Peoria Station

Central Illinois Railroad Co. has petitioned the Surface Transportation Board for a “Discontinuance of Service Exemption,” on trackage leased from BNSF Railway in Chicago. Some brief history, and also the reason to end service, is found on page 6: Prior to November 2000, BNSF was the exclusive operator over the Lines. Since that time, CIRY has been [...]

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PEORIA – The Toledo Peoria & Western Railway’s West End, once endangered with abandonment, is alive and well, thanks to the efforts of Pioneer Railcorp subsidiary Keokuk Junction Railway. Not only is it alive and well under KJRY operation, it is also a tourist draw for railfans who journey to trackside to see classic, 53-year-old [...]

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PEORIA – It’s being reported that the Central Illinois Railroad Co., the City of Peoria’s preferred operator for the Kellar Branch, will cease all operations effective August 9, 2010. CIRY’s exit will leave the Pioneer Industrial Railway as sole operator. Ironic, because this is the carrier the City successfully forced off its line in August 2005, but lost the [...]

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PEORIA – Peoria’s first railroad, completed in 1854, is alive and well. But that wasn’t always the case. After the Chicago Rock Island & Pacific Railroad began its court-ordered liquidation at the end of March 1980, the Elgin Joliet & Eastern briefly provided service, then segments were operated by Burlington Northern (Peoria to Henry) and [...]

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I haven’t posted an “Ask Peoria Station” for awhile, so here it is. Ask anything about common-carrier transportation, history, etc. NOTE: I was in Dayton, Ohio this weekend. Below, the first is a videocap taken while driving the ramp from eastbound Rt. 35 to northbound I-75 in downtown Dayton. This ramp is part of the third [...]

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PEORIA – The Illinois & Midland Railroad (IMRR) is primarily a coal-hauler, forwarding unit trains received from BNSF and Union Pacific to three on-line power plants and a rail-to-barge facility. But the carrier also handles non-coal carload freight. It’s not large, but it’s a steady volume from agricultural and industrial shippers. Consult the map below to see [...]

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PEORIA – Updating my June 4 story on Allegiant Air’s expanded frequency of Peoria-Phoenix/Mesa flights, the Peoria Int’l Airport’s online schedules show St. Petersburg/Clearwater flights are operated quad-weekly as well. Las Vegas nonstops are now daily. Obviously, these increased flight frequencies are for the summer travel season, but it shows that business is up. In fact, Phoenix and [...]

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PEORIA – Thanks to information provided by commenter, “Cory,” I found what I believe to be O’Brien Steel’s press release detailing its acquisition of Rohn Products from Radian Communication Services. Scroll down about half-way until you see an article entitled, Established 60 years ago, Rohn returns to its roots following its acquisition by O’Brien Steel. [...]

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The new rail loop at Midwest Generation LLC’s Powerton Station is now in service. Today, I noticed the train shown above being unloaded on the new rail loop. It wasn’t the first, but rather one of the first. The map below shows the new rail loop in red. The old track, shown in orange, will be [...]

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PEORIA – One of the reasons I blog here is because I’m sick and tired of our local paper ignoring business developments that are important to me. Recently, I noticed the old Rohn tower manufacturing plant on W. Plank Road was for sale through Joseph & Camper. So what happened? Did Radian Corp. close its [...]

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