Historic Railroad Photos, Page 7

The image on this old lithograph postcard is not very good, but pictures of the Lake Erie & Western yard at Tipton, Indiana are so rare I decided to use it anyway. The track on the left appear to be the main track, also on the left is what appears to be a coal pile. In the front center is an ash pit and cinder conveyor. In the center is the turntable with the roundhouse to the right; behind all of this you can see the yard. Tipton was a division point on the LE&W and Nickel Plate until 1933 when it was moved to Frankfort. Postcard from Bob Albert collection.

QN tower is at the crossing of the C&O and Monon north of LaCrosse, Indiana. The tower opened in 1903 and closed on Oct. 7, 1932. I assume this was due to the Depression. I don’t know what kind of crossing protection was used until 1948 when Wade Tower was built. Wade is a brick tower that is still standing, but unused. Photo is courtesy of M. D. McCarter Photographs Photographs, please check our links page for his catalog.

This postcard of the Monon/New York Central depot at San Pierre, Indiana is interesting because of all the small details shown. You are looking northeast across the diamonds of the Monon (two tracks) and NYC (single track). Looking left to right you can see the spare diamond that used to be at nearly every crossing, next you can see some sort of an out building and a Lucky Strike billboard. At the depot, the Monon appears to be replacing the T.O. board with a new one, note the mast with no blades. There is a baggage wagon at the depot and three loads of coal at the elevator. On the right is the freight transfer house with a crate on a cart. Front and center is the gate that the train crews had to use to protect their movement over the crossing. Postcard from John Orem/HVRM collection.

Dillon, Indiana was in the middle of nowhere, but supposedly at one time a very small community was there. The Wabash and the Nickel Plate’s IMC division crossed here and we are looking north on the NKP. This tower was built about 1924 and may be the second tower for this location since the crossing was interlocked on July 28, 1893. The crossing was automated in 1948 or 1949 and the tower closed. Photo from Jon Schmidt collection.

I am going on some assumptions on this photo. As you can see the postcard (postmarked in 1909) says “C&S RR Sta. Walkerton, Ind.”. I am guessing it really means CI&S (Chicago, Indiana & Southern). The depot is loaded on a flat car; you can make out the word “Central” on the flat car. While looking for some other information, I noticed that in 1900 the Lake Erie & Western didn’t have a depot at Tyner, which is about six miles from Walkerton. By the 1910s Tyner had a depot, which appears identical to the one in the photo. Another photo I have, from about the same time period, shows the CI&S depot in Walkerton as a larger building. Since both lines were under New York Central control at the time did the old CI&S depot get relocated to Tyner when the new depot was built? Postcard from Bob Albert collection.

Most people think of the former Nickel Plate yard at New Haven, Indiana as something new in the early 1950s when the NKP was improving their yard and terminal facilities. This postcard view shows that a yard was at New Haven long before the 1950s. The yard in this photo didn’t have any engine facilities and (so I am told) handled the overflow from the crowded West Wayne facility. Postcard is from Bob Albert collection.

Tower pictured here is thought to be 10th Street Tower in Michigan City, Indiana. 10th Street tower was where the Monon and Michigan Central crossed the South Shore tracks. It was torn down in the early 1960's and the crossing was made remote out of MC Drawbridge, which is still in operation. Photo is from HVRM collection.

Denham, Indiana is located on the Pennsy’s Panhandle line between North Judson and Winamac. Today, a person is hard pressed to find a trace of the Panhandle, but in the photo is seems to be a busy place. Denham had a population of about 100, so there is definitely something special going on the day of the picture. Photo is from HVRM collection.

San Pierre, Indiana was the crossing of the Monon and New York Central. I had seen pictures of both railroad’s depots and the later joint depot that sat at an angle to the crossing, but this picture threw me for a loop. The depot on the left is the Monon depot that has been moved to an angle to the track and became the joint depot. On the left is the NYC depot that was later moved to Tefft when the joint depot went into service. The angled depot was either replaced or heavily rebuilt at some point in time, since it does not resemble the later depot that was razed in the 1970s. Photo is from Jon Schmidt collection.

The Nickel Plate depot at Wheeler, Indiana was a small town depot, not much bigger than a section house. The train bulletin board states that the date July 8, 1910 and passenger trains 4 and 5 are on time, as are mixed trains 33 and 34. On Sunday, July 10 an excursion train will stop here at 7 am to pick up people for a day in Ft. Wayne. Postcard is from Bob Albert collection.

The Chicago, Indiana & Southern (later New York Central) depot at North Liberty, Indiana appears to be a busy place. The depot was located on the east side of the tracks, just south of the State Road 4 crossing. Take note of all the detail in this picture, a two-wheel dolly on the loading dock, the four-wheel baggage wagon, milk cans and a barrel slide near the bay window. Two lanterns lit the platform at night. Postcard is from Bob Albert collection.

This Pennsy T1 seems to have a good roll on this eastbound mail train at Plymouth, Indiana. I am guessing this to be the early 1950s. The T1 is about to hit the Nickel Plate and Vandalia diamonds. There is a train in the eastbound passing track that is being overtaken by this train. The C&O hopper cars are parked along the NKP. Photo is from Winfred Nickel/HVRM collection.

Berlin “WI” tower was near Larwill, Indiana and was a Pennsy block station that controlled eastbound and westbound sidings. I don’t have any other information, but it was probably closed in the 1920s. Postcard is from Bob Albert collection.

This Pennsylvania depot at Frankfort, Indiana was built in 1922 and was closed after only eleven years of use. It is unusual that such large and ornate a depot would have been built at this late date, since the automobile was already making inroads on the railroads passenger service. The great depression was the last blow and the facility was closed. Postcard is from Bob Albert collection.

The Pennsy’s tower at Grovertown, Indiana was located on the south side of the tracks just west of the (now) State Road 23 crossing. There was a small depot that was located on the north side of the tracks. I don’t know when the tower or depot was closed. Postcard is courtesy of Joe Heiser.