O'Brien Steel Service Co. Expansion Into Detweiller Marina Property?

O'Brien Steel Service Co. seen from Caroline Street June 28, 2023 after transfer of 550 feet of formerly City-owned trackage

Information is a little vague at this point but WMBD TV, Channel 31, is reporting on plans by O'Brien Steel Service Co. to expand into Detweiller Marina, which is across the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad from its existing facilities along NE Adams Street. The video link below shows what appears to be a stub-end spur with a south switch on the east side of TZPR that is not there now. If you remember back in 2023, the City of Peoria abandoned the remaining south end of the Kellar Branch and transferred ownership of 550 feet from the junction with TZPR to O'Brien Steel so they could get rail service. Shortly after the transfer (probably June 2023), some digging had been done to clear out the spur switch on company property. By December, however, the dirt had been filled in again. One STB filing indicated O'Brien Steel was eager to get this transfer done so it could start using rail again, but after nearly three years, plans obviously changed. Perhaps the stretch of track and the buried spur were deemed unusable? O'Brien Steel last used rail for inbound I-beam and plate shipments, and for outbound scrap steel shipments in 2010 when Central Illinois Railroad Co. (CIRY) ended operations and began liquidation. A feud with Pioneer Industrial Railway over demurrage and car placement in the early 2000s soured their relationship, so Pioneer did not assume switching at O'Brien with CIRY's demise. Pioneer is no longer involved, and the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad will be the only carrier to provide service, if this happens in the near future.

- David P. Jordan

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