Peoria Station

Solazyme, a South San Francisco, California-based bioproducts company, announced today the commissioning of its Peoria Integrated Bio-Refinery (IBR). The plant was purchased from PMP Fermentation Products in May 2011. According to the news release, the Peoria plant began fermentation operations in the 4th Quarter of 2011. Additional details I find interesting: The demonstration/ commercial-scale plant [...]

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The United States’ commercial airline industry evolved from carriers that were formed as a result of the Air Mail Act of 1925. The resulting Contract Air Mail (CAM) program was created by the United States Postal Service. Peoria was on Robertson Aircraft Corporation’s CAM Route #2 between St. Louis and Chicago, inaugurated on April 15, [...]

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Beginning today, Allegiant Air begins offering Peoria nonstop service to Punta Gorda, Florida. Serving the popular southwest Florida market, the flights will operate on Thursdays and Sundays, arriving here at 8:40 am and departing at 9:20. They will use McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series jets equipped with 150 seats*. Punta Gorda, which is near Fort Myers, [...]

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The Illinois Terminal began as an interurban line (electric passenger railroad) linking central Illinois cities with St. Louis. Significant freight business allowed the carrier to  survive as passenger service was phased out in the 1950s. But Illinois Terminal came late to the piggyback club. The railroad built a circus ramp at its Farm Creek Yard [...]

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      A BNSF Railway ES44C4 locomotive on display at the Amtrak Depot Friday, June 22, 2012 Are you a railroad enthusiast? Are you curious about railroads? This weekend’s Galesburg Railroad Days celebration is for you. Check out the official website here. Events include a model train, toy and railroadiana (collectible items) show at Carl Sandberg College [...]

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 The Norfolk Southern Railway-Route 117 crossing at Goodfield, Illinois shows the crossing materials, not the railroad, is deteriorated The Village of Goodfield thought the railroad crossing on Rt. 117 would be fixed this month. But according to this article in the Journal Star, negotiations between the Norfolk Southern Railway and the Illinois Department of Transportation [...]

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The Toledo Peoria & Western Railway, Peoria’s hometown railroad, established piggyback service at a relatively late date. Perhaps this was because for several years prior, the carrier was a pawn in a takeover battle waged between the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway on one side and the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railway and Pennsylvania [...]

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The New York Chicago & St. Louis Railroad, better known as “The Nickel Plate,” probably first hauled Trailer-On-Flat-Car (TOFC), or “Piggyback” traffic to and from Peoria for interchange with the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway. Interline rates with that carrier were introduced in March 1957.  Three years later, according to the railroad’s annual report, the NKP established this [...]

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Despite sugary platitudes about how Central Illinois Regional Airport is “growing” and “it’s going to be a good year ahead,” reality has set in. This morning, The Pantagraph posted the headline, “Passenger traffic for CIRA’s new airlines encouraging, but far from AirTran’s use.” Ya think? The article says Allegiant Air handled 1,203 passengers in May. [...]

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 A FedEx Boeing 727-200C is shown at Peoria Int’l Airport’s Ronald W. Burling Cargo Terminal on July 23, 2011 Between December 2010 and April 2011, I detailed Peoria commercial aviation in the years the now former (and mostly demolished) terminal building was in use. Now it is time to look at air cargo. Due to explosive [...]

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