Peoria Station

Allied Iron & Steel Co. and A. Miller & Co are no more. Alter Trading announced March 20 that it was acquiring A. Miller & Co and its sister Allied Iron & Steel Co. These operations have closed and work done at both facilities has been consolidated at local Alter Metal Recycling facilities.  Allied Iron & Steel was served by the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad, though service seemed sporadic in recent years. This facility opened in 1965 (per an Illinois Industrial Directory) and was originally served by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy RR, which installed a switch on the curve just west of the Peoria Terminal Company crossing. At the time, the Chicago & North Western Railway's ex-Minneapolis & St. Louis line was still in place up to Iowa Junction, so Allied's facility was nestled between that and the CB&Q.  A. Miller & Co. loaded junk in gondolas to its Alley Track location on 1612 SW Adams Street for shipment to Allied's plant for pr...

Mid-afternoon Friday, January 5, 2018, I caught the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad (TZPR) switching Allied Iron & Steel Co. in Peoria.  Owned by A. Miller & Co. , 1612 SW Adams Street, Allied Iron & Steel Co.  purchases junked autos, scrap metal and tin. Its auto shredder produces steel scrap ready for processing at steel mills and foundries. Allied Iron & Steel opened at the Foot of W. Clarke Street in 1965. Back then, it was served by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) with a spur off of its mainline (now BNSF's Peoria Subdivision, it is seen in the background). Also served by the CB&Q, A. Miller & Co. regularly shipped junk by rail from its uptown facility down to Allied for further processing.  Successor Burlington Northern abolished its last Peoria-based switch engine in 1983 and handed over the Allied Iron & Steel business to the Peoria & Pekin Union Railway (P&PU), which built the spur track...