Something Real Fast Flew By Yesterday on Route 66 in Illinois

From the Oct. 20, 2012, Chicago Tribune "Officials gleeful at 111 mph Amtrak run" by Jon Hilkevitch.

It was a bird, no plane, no...a train that blew by the 15-mile stretch between Dwight and Pontiac, Illinois yesterday in the trial run of the newly renovated high-speed track.  Construction of the track was the reason for all the portapotties along that stretch in recent months.

The Amtrak train reached 111 mph, one mph more than was the goal and marked the fastest a train has traveled in Illinois for more than 70 years.

Of course, we've been startled in the past by trains flying along that stretch pretty fast even before the new tracks.  Then, there was the derailment south of Pontiac near the old state highway patrol station.

The short leg between Dwight and Pontiac is part of the 284 miles of the Union Pacific Railroad corridor which is being built to accommodate the faster trains planned for use between Chicago and St. Louis. 

The map in the article pretty-well traces Route 66 across the state.

Construction of this corridor was part of the reason for the demolition of the old Ballard Elevator between Chenoa and Lexington and the Chenoa train station in recent years.

So, That's What It Was.  --RoadDog