I just finished reading Gary and Stephen Dolzall’s excellent Monon, The Hoosier Line.
It is pretty light reading, but I found it enjoyable to read and the photography is excellent. Lots of coverage of the Monon from the 30’s on. The photography is well balanced geographically also.
Little known fact, Monon received trackage rights from the South Shore in the 60’s between Hammond and Michigan City. Monon had been interested in buying the SS and accumulated 20% of the stock. C&O swept in and made an offer the SS accepted. The condition of the buyout was Monon’s trackage rights. The book referred to the rights as “seldom used”.
Does anyone know of any photos of Monon under catenary? Now that would be rare.
Are the semaphores still up around Crawfordsville and down south?
I am not going to let this topic get lost in the shuffle. I have driven alongside the vast majority of the remaining Monon line and have ridden Amtrack on the old Monon–I think I could have walked it faster. However, I never saw a semiphore signal.
Like you, I am an Indiana transplant, so the Monon is not quite as sacred to me as it is for other Hoosiers. Nonetheless, I have always found the line interesting.
I went to lawschool in Bloomington, and one of the most interesting aspects for the Monon–to me–is tracing where it once was south of Bloomington. There were a lot of tight and sharp curves just south of Bloomington where they pulled out the old Monon main. To this day, I scratch my head thinking how 100+ car freight trains negotiated those things–on notable grades no less–on a regular basis.
Do you know if the Monon went into Chicago via trackage rights, or did it use a connecting belt line to get the rest of its traffic to Chicago? How did Monon passenger service reach Chicago? What statation did it serve?
Finally, I have always thought the remaining Monon was an awesome candidate for a regional railroad. It doesn’t seem that important to CSX. Chicago - Indianapolis is too short of a hual to be a major market–CSX can reach Indy with two other routes any way, and there are a lot of smaller under-developed industries on the line that would be ideal for a regional player.
I think Hoosiers would declare a state holiday if a regional took over operations and called itself the Monon. I have never seen a geographic region where non rail fans had such a loving connection to a railroad.
I live about 400 yards from where the Monon’s Indianapolis branch came to downtown Indianapolis–and about 600 yards from where the Nickle Platte came into town. One line is a tourist line that might see a train three times a year the other is a rails to trails. Apparently, I should have
You asked about Monon’s routing into Chicago, it was via the Chicago & Western Indiana into Dearborn Street Station. Monon trains rain right along side the SSL (on C&WI tracks) from State Line up to about 130th/Torrance, where the C&WI tracks passed under the SSL (which was on an embankment). This took the Monon trains past Pullman Junction, etc. on their way into town.
In contrast, the Monon had America’s 4th longest stretch of tangent track between Brookston and Westville, IN, 64.52 miles, on the partly abandoned line to Michigan City. The Indiana High Speed Rail group proposes rebuilding this line, however unlikely that is.
David P Morgan mentioned several times that they (referring to the proper name of Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville) were unique in using trackage rights to enter the three Cities they were named after.
I’ve really got to stretch my memory here, so I apologize in advance if any of this turns out to be off-kilter! Chicago & Western Indiana was the parent company of the BRC at one point.
Monon was just one tenant, the others being the other users of Dearborn station (C&EI, Erie, GTW, etc.). As for where C&WI lines fall today, the piece from Dolton north into the city is UP’s, by virtue of their MoPac acquisition.
Chicago & Eastern Illinois, Erie, Grand Trunk, Monon and Wabash were the joint owners of the C&WI. The C&WI was the owner of Dearborn Station, which was also the Chicago Terminal for the Santa Fe. Santa Fe was just a tenant and did not have an ownership position in the C&WI
I am traveling, thanks for the updates on the MONON. I will post a question regarding another regional on another thread.
Monon ended at State Line, as stated above. They ran their passenger trains from Hammond to Dearborn with an RS 2 to avoid turning costs of their F units by the CWI. The F would come off at Hammond and an RS2 would replace it as it was bidirectional.
In the category of wasted opportunity during my youth, the avoidance of the ex Monon line during the 70’s would be near the top of the list. I have but one shot of the Monon trackage with a Family Lines train. I missed the boat on that.
Oh to explore the line between Bedford and Bloomington and then perhaps swim or fish in one of the abandoned quarries.