Peoria Station

Calera, Alabama-based Wheelworx, LLC is planning to employ 30 workers at a 35,000-sq. ft. factory on 10 acres at Pekin’s Riverway Business Park. The new building will be used to refurbish railcar wheels. Another 10 acres have been optioned by the company for future expansion. Among the reasons owner Gary Schoenfeldt picked Riverway Business Park: [...]

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Peoria area railroads got an early Christmas present yesterday upon news that MGP Ingredients of Illinois’ Pekin distillery, shuttered since February, will reopen sometime next year under a partnership with Houston-based SEACOR Energy, Inc. Press releases and articles published by newspapers offered the following details: – The distillery will be owned and operated by a joint venture [...]

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I thought I’d try something new here. If anyone has a question related to Peoria area aviation or rail transportation, ask in the comments section of this post. If I don’t have an answer, I’ll do what I can to find it for you. (Yes, more posts are coming). – David P. Jordan

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PEORIA – The Keokuk Junction Railway is again using both of their classic Electro-Motive Division-built FP-7A’s on local freight trains. Built in 1957, both locomotives served with VIA Rail Canada then the Algoma Central Railway before being sold to KJRY-owner Pioneer Railcorp in 2003. They were restored, repainted, re-lettered for the still-unofficial  ”Peoria & Western Railway” and placed into [...]

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Some communities are smarter than others. One is Plymouth, Wisconsin. In February 2007, the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad presented a plan to the Gov. Jim Doyle called “Rail Restoration 15,” or “RR15.” The plan called for restoring rail service to several Wisconsin communities through three projects, one of which involved rebuilding 11 miles of unused but in-place [...]

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I’ve been busy with other things, but more posts are coming soon. – David P. Jordan

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