Peoria Station

Despite the soggy and cold weather Saturday, I got out to see not one but two TP&W trains!  First, TPW 3442 led 71 empty flat cars through El Paso, Illinois at 5:40pm. The train departed Prairie Central Cooperative's new (2018) Greenfield rail loop west of Chenoa. Cars had arrived with wind turbine tower loads and the empties were being sent to Houston, Texas via Peoria and BNSF Railway.  The second train was a manifest. TPW 2070, TPW 3440 and TPW 3046 had 169 cars. The 90 CSX covered hoppers on the rear were dropped at Grainland Cooperative's Cruger elevator.  The TP&W has seen a surge in traffic in the past year or so, thanks to expanded grain-loading facilities, wind turbine components and lease and operation of the Winamac Southern Railway. Longer and more frequent trains have become the norm. Industrial development in the Hoosierlift and Logansport areas of Indiana are expected to increase traffic in the near future.  - Dav...

Peoria Int'l Airport's passenger numbers will be historically low in March, April and May for sure.  That is the conclusion made when I shot these scenes late Wednesday morning. As you can see, the passenger terminal parking lot, mostly full on any normal day, was mostly empty.  The economic shutdown due to COVID-19 will prevent PIA from reaching the 700,000 passenger mark this year. This is a sad turn because the roughly 689,000 passengers handled in 2019, coupled with new service offerings (Allegiant Air to Nashville) pretty much guaranteed a new record this year. Hopefully, a rapid recovery will at least give PIA 600,000 passengers this year.  - David P. Jordan

Monday morning, April 13, 2020, I caught the Iowa Interstate Railroad's PESI (Manifest, Peoria IL to Silvis IL) at Chillicothe, Illinois. I even got an unexpected "over-and-under" scene! The train, led by Iowa Interstate 514, an ES44AC, and Norfolk Southern 5054, a GP38-2, had 61 cars. Mostly empties, but three coil steel loads and several alcohol tank cars were present. Adding to the show was eastbound BNSF Railway autorack train running on the Chillicothe Subdivision!  - David P. Jordan

Passenger traffic at grew significantly at the Peoria Int'l Airport in the first two months of 2020.  According the the airport's press release on Thursday , both January and February figures broke records with 51,436 and 52,825 passengers, respectively. The former broke a record for the month set in 2017 while the latter broke a record set just last year. Having an extra day in February was likely the biggest factor in the rise in passenger traffic. Unfortunately, a sudden decline in traffic this month brought on by the coronavirus pandemic will cause significant service cutbacks. Expect April to be slow as well. Both business and leisure travel will be affected, so it is possible that Allegiant Air will suspend most if not all service for a few weeks (or more) while American Eagle, Delta Connection and United Express will reduce frequencies and even suspend some service altogether (Delta Connection's single daily roundtrip to Minneapolis/St. Paul comes to min...

Two events in 1999 - AccessAir's failure and the displacement by Bloomington-Normal's Central Illinois Regional Airport (CIRA) as the region's leading airline passenger facility - threatened PIA's future as 2000 dawned. The question on everyone's mind was how to deal with the problem. Let us review happenings by airline for the year. AMERICAN EAGLE (American Eagle Airlines) By the end of May 2000, flights moved from Gate 4 to Gate 5, which was formerly used by AccessAir and was jetway-equipped. About this time, the carrier announced that it intended to convert all Chicago-O'Hare flights to regional jets by fall. Peoria would gain a sixth daily roundtrip (first shown in AA's September 6 timetable). A fifth roundtrip was converted to jet service on August 21 and the sixth on October 23. There would be no more American Eagle ATR-42s operating in or out of Peoria.  NORTHWEST AIRLINK (Mesaba Airlines) On May 1, when Bloomington-Normal received an ...

Moments after replacing my scanner batteries, I heard the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad (TZPR) dispatcher give BNSF's M-GALPEI permission to run from S. Darst Street to East Peoria. I was on Wesley Road, so I had to cross the river and get to a good spot.  Fortunately, discussion between the crew and the crew van driver delayed the train's movement, so I arrived with plenty of time.  BNSF 2300, BNSF 2592, BNSF 2742, BNSF 2787 and HLCX 1072 have 37 cars. The symbol, M-GALPEI, stands for "Manifest, Galesburg, IL to Peoria, IL." - David P. Jordan

I caught several area train movements Sunday afternoon.  The three shown in this video were taken at Blue Ridge Road, located just west of Chillicothe, Illinois on BNSF Railway's Chillicothe Subdivision, within about twenty minutes.  (1) Vehicle - BNSF 8343-7853 have 76 cars. (2) Intermodal - BNSF 6789-785-4284-5097 have 70 platforms. (3) Intermodal - BNSF 6147-5202-7690-4111 have 86 platforms. Next, I caught this westbound intermodal train at Chillicothe but had to drive to near Princeville (N. Rice Road) to capture it on video.  BNSF 8029-7617-3966-5526 have 131 platforms. Finally, I saw this Tazewell & Peoria Railroad local leaving the East Peoria Yard for ADM Grain Co's Hilliards (Creve Coeur) barge loadout. TZPR 2133 has 21 grain mash loads which came off the Iowa Interstate. - David P. Jordan