M.P. B 172.4 to 183.5 - 2nd Subdivision -

A major selling point of the Monon in Indianapolis was the distance between Indianapolis and Chicago. This was a point that the Monon constantly advertised in the rivalry between the Monon and the Big Four and Pennsylvania. The Monon was 183.5 miles compared to 193.6 for the Big Four and 202 for the Pennsylvania. Although shorter in miles, speed restrictions on parts of the Indianapolis Branch negated this distance advantage.

  

Advertising on the Monon. Left: Bridge over Fall Creek Parkway, date unknown. Right: Fairfield Avenue Bridge, circa 1949. This location was near the Fairgrounds. Indianapolis streetcar also pictured.

Monon Trail bridge over Fall Creek Parkway. This bridge remains and is part of the walking trail. You are looking northwest.

  

Left: Southbound Tippecanoe passes through the Fall Creek bridge. With F-3A #82B in the lead, it rolls off the final miles of the Chicago - Indianapolis trip. Right: Looking at the same bridge in 2006.

  

Left: Northbound passenger crossing the Fall Creek Bridge, date unknown, although a good guess would be prior to April 1959. Right: Looking south through the Fall Creek Bridge. Picture appears to have been taken from the observation car, or caboose of a northbound train. Date unknown.

Southbound freight at Fall Creek, 1970.

 

 

 

 

 

  

Fall Creek Bridge 2006. Left: Looking south along the old row. Right: Side view looking southwest.

  

Fall Creek Bridge 2004. The bridge over Fall Creek has been saved and is now part of the Monon Trail. Left: Looking north through the bridge. Right: Side view of the bridge.

  

Fall Creek Bridge, circa 2005. Looking north along the former right of way. Right: Looking south from the north bank.

B 180.0 2nd Subdivision

 

Left: Indianapolis Yard roundhouse and turntable, circa 1963. In this picture you are looking to the north. Right: In this picture, circa 1964-65, the turntable remains but the roundhouse has been demolished.

Looking down the Indianapolis roundhouse, circa 1947, when it was still full sized. It was taken from the 28th Street entrance with the camera facing south. The first stall immediately to the right housed the machine shop and on the far side 2 smokestacks rise from the stall used as the boiler house for the shops and offices at the terminal. An F3 idles in the background but steam power is still in service shown by the exhaust from the coal dock indicating that coal is being hoisted. Courtesy of George Sennhauser.

 

 

 

Right: October 1976. The roundhouse and turntable have both vanished. Pictured is the area where they once served the Monon.

 

 

 

 

 

  

Indianapolis Yard. Left: Diesel service facilities. Note BL2 and passenger train to the left of the image. Date unknown. Right: BL2 #37 with passenger cars behind. Date unknown.

  

Indianapolis Yard roundhouse and service facility. Left: F3A #82A getting fueled and ready for a return trip north. Right: #83A on the turntable, 1959.

Fueling at the Belt Junction Yard, circa 1965. By then the Monon was hiring local fuel companies to service the units.

 

 

 

 

 

  

Indianapolis, Indiana. Left: Yard office and rip track. Right: Former location of Monon freight house. I-70 is the highway.

 

Several locomotives, including #601, 506, 514, 608 and 516 at Indianapolis, March 1971.

 

 

 

 

 

Indianapolis Yard, exact date unknown. Late 1940's or 1950's based on observation car to the upper left of the photo.

 

 

 

 

 

Another look at the Belt Junction Yards. Note passenger cars.

 

 

 

 

 

  

Left: Turntable at the Belt Junction Yards. Right: Looking across the yard at the Monon facilities.

  

Left: Looking at stored cars at Belt Junction. Fuel storage tank is to the left. Right: View across the yard from the storage tank. The Nickle Plate yard is in the distance. -MRHTS Photo Archives Collection.

  

Left and Right: Piggy back loading ramp at Belt Junction. -MRHTS Photo Archives Collection-

Looking north at the Belt Junction Yard. -MRHTS Photo Archives Collection-

  

Left and Right: RS2 action at Belt Junction. RS2 on local passing through Belt Junction. Unknown date.

  

The Nickel Plate Indianapolis Yard was east of the Monon Belt Junction Yard. Pictured is the Nickel Plate roundhouse. In the photo to the right, the last two tracks are those of the Monon. -Courtesy Ed Thompson-

 

BL2 #30 on local freight on Indianapolis Line, exact date unknown.

 

 

 

 

 

Switcher #12 working at 28th Street, September 27, 1970.

 

 

 

 

 

  

Left: C420 #510 at Indianapolis Junction, November 1970. Right: Another view of the yard and the locomotives pictured above.

 

Indianapolis Freight House. When the tracks of Union Station were elevated in 1924 the Monon built a new freight house east of the station. The Indianapolis Star and News made the building their newsprint depository.

 

 

 

 

  

Indianapolis Freight House, circa late 1950s, early 1960's.

  

Left and Right, Above and Below. Construction of the Indianapolis Freight House. -Mahlon Eberhard Collection-

  

  

 

Switching at the Indianapolis Freight House, mid 1960's. Exact date unknown.

 

 

 

 

 

Monon caboose sits next to the Indianapolis, Indiana freight house.-Courtesy Max Foltz-

 

 

 

 

 

  

Left: The Tippecanoe passing Ohio Street in March 1959. Here the Monon trains entered the tracks owned by the Indianapolis Union Railway and will arrive at Union Station in about five minutes. Right: Indianapolis yard shot, circa 1976.

  

Left: Polk Dairy, 15th and Lewis Streets. Founded in 1893, the Polk Dairy sat alongside the Monon Indianapolis Line. The giant milk bottles were famous. Right: Train 12, the northbound Tippecanoe passing the tower at Massachusetts Avenue in 1959. In the distance are the milk bottle cornerstones of the Polk Dairy.

10th Avenue and Mass Ave, early 1960's.

 

 

 

 

 

Monon Trail

Today much of the mainline has been redeveloped into a walking/ jogging train, also known as the Monon Trail.

  

Monon Trail 2004. Left Above: Monon Trail I-70, looking north. Right Above: Monon Trail, 10th Street, looking north. Below Left: Monon Trail, 10th Street looking south.

 

 

 

 

 

Union Station

Terminus for the Monon's passenger trains for Indianapolis. The red brick Victorian structure was originally built in the 1880's. The tracks that were owned by the Indianapolis Union Railway were elevated in 1924. Today the station has been completely rehabilitated into a shopping mall and train/ bus station.

 

Union Station, downtown Indianapolis. The start of the journey between Indianapolis and Chicago. A lone F3 unit is backing up to couple onto the passenger consist. The station is now a retail mall.

 

 

 

 

  

Union Station. Left: Main entrance, Union Station. Right: Interior shot of the station.

  

Left: Passenger concourse inside station. Right: Another shot of concourse and doors leading up to train platforms.

  

Left and Right: Construction of the train shed.

 

Loading mail on an RPO at Union Station. Date unknown.

 

 

 

 

Early morning sunlight shines on Monon F3 #82A as it get ready to lead Train #12 north from Indianapolis. It is spring of 1959 and the days of regular passenger service are numbered. Regular service was discontinued in April.

 

 

 

 

  

Union Station, 2004. Today Union Station has been redeveloped into a commercial property. With shops and a Holiday Inn, which features room made from old Pullman Cars ( pictured below), it is a gem in the downtown. Amtrak operates from the station and the Cardinal still roams part of the old Monon, from Crawfordsville to Munster. Left: View of Union Station from west of the station. Right: Train shed and tracks on the west side of the station.

  

 

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| Bygone Monon Main | Second Subdivision |