Peoria Station

This category is by far the largest with about 28 entries. They range from receivers and shippers of whole grains, grain products and chemicals derived from grain, and also manufacturers of food products.

ADM GRAIN CO.
1000 Wesley Road
Creve Coeur, IL
www.admworld.com

ADM’s large Creve Coeur terminal elevator can receive grain by rail or truck and then either load to barges, railcars or trucks. Corn soybeans and gluten feed is received while corn and soybeans are shipped. Activity tends to be heaviest during the fall and winter months, but operations can occur year-round. The Tazewell & Peoria Railroad is the serving carrier.

ADM GRAIN CO.
1001 Wesley Rd., Creve Coeur
Creve Coeur, IL
www.admworld.com

ADM’s Creve Coeur barge dock, formerly owned and operated by Central Illinois Dock Company, receives corn, soybeans and gluten feed. In the past, shipments of wet feed from the Peoria distillery are brought here to be weighed. Like the facility above, the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad is the serving carrier.

ADM GRAIN CO.
Ft. of Edmund Street
Peoria, IL
www.admworld.com

ADM’s large Peoria terminal elevator can receive corn by railcar (and truck), store their contents, then transfer them to either the adjance distillery or to barges. Each winter, carloads of gluten feed pellets may be brought here for transfer to barges. ADM Grain’s Peoria rail facilities are located on the company-owned “River Track,” which is accessible to three railroads – Tazewell & Peoria, Toledo Peoria & Western and Union Pacific.

AGRI-BUNGE LLC
C/O Tomen Grain Company
Pekin, IL
www.agribunge.com

The Tazewell & Peoria RR lists Agri-Bunge as a customer on its current tariffs, effective July 1, 2008. Other than that, few details are known about this local rail user other than the fact it doesn’t own any area facilities. Instead, there is reason to believe the company, a partnership between Bunge North America and Agri Industries, consigns grain trains to Tomen Grain Company’s Pekin river elevator.

AGRIDYNE LLC
1615 S. 2nd STREET
Pekin, IL
www.mix30.com

Agrydine operates a liquid feed plant just southwest of Pekin next to Crystal Lake. Steepwater and other grain products are blended to create a liquid feed supplement called “Mix 30.” Steepwater is received in tank cars and the same type of equipment is used to ship Mix 30. The Illinois & Midland Railroad serves the plant. (The Chillicothe facility, served by BNSF, was closed and dismantled in 2008. The Pekin facility seems to have been expanded in its place).

AMERICAN MILLING CO.
1655 S. 2nd Street
Pekin, IL

American Milling is a Cahokia, Illinois-based grain processor. Although little public information exists about this company, it appears to be the operator of the Illinois & Midland Railroad-owned barge dock on Crystal Lake, southwest of Pekin. The facilities primary use seems to be to receive gluten feed and distillers grains made at the nearby Aventine Renewable Energy plants.

AMERICAN MILLING CO.
1811 American Street
Pekin, IL

American Milling has long operated a feed ingredients plant between the Illinois & Midland Railroad mainline and Crystal Lake. Aventine Renewable Energy supplies some ingredients (primarily trucked), but rail sometimes is used for receipt of raw materials and shipment of the company’s feed products.

ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND CO.-ALCOHOL
Ft. of Edmund Street
Peoria, IL
www.admworld.com

ADM’s large Peoria distillery manufacturers beverage alcohol, denatured alcohol and ethyl alcohol. The Tazewell & Peoria Railroad serves the plant’s alcohol loadout on the west side of the plant.

ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND CO.-GRAIN
Ft. of Edmund Street
Peoria, IL
www.admworld.com

Not to be confused with adjacent ADM Grain Co. facilities, ADM’s feed loadout receives corn screenings supplied from the company’s Cedar Rapids and Clinton, Iowa and Decatur, Illinois plants, and ships both dry and wet distillers grains. Occasionally, plastic pellets are received for manufacture of small bottles. Like ADM Grain, however, three railroads have access to this portion of the plant – Tazewell & Peoria, Toledo Peoria & Western and Union Pacific.

AVENTINE RENEWABLE ENERGY, INC. – DRY CORN MILL
1300 S. 2nd Street
Pekin, IL
www.aventinerei.com

Aventine’s dry corn mill went into production in January 2007, and is accessible by both the Illinois & Midland and Tazewell & Peoria Railroads. Rail shipping facilities are those long used by the adjacent wet corn mill, but the dry corn mill has its own distillers’ grain loadout.

AVENTINE RENEWABLE ENERGY, INC. – WET CORN MILL
1300 S. 2nd Street
Pekin, IL
www.aventinerei.com

Aventine’s wet corn mill receives corn, anhydrous ammonia and natural gasoline and ships beverage, denatured and ethyl alcohol, gluten feed, gluten meal and corn germ. Rail transportation is used for much of this activity. Both the Illinois & Midland and Tazewell & Peoria have access to all areas of the plant. A yeast plant is also on the property, but appears to have no need for rail transportation.

CORN PRODUCTS – SPECIALTY INGREDIENTS
8310 W US 24
Mapleton, IL
www.cornproductsus.com

Corn Products purchased SPI Polyols’ polyols division in early 2007 and subsequently expanded the plant’s capacity. The plant is located adjacent to Lonza’s chemical facility and it appears that company’s rail facilities are also used by Corn Products for receipt of corn syrup and shipment of bulk liquid sweeteners, such as sorbitol. The Toledo Peoria & Western is the serving carrier.

GRAINLAND CO-OP
RR 1
Cruger, IL
www.grainland.coop

Grainland Co-Op operates the largest area grain elevator about two miles west of Eureka. Up to 40-car trains of corn and soybeans are regularly shipped to Peoria or Pekin. Soybeans are shipped to Gilman. The Toledo Peoria & Western is the serving carrier.

INTERSTATE BAKERIES CORP. C/O CARRY TRANSIT
TZPR Team Track
Creve Coeur, IL
www.butternutbreads.com

A brand new rail user for 2009, Interstate Bakeries Corp’s Butternut Bread bakery on Lincoln Ave. is two miles from the nearest railhead, so rail-to-truck transloading is necessary. Carloads of bulk wheat flour arrive from the west at the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad’s Creve Ceour team track for unloading. Why this bakery only now has begun using rail transportation (albeit indirectly) is up to speculation, but the local facility took on additional work after a sister Hostess Cakes plant in Davenport, Iowa closed a few years ago. Oak Brook, Illinois-based Carry Transit provides trucking service from the rail yard to the bakery.

LINDE GROUP
125 Distillery Road
Pekin, IL
www.boc-gases.com

Linde Group purchased BOC Gases a few years back and appears to be transitioning to a full merger. Their Pekin facility is supplied CO2 from the adjacent Aventine Renewable Energy plant and is then converted to a refrigerated liquid, which is used for beverage carbonation and refrigeration. The Tazewell & Peoria Railroad is the serving carrier.

MGP INGREDIENTS OF ILLINOIS INC.
1301 S. Front Street
Pekin, IL
www.mgpingredients.com

MGP Ingredients suspended production back in mid-February, having exited the ethanol business and also having closed the local Protein & Starch operation. Currently, alcohol stored at the plant is being shipped, some by railcar. The Tazewell & Peoria Railroad is the serving carrier, though the Illinois & Midland also has access from the south end. The plant has been offered for sale, and although potential buyers have rumored, nothing has been announced as of yet.

NESTLE USA/LIBBY’S INC.
216 N. Morton Ave
Morton, IL
www.nestleusa.com

It is said that 90% of the nation’s canned pumpkin supply comes from the old Libby’s cannery in Morton. Operations are seasonal and rail service in recent years has been sporadic, though some 2007 production was shipped by railcar in June and July 2008. Rail shipments could resume this late summer/fall. The Toledo Peoria & Western is the serving carrier.

PMP FERMENTATION PRODUCTS INC.
900 NE Adams Street
Peoria, IL
www.pmpinc.com

PMP manufactures food additives from corn syrup, which arrives the plant by railcar on a regular basis. Also, wastewater produced at the plant is shipped by railcar to western feedlots. The Tazewell & Peoria Railroad is the serving carrier.

PRAXAIR INC.
1225 S. Front Street
Pekin, IL
www.praxair.com

Due to the suspension of production by its CO2 supplier, MGP Ingredients (see above), no rail shipments have been noted since early 2009. Should MGP’s plant be returned to production, Praxair should resume rail shipping. Until then, it is a dormant rail user.

RICKETT GRAIN CO.
102 S. Broadway Street
Forest City, IL
www.rickettgrain.com

Rickett Grain can load three railcars at a time at its Forest City elevator. Shipments may include corn for Pekin processors, but also organic corn and wheat which is shipped to eastern destinations. The Illinois & Midland Railroad provides rail service.

RICKETT GRAIN CO.
300 S. Broadway Street
Manito, IL
www.rickettgrain.com

five railcars at a time at its Manito elevator. Shipments may include corn for Pekin processors, but also organic corn and wheat which is shipped to eastern destinations. The Illinois & Midland Railroad provides rail service.

RIVERLAND BIOFUELS LLC C/O AGRIDYNE LLC
KJRY Siding
Canton, IL

Riverland BioFuels’ location on AmerenCILCO-owned track, and relatively small volume has so far kept it from getting direct rail service from BNSF, but steepwater produced there is trucked to a rail siding at Canton located on the Keokuk Junction Railway. This operation was first reported in March. Springfield, Illinois-based Agridyne LLC is the region’s liquid feed expert, and handles billing and railcar supply for the ethanol plant.

SCOTWOOD INDUSTRIES INC.
TZPR Team Track
Creve Coeur, IL
www.scotwoodindustries.com

The Tazewell & Peoria RR lists Overland Park, Kansas Scotwood as a customer on its current tariffs, effective July 1, 2008. What is known about the company is that it’s a manufacturer and distributor of liquid and dry de-icing agents. On occasion, a tank car has been seen spotted on the railroad’s Creve Ceour team track, which may contain the liquid de-icing agent, a by-product of grain processing. (Deer Creek, Illinois-based Bell Enterprises tank trucks have been seen unloading these tank cars). Nothing, however, is mentioned of a Peoria area operation on the company’s website.

SENECA FOODS CORP.
606 S. Tremont Ave.
Princeville, IL
www.senecafoods.com

Seneca Food’s Princeville cannery, which is served by BNSF, ships some canned vegatables, including pumpkin, by railcar. A boxcar or two is commonly seen at the plant’s raildock during the summer months.

TALOMA FARMERS GRAIN CO.
16827 CR Road 3740E
Allen Station (San Jose), IL
http://talomagrain.com

Taloma Farmers Grain ships 75- to 100-car unit grain trains from their Union Pacific-served facility to southwestern feedlots.

TALOMA FARMERS GRAIN CO.
308 E. Sixth Street
Delavan, IL
http://talomagrain.com

Taloma Farmers Grain can load 25 cars at a time at its Delavan facility, which is sered by Canadian National. Rail activity here tends to be sporadic at times, and heavy other times.

TOMEN GRAIN COMPANY
605 S. Front Street
Pekin, IL
http://tomengrain.com

Japanese-owned Tomen receives grain at its Pekin river elevator by rail or truck for transfer to barges for export. The elevator can load grain into railcars as well, but whether this is done, is unknown. The Tazewell & Peoria Railroad is the serving carrier.

WEAVER POPCORN CO.
Rail Siding
Forest City, IL
www.weaverpopcorn.com

Weaver Popcorn operates a storage facility about a mile south of Forest City so it must truck specialty corn used to manufacture popcorn to a rail siding in town. Served by the Illinois & Midland Railroad, Weaver Popcorn ships about seven cars at a time to a processing plant in Van Buren, Indiana.

- David P. Jordan