According to a filing with the Surface Transportation Board, DOT Rail Services (Granville, Ill.) is selling “substantially all of [its] assets,” including Central Illinois Railroad Co. (CIRY), to Central Illinois Railroad Holdings, LLC (Willow Springs, Ill.) for approximately $3 million in cash. CIRY is the carrier the city chose to replace Pioneer Industrial Railway on … Continue reading DOT Rail going out of business?
Pioneer Industrial Railway (PIRY) filed a petition with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) today to provide alternative rail service to Carver Lumber over the Kellar Branch. Pioneer argues that, since the city and Central Illinois Railroad (CIRY) are providing inadequate and overpriced service via the western connection and refuse to route cars over the Kellar … Continue reading Pioneer offers immediate relief for Carver Lumber
As I mentioned last Friday, Carver Lumber has filed its report to the Surface Transportation Board regarding the service it has been receiving via the newly-built western spur. You can read their letter here (84KB PDF file). They give a lot of details, but the basic facts are these: Deliveries that used to take 1-2 … Continue reading Carver asks city to reimburse $41,000 in shipping costs
On April 25, the Surface Transportation Board ruled that the city couldn’t tear up the Kellar Branch for at least another 90 days so Carver Lumber had time to evaluate the service they receive from Central Illinois Railway (CIRY) over the new western spur. Carver and CIRY were expected to report back to the STB … Continue reading Source: Carver Lumber asks STB to keep Kellar Branch
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) ruled today that the city can’t tear up the Kellar Branch for at least another 90 days so Carver Lumber has time to evaluate the service they receive from Central Illinois Railway (CIRY) over the spur connecting to the Union Pacific (UP) line to the west. This is exactly what … Continue reading Surface Transportation Board rules in Carver Lumber’s favor
Carver Lumber finally received rail service again when Union Pacific dropped off three cars on the western spur and Central Illinois Railway delivered them to Carver’s loading dock on Thursday, March 16. Local blogger and train enthusiast David Jordan reported this event on the PeoriaRails Yahoo Group: Central Illinois Railroad made its first revenue run … Continue reading Kellar Branch Update: Western spur gets its first test
Pioneer Railcorp filed a “Motion to Compel” with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) yesterday. They want the STB to order the City of Peoria to make all documents, communication, and other information they have about their Kellar Branch dealings part of the public record. You can read the entire motion here. For instance, they want … Continue reading City hiding details about service on western spur
There are few things in today’s Journal Star editorial about the Kellar Branch that deserve a response: The park district, unable to act, has watched about half of a $400,000 state grant evaporate. It’s worth pointing out that the park district applied for that money prematurely–before going to the STB, building the spur, etc. It’s … Continue reading More propaganda from the Journal Star
Somebody tell Bonnie Noble to put her sledgehammer away — the demolition of the Kellar Branch has been delayed. The Surface Transportation Board today decided to stay the effective date of their decision to discontinue service on the Kellar Branch. The Board stated: The Board’s decision granting CIRY’s petition for exemption was premised on the … Continue reading Breaking News: STB Stays Decision
I know some of you are tiring of the Kellar Branch deal, but if you’ve ever wondered why Peoria has a reputation for being anti-business (or at least anti-local-business), one need look no further than this debacle.Carver Lumber is located on the Kellar Branch line and relies on rail transportation for shipping (it’s considerably cheaper … Continue reading Peoria: Parks more important than business