Anyone remember the streetcar rails along Main and Bradley Avenues?

[Da Coach]

Phil Luciano has a column about an old streetcar line that was uncovered during some street repair along Bradley Avenue. He documents the old City of Peoria strreetcar lines that have long since disappeared.

http://www.pjstar.com/news/x1752170720/Luciano-Repairs-offer-glimpse-at-past?img=2

BTW, if anyone is unable to view the article because they have reached their page limit, PM me and I can help.

[Chico]

Phil Luciano has a column about an old streetcar line that was uncovered during some street repair along Bradley Avenue. He documents the old City of Peoria strreetcar lines that have long since disappeared.

http://www.pjstar.com/news/x1752170720/Luciano-Repairs-offer-glimpse-at-past?img=2

BTW, if anyone is unable to view the article because they have reached their page limit, PM me and I can help.

I remember the streetcar lines in Peoria, but at that age I didn't travel much from the Southside to the Bradley area so I don't remember that particular line. Mom used to take us out to Glen Oak Park via the streetcars.

[BUBrave28]

I distinctly remember a thread on here about those streetcar lines. They were uncovered when they built Renaissance Coliseum and tore up the street to lay the red brick crosswalks on Main St.

[TNel]

I was an East Bluff kid and remember often riding downtown and back on the Knoxville streetcar. In fact, I think we (mom, brother and sisters) took the streetcard downtown on VJ Day for the big celebration. Dad was in the Phillipines with 1st Cavalry. Don't remember ever venturing west to the Bradley area. Until reading the article didn't remember the streetcars being different colors for different lines. I think the Knoxville cars were orange or red. Great memories.

[Da Coach]

My recollection doesn't go back nearly as far as TNels, but I do recall there were still few of the streetcar rails on some of Peoria streets as late as the early 70's, before they were finally paved over. Wasn't there a line that went out Lincoln or Howatt Street?
But the main streets such as Main, Bradley, Knoxville, Jefferson, Adams, etc, had been paved over long before that.

[TNel]

I know the Knoxville rails were still visible in the mid-to-late '50s. My '49 Plymouth had the same track width as the rails and I loved to "ride the rails." Smooooooooth ride. Wonder if they're still there?

[BU RICK]

Speaking of "rails"...have you got any railroad lines still working down there heading north to Da Big City, Bear Land, Cubs, Sox, Hawks, Shopping, Sight Seeing...you would think they'd get some action. One arriving there at 4PM and leaving at midnight would work and there would be others, one leaving there in the morning... I would think Peoria would/should have rail service with Chicago, I don't understand why not.

This is all I could find...

http://www.pjstar.com/business/x1602635646/Will-Peoria-catch-the-next-train

[tornado]

and again speaking of rails....I never knew this until this past weekend....

I saw an interesting piece over the weekend on PBS about this famous locomotive...




It is the restored "Old 886" Rock Island Line locomotive that sits out front at the Wheels of Time museum up on North Knoxville Ave

BUT here's the secret -- this old steam engine is NOT #886 which was the one that ran for many, many years on the Chicago to Peoria line of the Rock Island Line...
The one on display is actually #887, the sister engine to #886. Unfortunately when the museum made the request for the old #886 they made it a few days too late and the old, useless engine had already been scrapped. So they took #887 which ran a different route in Ohio and they faked the numbers and re-labelled it as #886 -- so now you know the rest of the story!

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM134V_Rock_Island_886_887_Steam_Locomotive_Class_P31_Peoria_IL

http://namethispeorialandmark.blogpeoria.com/2008/03/29/230/