Waddya think? Which one do you like better?
Rich
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Gold letters and symbols on black looks better than red and gray. I would be more impressed with Blue & Gold (Cal) but that would be off topic in a discussion about the Monon. 
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Yep, I agree. The Purdue colors look decent , but the U of I colors look a bit gaudy.
Rich
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Monon’s rebuilt hospital car fleet was quite large (28 cars) considering the size of the railroad. The cars were built by ACF in 1944 and 1945 (not by StLCC in 1943, which I wrote earlier - the Korean War cars that went to Amtrak were built by StLCC).
Quite a few types were built:
2 Baggage Mail (10-11)
6 46 Seat Chair cars (21-26)
8 52 Seat Chair cars (27-34)
3 Dining-Tavern (51-53)
2 Dining-Parlor-Observation (58-59)
5 44 Seat Grill-Chair car (65-69)
2 40 Seat Parlor-Observation (71-72)
The Hoosier and Tippecanoe (Indianapolis) and the Thoroughbred (Louisville) were all re-equipped in 1947.
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— and the Monon took a pretty serious stand on graffiti ‘artists’!
CI+L542 by John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library, on Flickr
Not a very clear photo:
Monon-Ex US Army Hospital Cars-2 by John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library, on Flickr
Monon-Ex US Army Hospital Cars by John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library, on Flickr
A Parlor car interior:
Monon-Hoosier Interior by John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library, on Flickr
Regards, Ed
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Very cool!
Thanks for posting those photos, Ed.
Rich
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Excellent photographs posted, Ed. Thanks for posting. You must have a large collection.
David
yes love the photos Ed thanks.
Chuck
Thanks! Many are mine or at least in my collection. For others I have Flickr to thank. Quite a few of the contributors there will allow you to share their photos. The ‘tag line’ and link included will take you to their album so credit or attribution is given.
Here’s a few that I’m sure Rich will enjoy!
Monon 501 Chicago by Bob Anderson, on Flickr
Chicago & Western Indiana RR – 8 Photos by Marty Bernard, on Flickr
Monon Departure by Matt Lastovich, on Flickr
Note the Grand Central clock tower to the upper left in the bottom photo.
I model the ERIE among others so at least some of my trains would have arrived at Dearborn.
ERIE_1075_A by Edmund, on Flickr
Cheers, Ed
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Ed, you’re killing me.Love those photos.
That first one features a Monon C420 High Nose. You can see the Monon car it just dropped off. If you blow up the photo, at the far right is a C&WI switcher and one of its commuter cars at the Annex.
In that second photo to the right of the station is a 2-story building. That is the GTW freight office.
In the third photo, in front of the Grand Central Station Clock tower that Ed pointed out is the 1-story C&EI Outbound freight house. Also, a C&WI switcher pulling one of Ed’s Erie passenger cars. Notice the black and white striped switcher, a Santa Fe loco that insists on doing its own switching chores.
In the fourth photo, I see Ed in his white trench coat leaving the platform.
So much eye candy in those photos.
Rich
2 Likes
Just to finish off Monon postwar passenger cars, Monon was assigned two cars in the 1947 Pullman breakup. Since contemporary timetables show daily Pullman service between Chicago and Louisville, and seasonal service between Chicago and French Lick, it’s safe to assume that the Monon owned 10 section, 2 compartment, 1 drawing room cars were given the regular Chicago-Louisville assignment with the others drawn from the Pullman Pool.
Monon-owned Pullmans were “Camp Dix” and “Fort Gaines”, which was renamed “Sir Henry W. Thornton” in 1949, after a Grand Trunk/Canadian National Railways railroad executive who grew up in Indiana. According to Pullman Project records, Monon got ownership in December 1948. Sir Henry W. Thornton was repainted into Monon colors when it was renamed in 1949, but was back in Pullman colors by 1952. There is no record that Camp Dix was ever repainted. After Louisville Pullman service ended both cars spent some time in the Pullman Pool before being retired.
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Wow, I never realized that my beloved Monon was a second hand railroad, so to speak. 
Rich
They were probably the regularly assigned cars before ownership was transferred to the Monon. The fact that Monon only got 2 out of the thousand or so cars transferred in the Pullman breakup shows what a minor player it was in overnight travel.
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Yeah, even on my layout, all my Monon cars are coaches.
Rich
You don’t see Monon passenger trains in black and gold very often.
Source: RailPictures.Net Photo: MON 210 Monon EMD F3(A) at Louisville, Kentucky by David W. DeVault
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Not only was IU and Purdue on the Monon, but also Wabash College and DePauw University, two exceptional small colleges.
Their football rivalry is intense with the winner being awarded the “Monon Bell” a 300 pound bell which the winner keeps until the next game.
Wabash is all male college and DePauw is co-ed. As stated above, both are highly regarded schools.
Ed
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Small colleges they are. I have a good friend and also a relative who both attended and graduated from DePauw University.
Rich
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DePauw is a great small school…really nice campus. It is known as a money school here in Indiana. Lots of well to do families send their children there.
I graduated from Hanover College another fine Indiana college…played basketball against DePauw, back in the day.
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Did you win. 
David
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Yes. Cannot recall the score but we did win.
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