Who Remembers the EL in Indiana?

Classic Trains General Discussion
1

I only had a few experiences with EL in Indiana. I recall a day at Crown Point. The old PRR there was pretty much dead at that time, but the EL was running 5-6 hot trains every day there. ( 1975,or so). I LOVED those EL SDP-45’s! Biggest engines I ever saw! I had one train with those go through, then about half an hour later, there was a “Ordinary” came through, with 4! E-8’s! I guess about 50 cars, but that was my favorite train of the day! We drove like hell to chase it to Hammond, cought it at the bridge, then turned back as to not get into Chicago traffic mess. That was the last “Hurrah” for the old EL in Indiana. On April 1, 1976,the EL in Indiana ceased to exist. I still cry about that… In retrospect, That line should have been saved. It had more clearance for “High/Wide” loads, Would have been perfect for todays Intermodal "Double-Stacks. But I guess you can hike the trail and imagine how it used to be…

Todd

2

I crossed it twice a day in a school bus while growing up. In my area it was a series of long fills. I recall seeing more GP (18?) as the power, when I actually got to see a train moving. LOVED watching the semaphores slowly climb back to clear after a train. One crossing between the house and school still had wig-wags, though the bus didn’t cross there.

3

Sounds familiar, I recall a small town, (Leiters Ford)?? west of Rochester, IN. that had a really neat old gas station just across the tracks in town. Had an old “Wig-Wag” signal there!!! We stopped there for gas and mountain dews, and heard a Nathan M-3 horn as we were leaving. That meant E-8’s!!! Caught up with them at North Judson. Chased to Hammond.

Oh, yeah, I just took a little trip down memory lane…

Todd