Historic Railroad Photos, Page 3

These are some of the forty-four cars involved in the Hanna wreck. Cars were piled up on both sides of the crossing. Many of the cars contained small items such as radios, televisions and toys. Clean up took many days, as this was in the days when they actually salvaged goods from damaged freight cars. Photo by Bob Albert.

A Chicago bound Pennsy passenger is stopping at North Judson, Indiana to receive and discharge passengers. The photo is undated, but I'm guessing it is the late 1940s or early 50s. The station was damaged in a December 1956 wreck and was rebuilt without the bay window. The Railway Express office to its left was completely destroyed. Photo is courtesy of M. D. McCarter Photographs, please check our links page for his catalog.

This photo of the Pennsy tower at Bourbon, Indiana is interesting for several reasons. The photographer was facing west when he snapped this picture. You will notice the canted telegraph poles on each side of the tower. They were probably canted to allow to the tower to be built. The workmen appear to be laying sod and everything else is neat-as-pin, notice the straight ballast line. I would date this photo to about 1903, when the Pennsy was double tracked in this area. Photo from Bob Albert collection.

The St. Joseph Valley Lines was a short-lived (1905 - 1917) railroad and interurban that operated every type of equipment possible. Gasoline powered car 173 was built by Kuhlman in 1910 and is stopped at the Inverness, Indiana station. Inverness was the site of a wreck on December 30, 1916 in which two people were killed and eleven others injured. Photo from Bob Albert collection.

Thought to be a New York Central inspection engine, it is running at 40 M.P.H. on the Lake Erie & Western through Cowan, Indiana. The enclosed car body of the engine allowed railroad officials to ride "up front" to inspect their property. Notice the steps going up the front. The date of this photo is unknown, but it may well be just before the Nickel Plate take-over of this line in 1922. Photo from Bob Albert collection.

Lena Park, located just southeast of North Judson, Indiana didn't develop as a town as the planners had hoped. In 1910, the Square Realty Co. of Chicago, had 1000 lots available for purchase and ran free excursion trains on the C&O of Indiana to bring prospective buyers to the site. In recent years the site has developed as a housing area. Postcard from Bob Albert collection.

Nickel Plate #750 appears to have its eastbound train on a good roll at Sidney, Indiana. Judging from the flags on the smoke box the train is the first section of #56. The photo is undated, but appears to be from the early 1950s. The depot was located just east of state road 13, but is now gone. Photo is courtesy of M. D. McCarter Photographs; please check our links page for his catalog.

Lakeville, Indiana was where the Wabash 4th District and the Pennsy's South Bend branch crossed. This postcard view is looking west showing the depot, the tower and water tank. Nothing remains here today and you really have to look hard to tell the railroads were ever here. Postcard from Bob Albert collection.

On February 3, 1962 a westbound New York Central freight train rear-ended another just east of Walkerton, Indiana. Four crewmen were injured and the caboose was destroyed, that is part of it under the boxcar. The locomotive facing the boxcar is an Alco FA2 #1076. Photo from Bob Albert.

South Shore coach #14 wears an experimental paint scheme in this undated photo taken at South Bend, Indiana. Coach #15 also wore this maroon on the bottom and orange on the top scheme, which was applied when the cars were rebuilt in 1942. Photo courtesy of Richard Andrews.

The photo is not very clear, but the scene is timeless. Nickel Plate agent George Thornburg does his paper work duties at Hibbard, Indiana. Take a look at the office. A thermometer and calendar (August 10, 1956) above his lunchbox, the Underwood typewriter (or maybe Royal), clock, extension phone and telegraph equipment. Train consists were thrown off at Hibbard and then send to Ft. Wayne by a teletype machine to aid the in the reblocking of eastbound trains. Photo from September 9, 1956 South Bend (Indiana) Tribune.

Nickel Plate #749 passes under an unusual cantilever signal at Claypool, Indiana in the late 1950s. The NKP had very few of these, this was probably installed to help crews see the signal around the curve that the Argos Turn has just come though. The Big Four crossed the NKP here. The local had probably left its train east of town, worked the elevator and now is heading west. Paul Willer photo, Bob Albert collection.

The Monon depot at Francesville, Indiana sat between two elevators; the shadow of one can be seen by the word "Crose". In later years the depot was shortened to about 1/3 of the length shown here and a bay window was also added. The building was razed in 1978. Postcard from Bob Albert collection.

This postcard supposedly shows the first CR&M (C&O) depot in Peru, Indiana. I would rather think this really the freight house, even though it resembles a depot. The brick and stone depot was built in 1901, which was the year the CR&M started running to Peru. I can't explain the train order board. I did talk with a C&O retiree and he said he remembered the building as a yard office after it had been moved near the river. I am open to comments on this one. Postcard from Bob Albert collection.

On January 30, 1951 the Pennsy derailed 14 cars at Culver, Indiana near the State Road 17 crossing. The cars contained autos and auto parts coming from the Studebaker plant in South Bend. The weather was near zero and a broken rail was determined as the cause. It took several days to clean up the wreck and rebuild the track. The next two photos will show how quick the Indiana weather can change. Photo from Bob Albert collection.