Peoria Station

“New 886″ (actually 887) on its 100th birthday – October 9, 2009 From my inbox this evening: “Wheels O’ Time opens May 1 for the season On Friday, May 6, 2011, we are having a ribbon cutting for the steps and ramp for 886, the combo car and caboose. We are also dedicating a plaque [...]

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So Peoria’s new, 12-gate passenger terminal is in operation. What now? Put simply, there are two scenarios, one that makes the new terminal a taj mahal and the other something a little better. The key to both is whether Southwest Airlines keeps AirTran Airways’ Bloomington/Normal station once the merger is complete. It’s dangerous to speculate about [...]

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- David P. Jordan

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After posting the first in this series on December 24, 2010, the last is finally here. I hope the reading, maps and schedules were enjoyable as well as informative. The last three years have been all at once frustrating, hopeful and interesting. First, the competition: Central Illinois Regional Airport (CIRA) prospers because of the now five-year-old AirTran [...]

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I picked April 2008 because the Prairie Air Show was held at the Greater Peoria Regional Airport that month, and I put together a schedule so I’d know what and when to expect. The timing was great because the airport then offered eleven nonstop destinations. And there had been numerous other changes since the summer [...]

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The Galesburg Register-Mail is reporting that BNSF Railway, which operates a major clasification yard in this western Illinois city of 31,000 people, is adding 87 workers to its local workforce this year. I figure that most, if not all, will likely be train service employees. That’s because an expected surge in business requires more trains, and thus [...]

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It’s time for another “Ask Peoria Station” post. Like always, if I don’t know the answer, I’ll find it. – David P. Jordan

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A new director began his job on July 31, 2002. 36-year-old Solomon F. Balraj had previously served as Director of the Department of Port Control for Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport. His task would be to guide Peoria’s facility through the tumult of the post-September 11 period, retain existing airline service and attract new airlines and destinations. [...]

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The City of Davenport, Iowa is free to build a 2.8-mile spur from an existing Canadian Pacific Railway branchline to the Eastern Iowa Industrial Center. The Surface Transportation Board decided April 6 – DECISION GRANTED AN EXEMPTION FOR THE CITY OF DAVENPORT, IOWA, TO CONSTRUCT APPROXIMATELY 2.8 MILES OF RAIL LINE IN SCOTT COUNTY, IOWA, [...]

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For a little change in scenery, I thought I’d upload a video from late this afternoon for your viewing pleasure. The train you are about to see is a BNSF Railway intermodal train that originated in the Los Angeles region and is enroute to Willow Springs. The loaded vehicle train in the video is bound for Clovis, [...]

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