Prairie Marksman

"Peoria Rocket" redirects here. For the 1937 streamline train, see Rock Island Rockets (1937).

Prairie Marksman

The Prairie Marksman at East Peoria in August 1981

Overview
Service type| Inter-city rail
Status| Discontinued
Locale| Illinois
Predecessor| Peoria Rocket
First service| August 10, 1980
Last service| October 4, 1981
Former operator(s)| Amtrak
Route
Termini| Chicago, Illinois
East Peoria, Illinois
Stops| 1
Distance travelled| 149 miles (240 km)
Average journey time| 3 hours 15 minutes
Service frequency| Daily
Train number(s)| 311, 312, 314
On-board services
Class(es)| Unreserved coach
Catering facilities| On-board cafe
Technical
Rolling stock| Amfleet coaches
Track gauge| 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Track owner(s)| Illinois Central Gulf Railroad
Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway
| Route map

Legend

|  |  |

Dist.

| Station

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|  |

0 mi

| Chicago
|  |

| 37 mi

60 km

Joliet
|  |

|  | Eureka
|  |

| 149 mi

240 km

East Peoria
|  |  |  |  |  |

This diagram:

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The Prairie Marksman was a daily passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago's Union Station and East Peoria, Illinois. The route was an indirect successor to the Rock Island's Peoria Rocket.

## History

[edit]

Prior to the creation of Amtrak Peoria was served by the Rock Island's Peoria Rocket out of the Rock Island's Rock Island Depot. Then in serious financial distress, the Rock Island opted out of Amtrak in 1971. The company decided it was cheaper to keep running its remaining passenger trains, the Peoria Rocket and Quad Cities Rocket, than hand them to Amtrak. The two trains continued running until December 31, 1978, each providing one daily round trip between Chicago's LaSalle Street Station and Peoria and Rock Island, respectively, via Joliet.[1][2] With the demise of the Rock Island, Peoria's nearest railroad connection was at Chillicothe, Illinois, 20 miles (32 km) to the north, where Amtrak's Lone Star (Chicago-Kansas City-Houston) and Southwest Limited (Chicago-Kansas City-Los Angeles) – successors to the Santa Fe's Texas Chief and Super Chief, respectively – stopped daily. The Lone Star, however, fell victim to budget cuts and was discontinued in October 1979.

The Prairie Marksman began on August 10, 1980, as a joint venture between Amtrak and the state of Illinois.[3] Eschewing the Rock Island route, the Prairie Marksman used the old GM&O line between Chicago and Chenoa, Illinois, and then traveled west over the Toledo, Peoria & Western to East Peoria. The name was derived from a TP&W freight train which once operated over that route between Webster, Illinois and Keokuk, Iowa.[4]

The Prairie Marksman was intended as a one-year pilot project. However, the train only attracted 65 passengers per day, not even half of the 150 per day needed to justify making it permanent. Amtrak added service to Eureka, Illinois on July 25, 1981.[5] Amid losses of $120,000, Illinois withdrew its support for the train, and the Prairie Marksman made its last run on October 4, 1981.[6]

With the end of the Prairie Marksman, the Peoria area's only intercity link was the Southwest Limited – later renamed the Southwest Chief – in Chillicothe. However, Amtrak rerouted the Chief away from Chillicothe in 1996. Since then, the nearest Amtrak station is at Normal's Uptown Station, 40 miles (64 km) to the east, which is served by the Lincoln Service and Texas Eagle. Amtrak operates Amtrak Thruway service between Peoria and Normal.

## Proposed revival in September 2011

[edit]

The Illinois Department of Transportation formally requested Amtrak to conduct a study to analyze the feasibility of initiating inter-city passenger train service between Chicago and Peoria. A number of possible alternate routes were identified and reviewed at a high level, and these results are summarized and discussed in a document published by Amtrak in September 2011.

With the successful application by the State of Illinois for federal stimulus funding to upgrade the Chicago-St. Louis Corridor to a maximum speed of 110 miles per hour (180 km/h), the study request was modified to one route that would provide the Peoria area with connectivity to certain Amtrak corridor trains. After an initial review of the various routes, it became apparent that instead of a complete route feasibility study between Chicago and Peoria, either a rail or bus shuttle between the Peoria area and Normal, Illinois, utilizing the recently constructed multi-modal transportation station in the Uptown Normal neighborhood, would be the most expedient way to meet the goal of the IDOT.

A decision was made by IDOT that no through-train frequencies between Peoria and Chicago were to be considered. In lieu of Chicago-Peoria through train service, IDOT directed Amtrak to explore a shuttle feeder system that would provide guaranteed corridor train connections at Normal with the Lincoln Service and thus permit morning and evening departures from Peoria and Chicago. The shuttle would use the Norfolk Southern Railway to reach Normal. Amtrak estimated start-up costs at $106 million, mostly for a new connecting track in Normal which would permit the trains to bypass a Union Pacific Railroad yard there.[7]

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Glischinski 2007, pp. 77–78
2. ^ Schafer, Welsh & Holland 2001, p. 136
3. ^ Goldberg 1981, p. 88
4. ^ "American Railroad Freight Train Names 1948". Archived from the original on April 4, 2005. Retrieved March 8, 2009.
5. ^ Sanders 2006, p. 251.
6. ^ "Amtrak cut". Southeast Missourian. September 1, 1981. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
7. ^ Amtrak (September 26, 2011). "Feasibility Report of Proposed Amtrak Service: Chicago - Peoria" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 20, 2013.

## References

[edit]

* Glischinski, Steve (2007). Regional Railroads of the Midwest. MBI Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-7603-2351-9.
* Goldberg, Bruce (1981). Amtrak--the first decade. Silver Spring, MD: Alan Books. OCLC 7925036.
* Sanders, Craig (2006). Amtrak in the Heartland. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253027931.
* Schafer, Mike; Welsh, Joe; Holland, Kevin J. (2001). The American Passenger Train. Saint Paul, MN: MBI. ISBN 0-7603-0896-9.

## External links

[edit]

External image

Amtrak on the TP&W in the 80's

* Rock Island timetable
* Non-Amtrak train services timetable, 1975

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Former Amtrak routes

Long
distance|

| West|

* Chief
* City of San Francisco
* Denver Zephyr
* Desert Wind
* El Capitan
* Inter-American
* Lone Star
* North Coast Hiawatha
* Pioneer
* San Francisco Zephyr
* Super Chief
* Texas Chief

|

East|

* Broadway Limited
* Capitol Limited
* Champion
* Floridian
* Hilltopper
* James Whitcomb Riley
* Mountaineer
* National Limited
* Lake Shore
* Panama Limited
* River Cities
* Silver Palm (1996–2002)
* Silver Star
* South Wind
* Spirit of St. Louis
* Three Rivers
* Vacationer (seasonal)

Corridor|

| West|

* Coast Daylight
* Expo '74
* Las Vegas Limited
* Orange County Commuter
* Pacific International
* San Diegan
* Spirit of California
* Willamette Valley

|

Midwest|

* Abraham Lincoln
* Ann Rutledge
* Arrowhead
* Black Hawk
* Blue Ridge
* Calumet
* Campus
* Hoosier State
* Indiana Connection
* International
* Kansas City Mule
* Kentucky Cardinal
* Lake Cities
* Lake Country Limited
* Limited
* Loop
* Michigan Executive
* North Star
* Prairie Marksman
* Shawnee
* St. Louis Mule
* State House
* Turboliner
* Twilight Limited
* Twin Cities Hiawatha

East|

* George Washington
* Gulf Breeze
* Gulf Coast Limited
* Montrealer
* Shenandoah
* Silver Palm (1982–1985)
* West Virginian

| Northeast Corridor|

* Atlantic City Express
* Bankers
* Beacon Hill
* Cape Codder (seasonal)
* Chesapeake
* Clamdigger
* Clocker
* Colonial
* Connecticut Yankee
* Fast Mail
* Merchants Limited
* Metroliner
* Night Owl
* Twilight Shoreliner

|

Empire Corridor|

* Empire State Express
* Niagara Rainbow

Keystone Corridor|

* Atlantic City Express
* Fort Pitt

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