The city is trying yet another scheme to shut down the Kellar Branch.
Posts Tagged ‘Kellar Branch’
Yeah …THIS will work
Sunday, May 17th, 2009
Local: Enthusiasts? More like fanatics
Friday, February 29th, 2008Chi-Trib columnist/blogger Eric Zorn notes a case of bicycling enthusiasts who lack perspective. Gee … like we’ve never heard of THAT here in Peoria.
Media: Someone woke up on the wrong side of the tracks this morning
Monday, February 11th, 2008Sometimes the Journal Star’s Award-winning editorial board can come up with some thought-provoking analysis. And then we have the snarky rants that readers were presented with this morning. We have are two knee-jerk, anti-rail road diatribes.
One ignores half of the facts in the long and convoluted Kellar Branch controversy, including the basic simple fact that the Surface Transportation Board’s mission has been to do exactly the opposite of what the editorial advocates — letting railroad owners charge outrageously high rates to those who use the rails. It’s just not going to happen.
And as someone who’s lived in communities that could be cut in half by a train cars parked on tracks, I do sympathize with the cities mentioned in the article cited by the second editorial. The solution isn’t local laws, but improvements in infrastructure and better regulation at the federal level.
Railroads make deal
Tuesday, December 11th, 2007The Journal Star reports today that Central Illinois Railroad (CIRY) and Pioneer Industrial Railway (PIRY) have come to an agreement as to when each can operate on the Kellar Branch.Â
If you’ll recall, the Surface Transportation Board decided last Friday to mediate the dispute between the two carriers. If an agreement was not reached by Friday, December 14, the Board would require the two parties to meet with them. Apparently, a deal was made Monday.
Pioneer Industrial Railway CEO and president Mike Carr provides some information regarding the agreement with CIRY:
“…the agreement includes, for the most part, a “letter of understanding” on when one company can be on the rail line versus the other. He described the agreement as an “operating window of 10 hours during a 24-hour period” in which one carrier can be on the line. “
If I understand this correctly, one railroad can operate on the line during one 10-hour period and the other, the next 10-hour period. When only one of the two carriers plans to run a train on a particular day, it would seem logical to dispense with an operating window. Presumably, procotol has been developed for interchange of cars to and from the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad near Spring Street.
Now that an agreement has been reached, Pioneer Industrial Railway should be operating on the Kellar Branch this week, and Carver Lumber’s buyer will be able to route shipments directly to the consignee’s place of business.Â
It is now up to the City of Peoria to negotiate fair operating contracts with the two carriers.
Central Illinois Railroad responds to STB Decision
Tuesday, December 4th, 2007Central Illinois Railroad confidently asserts that Pioneer Industrial Railway has “misled” the Surface Transportation Board regarding the fight over the Kellar Branch, yet themselves need to confess those same sins. Case in point: yesterday’s Petition to Modify and Hold in Abeyance the Board’s Nov. 19 Decision to restore PIRY’s operating authority on the Kellar Branch. CIRY states:
The Central Illinois Railroad Company (CIRY) asks the Board to modify and hold this decision in abeyance so that the parties can resolve issues relating to rehabilitation of a deteriorated and out of service rail line and Peoria can determine which carrier should operate over its railroad line.
Their request may sound reasonable, but it’s pretty clear who has (and is) misleading the Board. In its petition, CIRY president Jack Stolarcyzk makes this amazing claim:
I would like to note that as recently as six years ago there were at least 16 different customers on the Keller Branch. Today, there are two active customers. All that business disappeared under PIRY’s stewardship of the line. I believe that those customers stopped using rail because of the hostile environment by PIRY.
The fact is there haven’t been sixteen different customers on the Kellar Branch since the 1970’s! And what a cheap shot by a railroad so callous and indifferent to the needs of Carver Lumber in 2006 during which CIRY claimed everything was peachy about the service they provided. Carver’s current arrangements are due to CIRY’s own “hostility.” It’s amazing how Stolarcyzk can now claim current Carver Lumber management believes they can do business with them, conveniently forgetting the main obstacle, the failed western spur (which CIRY defended, and still does, ironically) is no longer an issue; instead CIRY is going to use the Kellar Branch.
It wouldn’t surprise me if the STB granted CIRY’s request, but meantime, I can’t wait to hear Pioneer’s response.
- David P. Jordan
Today’s news: Getting tough on landlords
Tuesday, November 27th, 2007Links via the Journal Star, unless noted:
- Once again, evil railroad tracks have lured someone into the path of an oncoming locomotive device. This time, it’s a pickup track that collided with a track sweeper.
- Speaking of rail, blogger C.J. Summers blisters the Journal Star for its illogical opposition to running the Rock Island Trail next to the existing Kellar Branch. Even if the Peoria Park District’s cost estimates are correct (and they aren’t, as they were pulled from thin air and lack any logical basis) it would still cost less than the districts’ zoo expansion project, which has failed to raise adequate donations and has resorted to involuntary donations — a tax increase. If the walking/biking path enjoys the popular support that its backers SAY it does, certainly they will put their money where their mouths are.
- By the way, HOI News tells us that Globe Energy wants to use the Kellar Branch. This might mean, hold onto your hat, good-paying manufacturing jobs. The sort of jobs that residential developer David Maloof told us aren’t to be had along the Kellar Branch.
- A local judge ruled for the city in this long-going dispute over equal pay for women. Now, 3rd District Court in Ottawa has unanimously ruled for the female employees. The difference is going to cost the city millions, unless it wins on appeal. Perhaps the city would benefit from a new, and unbiased set of eyes looking at the facts.
- My sympathies to the family and friends of Hung “John” Tien, who was found murdered in his home yesterday. This has all the earmarks of a home invasion gone wrong, or a stranger-on-stranger crime. That’s a rarity in Peoria, where it seems most of the murder is a case of one criminal killing another.
- As much as I despise bad landlords who rent to thugs, I have to wonder if giving the city the power to fine the hell out of landlords if they rent to people the police say are bad guys just might be giving too much power to the government. It amounts to giving the city government the power to deny people the right to live within the city limits. I might trust the police to be fair, but I’ve heard too many honor stories about Peoria’s housing court to have total faith in any city-run adjudication process. Is there any support in place to let landlords know when an applicant for a rental home or apartment might include a family member who is a known criminal? Certainly, the current system isn’t working. The source of this problem is a criminal justice system that tends to put criminals back on the street before the ink is dry on the arrest papers. The solution is to fix that problem (by electing tougher prosecutors and judges, and making sure there is room to put the criminals). But until this happens, I don’t blame the city for trying other solutions. But there needs to be safeguards to prevent abuse.
- It looks like Peoria County voters will have an opportunity to express their opinion on whether or not to provide additional taxpayer cash to pay for a museum on the former Sears Block. Perhaps after voters tell the county by a 2-1 margin to go to Hell, the movers and shakers will stop trying to shove this stupid idea down everyones throat.
UPDATE: Corrected the name of the developer. My apologies.
Surface Transportation Board: City didn’t make its case
Monday, November 19th, 2007I’m sure this issue is far from being solved, but the Federal Surface Transportation Board (STB) made public its Decision today regarding the City of Peoria and Village of Peoria Heights’ plan to keep Pioneer Industrial Railway off the Kellar Branch:
“The Cities’ application for adverse discontinuance of PIRY’s operating authority is denied.”
Basically, the STB restored the Pioneer Industrial Railway’s operating authority on the Kellar Branch, but the Central Illinois Railroad’s operating authority has been left intact. The two carriers will have to come to a joint operating agreement. This is one aspect of the Decision I don’t like, but I’m sure the two railroads can work out a deal that benefits the customers.
For those of us with an interest in the outcome of the rail vs. trail debate, the text of the decision is an interesting read, but I’ll analyze it when I have the time. In the meantime, have at it.
UPDATE (8:00pm): There’s not much more to add, and further commentary would likely rehash old arguments. Basically, the City of Peoria failed to make its case and the Board felt it best that the restoration of Pioneer’s operating authority would be the best solution.
The coming weeks and months will be interesting to watch as CIRY and PIRY must work out an arrangement that is satisfactory to both parties. I’m a little concerned about the feasibility and economics of such an arrangment. Perhaps the two railroads will alternate in providing service month by month, or a joint corporation will be formed to eliminate duplicate service to users? Whatever arrangement is made, the interests of shippers, and potential shippers, should be priority.
Now that it is highly unlikely the Kellar Branch will be abandoned, the line may now has the chance to fulfill its potential, which for too long has been stunted by a financially-ailing owner (Rock Island RR, which posted losses every year from 1965 through 1979 then was forced to liquidate in 1980), uncertainty over Interstate Commerce Commission directed service leading up to the closure if the Pabst brewery (1982), and Municipal ownership marked by poor decisions (user fees) and an indifferent operator (Peoria & Pekin Union). When the line had an operator (Pioneer) willing to increase traffic and market it to new business, the City wanted to destroy it for a recreational trail. Perhaps the next few years will show skeptics that the availability of efficient rail freight service to Peoria’s northwest side will allow for job growth that has been lacking.
Time will tell.
Media: Is the JS edit board dishonest, or just plain dumb?
Thursday, November 1st, 2007Never hesitant to let accuracy to get in the way of its opinions, the award winning (snicker) editorial page of the Peoria Journal Star today asserts that there are “no obvious customers” on the Kellar Branch* line.
Really? Lets count them: Carver Lumber, Obrien Steel and the ready mix plant on Van Buren (the name escapes me), not to mention the contract Central Illinois Rail has for storage of rail cars from other carriers, as well as the potential business from Globe Energy. You know, the company that might very well be offering 600 good-paying factory jobs in the future.
The PJS is whining that Peoria and Peoria Height’s property rights are being violated by the Surface Transportation Board. I say the these two entities knew from the day they bought the line (ironically, they bought it to keep it open and running) that the feds wouldn’t allow it to be taken out as long as there were customers that used it.
It’s one then when a newspaper promotes a position that makes no sense. It’s another when they present provably incorrect facts to do it. The first is a matter of opinion. The other is either dishonest or incompetent.
* NOTE: David Jordan is usually my go-to guy for transportation-related issues. But I had to comment on the intellectual dishonesty of today’s editorial. Sorry to step on your toes, David
Today’s news: Clinging to bad ideas
Wednesday, January 17th, 2007All links via the Journal Star:
- Despite one adverse decision after another from the Surface Transportation Board, the
Peoria City Council still seems to be clinging to the idea of closing theKellar Branch rail line and replacing it with a hiking and biking trail.My two cents: I defer to
C.J. Summers , who sums up the city’s options quite nicely. C.J. also dismisses claims the cost of repairing and re-opening the branch would be cost prohibitive, reminding us that the former operator, Pioneer Industrial Railway has offered to buy the Kellar Branch and lease land along side to thePeoria Park District for a trail.The solution to this mess is mind-numbingly easy to see, only elected politicians and stubborn bureaucrats cannot see it.
- The JS headline reads: “City Council puts of water study.” I’m not the only guy who makes typos, apparently. Heh.
My two cents: I support the deferral. I want the city to make sure city staff didn’t cherry pick a consultant who would tell them what they want to hear. First, I want the city to clean up it’s mess. Second, even if I didn’t give a rat’s ass about the feces that’s flowing into the
Illinois River every time it rains, I don’t want the federal government to come back later with huge fine because it hired a guy who told the city what it wanted to hear, rather than what it needed to hear. I want to know exactly what relationship the local firmMACTEC Engineering and Consulting Inc. has with the city how. It seems to me that it might be better to have this study done by a consultant that doesn’t have to worry about whether or not it’s going to get any more business from the city. - Superintendent Ken Hinton has changed his mind. Now, he wants to keep P
eoria School District ’s contract withEdison Schools .My two cents: This is good news for those parents who like Edison. It’s bad news for the teacher’s unions. It’s a continued indictment of District 150 in that people are so desperate for something other than what is normally offered by the administration and its teaches. And it’s bad news for taxpayers, who shouldn’t have to pay extra so that some schools can get the quality education in a safe environment ALL schools should get right out of the box.
F. Scott’s is closing its doors due to a dispute between the owner and the landlord over a sinking floor.My two cents: There are two sides to every dispute, and all I know is what I read in the paper. And one of the things I’m reading is that the landlord’s attorney is “Sluggo” Jack Teplitz. Beyond that, I have no comment.
- The guy who sells plots at Springdale Cemetery says he might resign. Seems he’s upset at being blamed for the cemetery’s financial problems, even though his sales are better than projections. He says the cemetery hired too many goundskeepers. Meanwhile, the cemetery manager — accused of driving away sculptor
Nita Sunderland as a monument restoration volunteer — was given a merit pay increase.My two cents: Yep. This is looking more and more like a government-run cemetery.
- The
Catholic Diocese of Peoria is being sued for negligence and fraud by a guy who says he was molested by a priest in the 1980s.My two cents: The priest is dead, so we don’t know his side of the case. Of course, seven other people have made similar allegations. And it’s hard to be sympathetic with the church, considering they let the guy continue being a priest long after they learned what he was up to.
One down, one to go
Thursday, December 21st, 2006Congratulations, Peorians.
You did it. You stood your ground and demanded that local government conduct business in public and for the public’s benefit. Many, many months ago,
Yesterday, that plan died. The park voted voted 4-3 to not participate. Without the land from the park, there’s no room along the park for the new super-school/community center to be built.
This would not have happened had there not been strident, vocal and consistent opposition from folks who opposed the plan for safety concerns for students, because of the destabilizing effect it would have on the East Bluff and those who opposed it because it would mean loss of green space at the park.
Opponents stood up and used facts, numbers and figures to counter the glib generalities, wild speculation and Utopian fantasies spun by those who wanted the new school built in the park.
The plan was always to wear down the opposition. But opponents stood strong and they packed the park district offices as the final vote was taken.
Enough cannot be said about the work Peoria City Councilman
That being said, I’d like to remind Mr. Manning, other Peoria City Council members and residents of the East Bluff and other Peorians who opposed the
The City of Peoria, Village of Peoria Heights and the Peoria Park Board are at this very moment doing their damnedest to destroy the Kellar Branch rail line and replace with with a walking and biking path that would be a part of the Rock Island Trail. The problem is that this happened against the sage advice of a commission created to specifically advise the Peoria City Council on railroad issues. They said it would stifle development by depriving a section of the city with reliable rail service.
And that’s exactly what happened. Businesses that needed rail moved out and no business that needed rail moved in to replace them. Promises continue supplying existing businesses in a timely and cost-effective manner were not kept. The company hired by the city to operate the rail spur until it was removed simply failed to operate it safely and efficiently.
And exactly like those who stridently and consistently opposed the Glen Oak Park siting, those opposed to destroying the Kellar Branch have never stopped fighting.They kept using numbers, facts and figures — not to mention basic common sense — to oppose glib generalities, wild speculation and Utopian fantasies spun by trail proponents. There is no way that a bike trail is going to generate as many tourism dollars as the property and income taxes that could be generated by one light industry business would bring provided there was viable rail service north of Pioneer Parkway.
That is why I am challenging Robert Manning — who championed the East Bluff and common sense — to take a similar principled position in favor of common sense and make a motion at Tuesday’s meeting of the Peoria City Council to direct City Manager Randy Oliver to direct the city’s attorney’s to drop all legal efforts to close down the
It’s only right. In the simplest terms: The City Council is to the Kellar Branch as Peoria School District is to the Glen Oak Park site plan. It’s long past time the council realizes how arrogant and bullheaded it looks continuing to beat this dead horse.
Sandberg: Stop railroading the council
Wednesday, September 6th, 2006Peoria City Councilman Gary Sandberg lived up to his reputation as a gadfly by being the only member of the council to vote against an agreement to let the Illinois Department of Transportation hire Central Railgroup Construction Services to adjust an existing railroad crossing at Allen Road. It’s all part of IDOTs improvement of Allen road from Park Road to North of Pioneer Parkway.
IDOT is paying the full cost of the project, which would widen the road to five lanes. It’s already down to two lanes, according to 5th District Council Member Patrick Nichting.
So what’s Councilman Sandberg’s beef? It’s the same company the city hired to maintain rail service on the Kellar Branch after the city bought the line and fired Pioneer Railcorp. Sandberg complained that Central Illinois Railroad — hired by the city to run the Kellar Branch and maintain it — has done a very poor job, from failure to adequately get shipments to Carver Lumber, to failure to provide weekly reports on the track, for having a frunaway train that endangered a Peoria neighborhood. And Central Illinois Railroad owns Central Railgroup Construction Services.
“I can see no reason to reward these people with additional work, even if other people are paying for it,” Sandberg said. Actually, since the state is paying for it, so are the citizens of Peoria.
Sandberg also objected to being told that the approval must be given immediately, or the project could not be finished before winter sets in. He compared it to having a gun places against the council members head and being told to vote. The city’s professional staff is fully capable, if it wanted to, of getting these sorts of measures before the council for a vote in a timelier manner, he added.
Peoria City Manager Randy Oilver defended Central Illinois Railroad by saying that the company made most deliveries to Carver on time. It’s a statement that David P. Jordan debunks on his blog.
The shipment records show that on 27 of the 29 deliveries, CIRY placed the car at Carver’s facility no more than 2 hours after receiving the car from the Union Pacific at Pioneer Junction.
Those who are ignorant of rail operations might take this as fact, but it is not. An accurate statement would read this way:
The shipment records show that on 27 of the 29 deliveries, CIRY placed the car at Carver’s facility no more than 2 hours after being notified by the Union Pacific of their delivery at Pioneer Junction.
Now note the supposed delivery times shown on the UP interchange report. During the month of August, six carloads were received in interchange from Union Pacific. CIRY’s interchange/”shortline event summary” shows UP making a delivery on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the early afternoon. Yet Carver Lumber’s filing with the STB from July 21 states that UP elects to provide service to the CIRY interchange on Mondays and Wednesdays. So is there a contradiction here?
The fact is, Union Pacific’s “Peoria Wayfreight” works five days a week, Sunday thru Thursday beginning at 5:00pm. A trip up to Pioneer Jct. is usually the first job for the wayfreight, which does this on Mondays and Wednesdays. Basically, UP delivers to CIRY in the early evening, but CIRY’s crew does not work the Pioneer Jct. to Pioneer Park line until late morning or early afternoon the following day (if there are any cars). The above corrected statement assumes that CIRY receives notice from the UP the following morning that these cars have been delivered. In reality, UP physically interchanges these cars to CIRY the prior evening and then some 18-20 hours later, CIRY delivers to Carver Lumber.
It’s sort of like paying extra for “Express Mail” from the post office, and finding out the only thing they guarantee is that it might get there pretty muchg the same time as a regular letter, if at all.
Carver Lumber now has rail service?
Tuesday, March 7th, 2006The City of Peoria has filed a response to a motion to get the Surface Transportation Board to reconsider it’s decision that would the Kellar Branch to be demolished and greplaced with an extension to the Rock Island Trail.
The filing includes this paragraph:
“The connection of the Kellar Branch to the former Union Pacific rail line to the west has been completed and is train-ready. Rehabilitation of the Kellar Branch has been completed as of February 28,2006. Carver has ordered two rail shipments, which are enroute. Union Pacific has stated that it will interchange those shipments to CIRY. CIRY has stated that it will deliver those shipments to Carver from the west. It thus appears that alternative rail service for Carver is at hand.”
The whole thing is below:
Sin of omission: JS keeps public in the dark about scope of Carver Lumber losses due to Kellar Branch project
Thursday, January 26th, 2006I’n no fan of the Journal Star’s editorial page. Time and again, the newspaper prints editorials that cross the line from opinion and into the relm of deceptive propaganda. There are simply some issues that this paper will not cover fairly on the front page or the editorial page.
The Kellar Branch story is one of those topics.
The people who run the Journal Star have the right to hold the opinion that the Kellar Branch should be built, regardless of the cost. These people have the right to hold the opinion that losing Carver Lumber is a small price to pay for converting the rail line into a walking path. I will never argue that the JS doesn’t have the right to express these opinions.
But I will demand that the Journal Star adhere to basic standards of the profession. Even an editorial needs to be accurate, and not ignore those facts that are inconvenient to the paper’s editorial position:
While Carver [Lumber] may be right to criticize the unfinished link – the lumber company is temporarily shelling out more for truck service – it has Pioneer to blame for blocking early construction.
That’s a very dismissive way to decribe how Carver lost $25,000 since the branch went out of commission.
Or course, you’ve never seen that figure reported anywhere in the Journal Star. The JS doesn’t want its readers to know that figure. It’s hard to position Kellar Branch opponents as right-wing, out-of-town kooks and obstructionists if it were widely known that a long-term Peoria business was hemorrhaging money.
This isn’t a case of bad reporting. The reporters covering this subject are not stupid, nor are these people unethical, in my opinion.
I am convinced that someone high-up in the newsapaper’s hierarchy is keeping this fact out of the paper.
And that is unethical.
The Journal Star is the newspaper of record for the Peoria area, and it enjoys the financial benefits that comes from that distinction. It has the moral responsibility to be an unbiased and objective gatherer and disseminator of facts. It has abandoned its responbilities in order to promote an agenda.
Carver’s $25,000 loss isn’t important enough to mention
Saturday, January 21st, 2006There’s something missing from today’s Journal Star article about the Surface Transportation Board’s decision to not close the Kellar Branch:
The city and park district have only been trying to get the deal done for a decade or so. But on Friday, the STB put the project back on hold, based on recent complaints from Carver Lumber Co., which is on the Kellar line, and Pioneer Railcorp, the former operator of the line.
The board stated their initial approval was “premised on the fact that the existing shippers on this segment of rail line would receive rail service in the future via a new western connection to the Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) or by some other arrangement,” the ruling states.
Carver Lumber told the STB the western connection isn’t complete and, further, called “into question the availability and practicability of that alternative when it is completed.”
Give up? The JS neglected to mention that one of the “complaints” from Carver Lumber is that it’s lost $25,000 because it can’t get deliveries any more.
The outrage is not that the Rock Island Trail project — so beloved by the muckety-mucks at the JS — is in jeopardy, but that a business has lost $25,000 and might move outside city limits if it doesn’t get rail service back.
Carver Lumber wins: The STB stays Kellar closure
Friday, January 20th, 2006Leave it to C.J. Summers to be on top of the Kellar Branch closure case. He’s reporting that the Surface Transporation agrees with Carver Lumber that the Kellar Branch cannot be closed until the City of Peoria finishes work on a new line allowing the lumber company to receive deliveries. The decision states:
The Board’s decision granting CIRY’s petition for exemption was premised on the fact that the existing shippers on this segment of rail line would receive rail service in the future via a new western connection to the Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) or by some other arrangement . . . . In its letters, Carver Lumber expresses concern about allowing CIRY’s discontinuance authority to go into effect because the western connection has not yet been completed. Carver Lumber also raises several issues regarding the western connection to UP that call into question the availability and practicability of that alternative when it is completed. Until these issues are resolved, it would be inappropriate to allow this discontinuance to become effective.
Kudos to the STB. They obviously care more about Peoria businesses than does Peoria City Hall or the Peoria Park District.
Billy Dennis is a former reporter and editor at small daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois and Missouri. He comments on media, news and politics. He also owns and operates 
