Two of them, actually. You can read them here and here. Kudos to the editors for publishing some pro-rail information for a change.
Steve Tarter, who I recently learned is a railfan, wrote both articles. The latter one even talks favorably about running a rail and trail side-by-side on the Kellar Branch. This idea had been suggested years ago, but was rejected by the Park District based on a “feasibility study” that was supposedly done showing it would be cost-prohibitive.
Funny thing, when asked to produce said feasibility study, the Park District was never able to provide a copy. Sharon Deckard of the Illinois Prairie Railroad Foundation (IPRRF) asked for a copy at the time and never got one, and I asked for a copy about a year ago and was told the so-called “feasibility study” consisted of “engineering drawings” and a spreadsheet — a spreadsheet that the park district couldn’t currently locate. Huh.
It was suggested at the meeting that the IPRRF do its own feasibility study, and that may happen soon. I joked that all we really need to do is confidently assert that we’ve done one that shows the project is completely feasible. Then if the park district challenges us on it, we offer to show them our feasibility study once they show us theirs. Ha!
Seriously, though, one could get the impression from reading the article that commuter rail is the main reason IPRRF wants to save the Kellar Branch. But truth is, the main reason to keep the Kellar Branch is for hauling freight, not passenger rail. Freight service on the Kellar Branch line will allow rail-served businesses to be courted for Pioneer Park and Growth Cell Two, which would bring more jobs into Peoria.
Passenger rail could very likely be a future additional use of the tracks. But right now, as much as I love passenger rail, I’m going to have to agree with my readers (and disagree with IPRRF) that it’s probably not very realistic to have commuter rail in Peoria at this time, other than intercity transit.
What is feasible now? I’d like to see Amtrak service restored to Peoria. I’d even be happy with a diesel-powered trolley car that would run between Galesburg and Normal via Peoria to take passengers to those Amtrak stations, although I’d prefer a more direct route between Chicago and St. Louis, of course.
and no mention of the $565,000 benefit for the city….
Who’s that Christopher Summers guy? Sounds like a trouble maker to me.
When is the Journal Star going to run a pro-trail editorial?
When is the Journal Star going to run a pro-rail editorial?
If you were in Bureau on Saturday, you saw what kind of a draw rail can be. Hundreds of people showed up. The town no doubt made more in one day than it will make in the next five years from the trail nuts. At least the railfans got to use the trail nuts nice, and virtually unused, parking lot.
Bureau had a huge crowd – probably bigger than the similar excursion in 2004.
PeoriaIllinoisan: he is.
David: I expect a pro-trail editorial scoffing at the idea of commuter rail within the week. Pro-rail editorial will come ten years after the rail line has been torn up.
I think maybe we are confusing commuter rail between Peoria and Bloomington that was discussed at the IPRRF meeting with a simple park n ride Trolley running on the old Kellar Branch. And as a matter of fact we are not here to promote Pioneer Railcorp’s bid for freight on the Kellar Branch. They are an independent company. Their general consul attended our meeting for the purpose of giving us some legal information regarding the condition of the track and what it would take to upgrade it. If Pioneer should be lucky enough to be able to run freight on the old Kellar Branch sometime in the future that would definitely benefit the trolley because then the upkeep of the track would be shared and the trolley wouldn’t have to maintain everything. This would help keep costs down and ridership fees down. There are times when two companies can work together for the benefit of all. This is the same thing that can happen with the Trolley and the Park District with its trail. It can be done side by side and benefit everyone, not just a select group.
The proposa is to have park n ride starting at Allen Rd., then at Knoxville and Prospect Rd, etc. This would help people getting into work and out again with out the congestion and parking problems but still be within the city limits when they get off work and can go shopping or other functions. Its an aid to economic development and growth to Peoria for residents, workers, industry, business and tourism. There are a lot of applications that can be applied here.
Editorial: Rebuild Rail Line (September 19, 2016)
We were wrong. We regret that our predecessors called for the abandonment of the Kellar Branch in favor of a hiking and biking trail.
We believed that shifting Pioneer Park rail service to the west would allow industrial development in the city’s Growth Cell Two and for families to spend time together using a 41-mile hiking and biking trail between Toulon and Morton.
Unfortunately, shifting Pioneer Park rail service to the west put Carver Lumber out of business, its 50 employees and their families out on the street. No other industrial businesses sought to locate there and the growth cell was eventually rezoned for commercial and residential use after Disney Corp refused the city’s offer of incentives to built “Disney World – Heart of Illinois.” We can’t understand why Disney refused to come here, but that’s past history.
The city’s med-tech initiative failed to produced the desired results and since most of those firms were dependent on government contracts, they were forced out of business when those contracts ended.
Bartonville’s Mall of Central Illinois hasn’t generated the payroll and economic impact that Keystone Steel & Wire did, and half the massive 2 million sq. ft. structure is empty. Had it not been built, we believe Northwoods Mall and the Shoppes at Grand Prairie would still be open for business.
That’s why we are calling for the rebuilding of an underappreciated asset – the Kellar Branch. Little did we appreciate the potential for rail freight service in an age where fuel prices have driven many trucking firms out of business. Only communities with rail service to a greenfield have any hope of real economic growth.
We were wrong in 2006 but we wish to rectify our mistake in 2016. We can use eminent domain to remove the neighborhoods from what should have remained prime industrial greenfield.
Rebuild the Kellar Branch. Now.
And we wonder why, in the past, such warnings were ignored, and obvious mistakes made.
Here it is in front of our eyes. Will the message be heeded?
You have to read it to heed it. We (IPRRF) have invited both the journal star and the city council and the county board to attend our meetings as a neutral place to discuss economic development regarding the Kellar Branch and other things in regard to mass transit in the tri-county area. So far only Steve Tarter of the Journal Star and one of the county board members and one of the members of the tri-county regional planning have attended. We sent written invitations and this is what we got. Wonder why. We are trying to help the entire community and future community not just one segment. We are pro-rail but we are NOT anti-trail, it can happen together. Come on folks lets get it together. We meet the first Monday of every month at the Peoria Public Library downstairs Preview room. We are open to anyone interested in this community and what can be done to build it with a strong infrastructure of economic development including rail service. Its cheaper to run trains than trucks.