Illustration by David Hine. It all began with a napkin. The international food-processing company Archer Daniels Midland was paying $250 per shipping container to transfer its goods between two railroads in Decatur, and they were looking for a way to cut that cost. Scott Fredericksen, ADM’s president of transportation, and Mark Schweitzer, then the company’s […]
railroad
Posted inOpinion
Inside the House of the Rainbow
In a humble house by the railroad tracks, a recently released ex-con sits idly on a worn-out couch, smoking a cigarette and ashing in a tuna can. He’s explaining his views on society with an air of irreverence, as one who has seen just about everything. He gives a pseudonym – Tom Bennett – to […]
Posted inOpinion
Study recommends 10th Street rail
Springfield’s long-awaited railroad consolidation study calls 10th Street the best option, but the project’s fate remains murky as the federal government examines a new alternative and the availability of funding. Prepared by Hanson Professional Services of Springfield with a summary released by the City of Springfield on its website last week, the consolidation study analyzed […]
Posted inOpinion
Group wants local rail jobs
A Springfield-based community group is hoping to make the contentious arrival of high-speed rail into a blessing by making sure 30 percent of the jobs from the project go to local disadvantaged workers. The Faith Coalition for the Common Good hosted a public meeting Aug. 19 at Union Baptist Church to discuss the coming project’s […]
Posted inArts & Culture
When the railroad first came to Springfield
In the 1830s, when people traveled by foot, horse, stagecoach or boat, Illinois developed a railroad. It was ahead of its time. Like others around the state, central Illinoisans wanted faster transportation to relieve their isolation and farmers wanted to get products to top markets in the south, according to Paul Angle’s Here I Have […]
Posted inOpinion
IDOT: 10th Street option would delay high-speed rail six years
The Illinois Department of Transportation will consider putting the proposed high-speed rail system on 10th Street, according to its application for federal stimulus money to build the system. But IDOT is calling on the City of Springfield and Sangamon County to complete an environmental study on the 10th Street option, and the application indicates such […]
