Editing Grand Excursion (section)

{{Short description|Promotional voyage by train and steamboat into the Mississippi River valley, USA}}
[[File:SprtPeoriaGrandExcursion06282004.jpg|thumbnail|right|300px|The ''[[Spirit of Peoria]]'' on the 2004 Grand Excursion]]
The '''Grand Excursion''' was a promotional voyage by [[train]] and [[steamboat]] into the Upper [[Mississippi River]] valley, USA that first took place in June 1854. It marked the first railroad connection between the East Coast and the Mississippi River, and it included dignitaries such as former president Millard Fillmore. In 2004, 150 years later, the Grand Excursion route was retraced by both riverboats and a [[steam locomotive]].