Peoria Station

PEORIA- Butternut bread is now made with wheat flour that arrives by railcar.

On Saturday morning, May 30, I happened to see Toledo Peoria & Western’s eastbound “Galesburg Job.” On the rear of the train were four “Pressure-aide” (use of pneumatic air flow to keep granular product from clumping, and also for easier unloading) covered hoppers. I could determine that all four were loaded, and that one car had stenciled on its side, LEASED TO CEREAL FOOD PROCESSORS. Cereal Food Processors operates wheat flour mills, mostly in the western United States, so I had a pretty good idea what was contained in these cars.

A couple of days later, I drove past the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad’s Creve Coeur diesel shop and noticed the same four cars which spotted nearby for unloading. Since MGP Ingredients of Illinois closed is Protein & Starch plant last November, the only local industrial user of wheat flour is Interstate Bakeries Corporation’s Butternut Bread plant on W. Lincoln Ave. in Peoria. The Butternut bakery is located about two miles from the nearest rail line so “transloading” is necessary to get product from railcars.

On Monday, after doing some business in East Peoria, I noticed a bulk truck owned by Oak Brook, Illinois-based Carry Transit parked alongside the four cars. Curious, I drove by the Butternut bakery later in the day to find the same truck parked next to the bulk flour silos on the S. Shelley St. side of the plant.

Looks like the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad has gained a new customer, or more accurately, a customer has been brought back. Years ago, previous Butternut Bread owner Schulze & Burch Biscuit Co. maintained a warehouse on Fayette St. in downtown Peoria and was served by TZPR predecessor Peoria & Pekin Union. The existing bakery, much expanded over the years, has existed since at least the mid-1920’s. Time will tell if this new business will continue on a regular basis.

- David P. Jordan