday.   - David P. Jordan

I happened to see the train on the TP&W "Peoria Sub" (West Main) preparing for departure, so I waited near W. Washington Street. Sure enough, the crew asked for permission to deliver to the "hump." I decided to return home to change clothes and get something to eat, and when I returned to East Peoria, I caught the tail end of the return trip, which had grabbed those 25 cars off the Nickel Plate from yesterday.    I missed this move, expecting it to take longer. Hopefully, it will become a regular deal. I can confirm that the 25 cars were loaded at Western Grain Marketing's Atterberry elevator, and pulled Friday. That TP&W grabbed them and took them to its home terminal in East Peoria tells me they will head east soon on the "M-train" with a Gilman destination.   Most likely, the cars contain soybeans for Incobrasa Industries. WGM-Atterberry is likely to send corn to Alto Pekin. If not trucked (or shipped by rail) to the Peoria-Pekin area fo...

My last "Ask Peoria Station" was posted March 30, 2024.  So I guess it is way past time to do another. As always, If I don't know an answer off hand, I'll find one. But what I really wanted to write here is an update on my "PIA - A History" series. I haven't posted one in a long time.  December 28, 2022 to be exact. Events of the year 2002 were covered. I lack complete airline schedules for specific a month in 2003, and obtaining them is usually costly these days. Airlines quit publishing paper timetables some years ago, and vendors who have them tend to price them with great pride. I get that, but I am not wealthy. I am glad I purchased what I did, when I did.  But I do intend to continue posting this series. Bear with me. It takes time and research. I will create a slide show using images from the Prairie Air Show on July 5, 2003. Amazingly, the public spectator show area that weekend bordered the terminal apron, so commercial airliner activity was eas...

I usually get the Illinois & Midland transfers to East Peoria on the return southbound leg, but I finally encountered it early this afternoon on the northbound leg.    I was suprised to see that the 25 TP&W covered hoppers on the head end were loaded. Western Grain Marketing's Atterberry elevator probably loaded soybeans for Incobrasa Industries at Gilman. The crew pulled to the north end of the TZPR yard, broke these off and doubled them over to the Nickel Plate. I assume a TP&W switch crew will grab them soon (they had not as of 1600 hours this afternoon). The only other possibility is that soybeans were transferred from barges to railcars at Incobrasa Industries' ex-American Milling Co. facility on Crystal Lake, just southwest of Pekin. But the tracks there are usually filled up with DDGS cars from the Iowa Interstate. So I'm leaning toward the former theory... CAPTION: An Illinois & Midland Railroad Powerton Roadswitcher pulls through Wesley (Creve C...