Peoria Newspaper Bungles Transportation History
Sunday's Peoria Journal Star published a story on Peoria's transportation history, Peoria’s transportation history second to none , but managed to bungle [at least] four things. The railroad became a big part of that hustle and bustle. A total track mileage of 70,000 miles for the 15 railroad companies were located here. At one time, there were 128 passenger trains per day that whistled through Peoria. Um, no...local rail mileage totaled far less than 70,000 miles. Without even consulting the Official Railway Guide, I can tell you that this figure was likely the total mileage for the sum of the 15 railroads. I'd guess this was what the writer intended to convey, but he employed poor wording. A sparkling new Union Station was built in 1882 at the foot of State Street. In 1900, a new type of inter-city rail travel began when the Peoria and Pekin Traction opened electric line service between the cities. In 1928, the line was acquired by the Illinois Terminal Syst...