Peoria Station

The Journal Star reported Thursday afternoon that Illinois State Senator Dave Koehler is pushing a bill with incentives designed to lure a $1.6 billion fertilizer manufacturing facility to be owned by Orascom Construction Industries (OCI). An Illinois site that Orascom is reported to be looking at is “…in Peoria County across the Illinois River from Pekin.”  [...]

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The Heartland Partnership noted in its 2012 Greater Peoria Economic Scorecard that $7.8 billion worth of manufactured goods were exported from the Peoria metro area in 2009. I reported this just two months ago. New figures released a few days ago by the International Trade Association show Greater Peoria increasing its stature as an export [...]

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 V-KCKEPE, a joint BNSF-TP&W run-through train from Kansas City, Kansas, is shown at East Peoria on July 14, 2001. The train’s 72 intermodal platforms on this day was unusually heavy. Okay readers, it’s time for a new series! Some of you already know what the term “intermodal” means when it comes to railroads. You are [...]

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My post on Union Pacific’s MCLPE train concluded a series I started last summer. So now that it is done, let’s summarize: BNSF RAILWAY Galesburg – Peoria line – Freight service by train L-CHI1071 – Frequency is Monday thru Friday, train makes a Galesburg-East Peoria-Galesburg roundtrip OPERATIONS: L-CHI1071, otherwise known as the “Peoria Local,” usually [...]

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Orlando-bound passengers board Frontier Airlines A319 at Central Illinois Regional Airport late Friday afternoon. Sea lion on the plane’s tail is named “Sherman.” The third new air service addition at Bloomington-Normal’s Central Illinois Regional Airport (CIRA) began Friday. Unlike the others, this one received minimal coverage. So far I could only find WMBD-TV Channel 31 reporting the event. I [...]

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A long-rumored plan by Delta Air Lines to acquire 88 Boeing 717-200′s from Southwest Airlines subisidiary AirTran Airways has been confirmed.  A press release posted on Delta’s website on May 22 states: If ratified, the agreement will accelerate Delta’s domestic fleet restructuring strategy. To this end, Delta has reached an agreement in principle with Southwest [...]

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 Union Pacific freight train MCLPE nears the end of its journey on July 17, 2011 Finally, the last of this series! Union Pacific train MCLPE (Manifest, CLinton, Iowa to PEoria, Illinois) and counterpart MPECL provide Peoria-area industries and connections with twice-weekly freight service. I’ve already profiled the latter so it is now the former’s turn. [...]

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I haven’t posted one of these for awhile. Soon, I’m planning to post the final freight train analysis – Union Pacific’s MCLPE (Manifest, CLinton, Iowa to PEoria, Illinois. Until then, feel free to ask any transportation or industry-related question. As always, if I don’t know the answer, I’ll find one. – David P. Jordan

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 This Republic Airlines Embraer 190 was used for Frontier Airlines’ inaugural Denver-CIRA-Denver roundtrip Friday evening Nonstop flights to Denver, Colorado are back. As with Allegiant Air’s inaugural “turnaround” from Orlando-Sanford Int’l Airport on Wednesday, Frontier Airlines’ inaugural flight from Denver on Friday evening was late, but that fact failed to dampen the mood in this community. Central Illinois [...]

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Every Wednesday is Tractor Day - the day of the week Norfolk Southern local train D46D departs the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad’s East Peoria Yard with a lengthy string of machinery gathered from Caterpillar’s Aurora and East Peoria plants, and from Komatsu’s Peoria plant. Since I was in Bloomington-Normal this morning on other business (see previous [...]

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