Alco motive power on the Indianapolis line east of Monon. #508 is on point of this Indianapolis freight.

 

 

 

 

  

Quarry Road, south of Monon, Indiana. Left: Looking south along the Indianapolis Line, circa 2004. Right: Looking north along the line.

Looking south from Quarry Road, date unknown.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Guernsey, Indiana, April 1981. Left: Looking south along the former Monon right of way. Right: Looking north at the area where the town was.

Guernsey was established around 1882. A railroad station was established in 1883, however, the town was never officially platted. The Post Office was established between 1882 and 1907 and the town may have been named after the Post Office, however, there is no indication on how the Post Office was named. Prior to 1950 there was a grain elevator located here.

Guernsey was also the scene of a fatal crash. At 4:30 am, March 19, 1931, Train 91 did not properly respond to a stop and collided with Train 36 which was waiting south of the passing siding switch. At the ICC website, there is a report on this accident.

  

 

Left: Same area as the picture to the right above. Looking north along the mainline. Right: Old foundations next to the mainline. Downtown Guernesy?

  

North of Monticello. Crossing near county roads 375E and 220N. Left: Looking north. Right: Looking south towards Monticello.

County Road 100N crossing on the north side of Monticello.

 

 

 

 

 

M.P. B98.6 - 2nd Subdivision - Mo

Monticello was founded in 1834 and was named by the White County commissioners for the home of Thomas Jefferson. Located 30 miles from Lafayette, Monticello is home to Indiana Beach on Lake Shafer. In 1923-24 two dams were built and two artificial lakes were created. These twin lakes, Freeman and Shafer, have become key to Indiana tourism. In 1926, Indiana Beach Amusement & Camp resort was founded on Lake Shafer four miles north of Monticello. It has grown to become the state's largest summer resort and vacation playground, entertaining more than 750,000 visitors on average each year. The resort is one of the largest contributors to Indiana tourism in general, and it put the city of Monticello on the map. The resort includes amusement rides, four roller coasters, a campground and the Shafer Queen paddle boat. On April 3, 1974 an F4 tornado devastated Monticello and nearby Indiana communities.

Mainline and RCA Plant at Monticello.

  

Left: RCA Plant in Monticello, circa 2001. The plant was still being served by the railroad. The tracks still ran south as far as Hanawalt Street. Right: Another view of the RCA Plant in Monticello. This view is of the west side of the plant.

Another view of the west side of the plant.

The RCA plant was originally known as Monticello Cabinet Company. By the 1940's the company was making cabinets for the RCA Television Plant in Bloomington, Indiana. The cabinets were shipped via 50 foot boxcars. Because of a problem with blowing sawdust, the railroad had restrictions on speed when passing this plant.

Today the name of the company is Jordan Manufacturing. The current end of the former Indianapolis line is at this location a few blocks north of the TP&W crossing. Until recently, there were two active customers left on the line, Landis Plastics and Excel Co-Op. Landis received resin pellets to make plastic pails and Excel received fertilizers. Landis was purchased and closed down, leaving th co-op as the only active customer. There is no runaround track there, so the CSX heads down the branch from Monon, spot cars and backs up to Monon using the caboose that CSX keeps there.

 

  

Street running in Monticello? Actually the street ran on either side of the tracks. Left: Train 11 pays a call on the depot, which sat between Broadway and Harrison Streets on the east side of the tracks. Right: Great shot from the cab on the line at Monticello. Northbound train #12, approaching the depot March 7, 1959. Richard Baldwin photo.

  

Monticello Depot. -Dick Fontaine Photographs-

  

Left: Southbound passenger makes a stop in Monticello in 1956. George Sennhauser photo. Right: Monon steam, No. 283, a 2-8-0 passes the depot and station platform, northbound, at Monticello. Date of picture unknown. W.A. Akin Jr photo, Kalmbach Publishing.

  

Left: Monticello Depot, October 21, 1973. John Strombeck photo, obtained through the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum, North Judson, Indiana. Right: Another view of the Monticello Depot, date unknown. You are looking south.

  

Left: Monticello Depot, circa 1950. Ron Stuckey/ John Fuller photo. Right: April 1974. Aftermath of the F4 tornado that struck downtown Monticello, 5:17 pm, resulting in an estimated $100 million dollars in damages.

  

Left: Another picture of the damage done by the tornado. Looking down the L&N/ Monon mainline. Right: Damage at the crossing between the PRR/ TP&W and the Monon. These images bring back memories for me. Wednesday, April 3, 1974. I was a student at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana. That afternoon a fellow floor resident in the dorm asked to borrow my vehicle to go home and return the next day. I was not sure of the exact reason, but I told Jim that I would be happy to drive him home, since my classes were all finished. He invited me to stay the evening at his parents home, in downtown Monticello. We drove through severe thunderstorms as we neared town. Jim noticed the tornado before me and he yelled, "holy shit, it is headed right towards our house!" Then, all hell broke loose and we watched as dust and debris flew every which way. It was as if someone had dropped a bomb on the town. His parents house had some minor damage, the neighborhood was not as lucky. Throughout my life, I have survived several encounters with Mother Nature's killing winds, aka tornados. Palm Sunday 1965, Monticello 1974, and Lowell 1976. All were "up close and personal", however Monticello was one I will probably never forget, because I watched as it leveled a good portion of the city.

 

 

Left: Monticello elevator. Located at South Street.

 

 

 

 

  

Left: :Another view of the elevator. The truck is sitting on the former Monon right of way. Right: Silos to the south of the elevator and across South Street from the elevator. The Monon right of way is to the right side of the picture.

 

  

Left: Co-Op Grain Elevator, circa 1981. Looking toward the south. Right: Another view of the elevator, looking to the north.

 

    

Left: Aftermath of the 1974 tornado. The First National Bank building was destroyed. Right: Downtown Monticello moments after the tornado hit. White County Courthouse to the right of the image. The roof of the courthouse was taken off.

 

  

Left: Looking at the Monon railroad bridge, before the lower damn was built on the Tippecanoe. Exact date unknown. Robert Gibson Collection MRHTS Archives. Right: Another view of the railroad bridge, looking southwest. Great shot of the Tioga Bridge. Jim Wolfe Collection.

April 9, 1959. Crossing the Tippecanoe River, The Tippecanoe is just weeks away from its discontinuance. Note the single coach on the rear.

 

 

 

 

Southbound crossing the Tippecanoe River.

 

Indianapolis bound freight, pulled by a pair of Century 420s crosses the Tippecanoe River south of Monticello in 1971. The bridge no longer exists, repair costs were too much, so the line was abandoned and the bridge removed. Mike Schafer photo.

 

 

 

 

  

Two additional views of the Tippecanoe River bridge at Monticello. Left: September 1971, looking northeast. Right: Northbound freight crossing the bridge.

  

Left and Right: Additional photos of northbound freight.

 

Short local northbound crossing the Tippecanoe River.

 

 

 

 

Right: Same local, but not the different position of the switcher.

 

 

 

 

 

Northbound local crossing the Tippecanoe River at Monticello. Exact date unknown.n

 

 

 

own.

 

  

Left: October 6, 1976. Monon railroad bridge crossing the Tippecanoe River. Another picture of the bridge which is no longer spanning the river. Right: Another view of the bridge.

Monticello, Today

  

 

Monticello, Indiana, June 2003. Left: Former street running Monon mainline. Looking south from the former Pennsylvania, now TP&W RR tracks. Foster Street is pictured. Right: Abandoned mainline north of the former crossing with the Pennsylvania.

  

Left: TP&W structure at former crossing, just north of Foster Street. The monon crossed to the west of this location. Right: Abandoned mainline looking north from W. Ohio Street. Here the line stopped running between the streets.

 

  

Left: The end of former Indianapolis line. Looking north from Hanawalt Street. Right: Looking south at the former right of way.

  

Left: Looking south along the former right of way down Railroad Street from West Broadway Street. Right: Looking north along Railroad Street from Ohio Street.

  

Left: Looking south along the abandoned mainline south of Ohio Street. Right: Looking to the railroad south at the old right of way from South Main Street. Tioga Road is to the left of the picture. Continue south and you would come to the former Tippecanoe River bridge site.

  

Looking railroad north along the old right of way from the north end of the former bidge site. Right: Looking railroad south across the Tippecanoe River where the Monon bridge once stood. Great view.

  

Left: Looking at the abutment at the railroad north end of the former bridge. Right: Close up of the same abutment.

  

Railroad south end of the former bridge. Left: The southern approach to the Tippecanoe River bridge is being removed for development. Looking at what remains of the southern approach. Right: During the removal of the southern approach, these huge limestone blocks were found. Were these used as fill when the line was built?

  

Local landmark the Sportsman Inn. circa 2006. The Sportsman County Club was built in 1928 on 100 acres of land and several hundred feet of lake frontage. With the Depression, the hotel became idle until 1934 when Roy Conrad took a one-year lease and began buying it. In the the early days it was open 24-hours a day and 'all you can eat catfish' was 25-cents while a beer sold for 5-cents. Many celebrities such as Joe Louis, Gene Tunney and Jack Dempsey, were welcomed at the hotel as were politicians of both parties such as Nelson Rockefeller and all of the Indiana governors would visit the hotel. The historic Sportsman Inn has seen renovations that have been added, additions include a beautiful lakeside deck and the second floor has been opened up to hold banquets, parties, events and meetings. The property was sold and part of the building was demolished. The property is under new ownership and work to rebuild is underway. Left and Right: Work being done on the Sportsman Inn.

Another look at the work being done at the Sportsman Inn.

 

 

 

 

Monticello 2007

The former Monon is still serving Monticello. Thanks to BMIA Operative Jim Wolfe, we know that there is still traffic and activity on the former Monon on the northside of Monticello. Tank cars sit at Monticello Farm Service.

 

 

Monticello area 2019

Pictures by Nathan Miles
click on map to view all pictures by number

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| Bygone Monon Main | Second Subdivision |