(The following story by John R. Pulliam appeared on the Register-Mail website on April 15, 2009.)
GALESBURG, Ill. — U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, at the invitation of state Rep. Don Moffitt, will be in Galesburg Thursday to visit the hump tower at the BNSF Railway classification yard south of the city.
Durbin is scheduled to be here at 9 a.m. to get a first-hand look at the importance of the railroad as the area’s largest employer. Moffitt, R-Gilson, has been working to get Durbin to visit here for some time. As a member of the state’s House Railroad Committee, Moffitt wants to talk to the senator about the potential for the expansion of the railyard here and job creation with capital projects funded with money from the federal stimulus program.
Among the projects Durbin is expected to hear about is money to fund the three grade separations in Galesburg, the need for sidings in the railyard, as well as improvements and expansion of the Amtrak depot.
As Amtrak ridership has hit the area of 100,000 passengers annually, the depot is no longer large enough. Baggage handling also is not offered at the local depot.
Other projects local officials hope will be funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act include a third mainline coming out of the railyard, as well as money to help develop the National Railroad Hall of Fame. The proposed location for the Hall of Fame Moffitt had Durbin scheduled to visit to tour the railyard one time previously, but the senator was forced to cancel that visit at the last minute.
One of the hopes from an economic development standpoint is that the construction of the three grade separations and other improvements in the railyard may convince BNSF to expand that facility, already the second largest in the railroads’s system.