Monon Railroad

Last updated

Monon Railroad
Monon Railroad logo.png
Monon Railroad The Thoroughbred.JPG
A postcard depiction of the Thoroughbred , with an EMD F3 in the lead.
Overview
Headquarters Chicago, Illinois
Reporting mark CIL, MON
Locale Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky
Dates of operation1847 (1847)1971 (1971)
Successor Louisville and Nashville
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm)

The Monon Railroad( reporting mark MON), also known as the Chicago, Indianapolis, and Louisville Railway( reporting mark CIL) from 1897 to 1971, was an American railroad that operated almost entirely within the state of Indiana. The Monon was merged into the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in 1971, and much of the former Monon right of way is owned today by CSX Transportation. [1] In 1970, it operated 540 miles (870 km) of road on 792 miles (1,275 km) of track; that year it reported 1320 million ton-miles of revenue freight and zero passenger-miles. (It also showed zero miles of double track, the longest such Class I railroad in the country.)

Contents

Timeline

Railroad artifacts on display at the Monon Connection Museum Monon Connection Museum interior.png
Railroad artifacts on display at the Monon Connection Museum

Colleges served

Restored Reading Railroad caboose painted as a Monon, in Monon, Indiana Monon Caboose Monon Indiana.jpg
Restored Reading Railroad caboose painted as a Monon, in Monon, Indiana

The Monon served seven colleges and universities along its line:

The university traffic was important enough to the Monon that the railroad used the schools' colors on its rolling stock. The red and white of Wabash College (and similar to the colors of Indiana University) was used on the railroad's passenger equipment, and the black and gold used by both DePauw University and Purdue University adorned the railroad's diesel freight locomotives and later replaced the red and white on passenger equipment as well.

Genealogy

Monon route

Route map, 1903 1903 Poor's Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway.jpg
Route map, 1903
The Monon's Hoosier departing Chicago. The Hoosier Monon.JPG
The Monon's Hoosier departing Chicago.
A CSX freight train with run-through BNSF power waits for yard clearance in Monon, Indiana. Rail line from west (CLight).jpg
A CSX freight train with run-through BNSF power waits for yard clearance in Monon, Indiana.

The railroad got the name Monon from the convergence of its main routes in Monon, Indiana. From Monon, the mainlines reached out to Chicago, Louisville, Indianapolis, and Michigan City, Indiana. [1] In Chicago the Monon's passenger trains served Dearborn Station. Branches connected the Louisville mainline to Victoria and French Lick in Indiana.

The Monon's main line ran down the middle of streets in several cities, notably Lafayette, New Albany, and Bedford. It also installed an unusual "home grown" warning signal at many grade crossings; these used a green signal light (similar to and adapted from a standard highway traffic signal) that stayed lit at all times, except when a train was approaching. A sign below or to the side of the signal read, "STOP When Signal Is Out" or "DANGER when light is out cross at your own risk". [6] This design was fail-safe, in that when the signal bulb was burned out, approaching vehicle drivers would assume a train was coming — until they eventually realized there was no train and just a burned-out signal.

The Monon had seven sections. Beginning in the north, Section One was from the Indiana line to Lafayette, passing through the Monon switch in Monon. As a primary passenger route, it connected to Section Four running between Lafayette and Bloomington. This route reached the Ohio River over Section Five from Bloomington to New Albany. From this southern route, Sections Six and Seven were spurs to the west. Section Six served the coal fields between Midland and Clay City, connecting to the main line at Wallace Junction, just south of Cloverdale. Section Seven provided passenger service to the resort hotels in West Baden and French Lick, through a connection at Orleans.

The other primary line, mainly a freight line, included Section Two from Michigan City on Lake Michigan to Monon and then Section three from Monon to Indianapolis. Although each route had its primary traffic type, freight and passengers were carried over all parts of the line.

Section #1

Chicago to Lafayette: [7] The Chicago to Lafayette route is used by Amtrak for the Cardinal and was used by the Hoosier State before that train was discontinued. [8]

Monon Crossing in Battle Ground, Indiana Monon Line Battle Ground Indiana.jpg
Monon Crossing in Battle Ground, Indiana

Section #2

Abandoned Monon Trestle over Wildcat Creek Monon Trestle near Ockley Indiana.jpg
Abandoned Monon Trestle over Wildcat Creek

Monon to Indianapolis. [7] Section #2 was a freight route between Monon and Indianapolis. The section of the line between Monon and Monticello is still in service and owned and operated by the Elkhart & Western Railroad, a Pioneer Railcorp subsidiary. The rest has been completely abandoned and the rails removed. Much of the right-of-way has been returned to neighboring landowners. Where farm fields surround it, evidence of the route has nearly been obliterated as the land has been returned to farming. From 10th Street in Indianapolis, through Carmel and up to State Road 47 in Sheridan, the Monon Trail is now a bike and walking route following the right-of-way. [10]

Section #3

Michigan City to Monon: [7] This line runs parallel to U.S. 421 as far as Brookston. The Indiana Rail to Trails group is developing a bike route from Michigan City to La Crosse, using the Monon right-of-way, where it still exists. A section south of Michigan City by I-94 has been consumed by a landfill and the bridge over the I-94 and I-80/I-90 have been removed.

Section #4

Lafayette to Bloomington: [7] From Lafayette southward, the Monon follows along U.S. 231 to Crawfordsville. At Crawfordsville, the right-of-way moves eastward of the highway several miles, but continues south to Cloverdale, returning closer to U.S. 231 at Greencastle. Amtrak uses this route south to Crawfordsville and then the old New York Central/Conrail tracks into Indianapolis.

White River crossing of the Monon near Gosport and Stinesville. Old Piers on White River Gosport Indiana Monon RR.jpg
White River crossing of the Monon near Gosport and Stinesville.

Section #5

Washington County Courthouse, Salem, Indiana Salem IN Courthouse.jpg
Washington County Courthouse, Salem, Indiana

Bloomington to New Albany [7]

Culbertson Mansion State Historic Site in New Albany, Indiana Culbertson Mansion 1.jpg
Culbertson Mansion State Historic Site in New Albany, Indiana

Section #6

Wallace Jct. to Midland (coal fields): [7] With the exception of a short stretch from Midland Junction to Vicksburg, this section has been completely abandoned and the tracks have been removed.

Section #7

Monon Station in French Lick, Indiana French Lick RR 352 Station.JPG
Monon Station in French Lick, Indiana

This section has been completely abandoned. Tracks remain only in French Lick and are used as an excursion route. French Lick to Cuzco. A portion of the original track in French Lick and West Baden (between the West Baden Hotel and the Indiana Railway Museum) has been altered and expanded for a trolley service serving various locations of the French Lick Resort and the museum.

Mid-20th century passenger trains

The line today

A restored Monon boxcar CIL 1620 at the Linden Railroad Museum in Linden, Indiana. The former Monon mainline is in the background. CIL 1620 20050710 IN Linden.jpg
A restored Monon boxcar CIL 1620 at the Linden Railroad Museum in Linden, Indiana. The former Monon mainline is in the background.

The remains of the line are operated by CSX Transportation. Large segments have been abandoned in recent years: most of the line from Monon southeast to Indianapolis, the line north from Monon to Michigan City, and the line segment between Cloverdale and Bedford (this segment was abandoned due largely to a washout). A portion of the French Lick branch is now home to a railroad museum.

Between Bedford and Mitchell, CSX owned the line but did not operate any of its own trains. Until 2009, the only service came from trains of the Indiana Rail Road, which in 2006 purchased the former Latta Subdivision of the Canadian Pacific Railway that connected with the former Monon at Bedford. INRD operated over the old Monon from Bedford to Louisville through trackage rights negotiated by the Latta Sub's original owner, The Milwaukee Road, when the L&N took over the Monon. Those trackage rights went from the Milwaukee Road to its buyer, The Soo Line Railroad; a subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway. In 2009, INRD ended service and removed trackage from the former Monon junction in Bedford to the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division west of Bedford. Consequently, CSX placed the ex-Monon line from Bedford south to Mitchell out of service.

CSX operated trains between Louisville and St. Louis, Missouri, over the Louisville-Mitchell segment; these trains had to make an unusual reverse movement to go from the Monon to the former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad line to St. Louis, owing to an unfavorable track arrangement at the crossing of the lines in Mitchell. As of 2009, CSX has stopped making regular movements over the line, with trains being shifted to the nearby Louisville and Indiana Railroad via a trackage rights agreement.

Monon line crossing Hoagland Ditch in White County White Hoagland Ditch CSXT (Clight).jpg
Monon line crossing Hoagland Ditch in White County

Amtrak's Cardinal train traverses the former Monon thrice weekly from Crawfordsville to the Indiana state line near Chicago. Station stops along the former Monon include Lafayette, Rensselaer, and Dyer.

The line through Lafayette was relocated in 2000 to an alignment along the Wabash River, parallel to the similarly relocated Norfolk Southern Railway line. Previously, the Monon Line ran down the middle of Fifth Street, with a hotel serving as its passenger station well into the Amtrak era.

The Monon Line has been abandoned in Hammond and Munster north of the junction with the Grand Trunk Western Railroad, but the corridor is planned to be rebuilt as the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District West Lake Corridor. Initially running as far south as Munster/Dyer Main Street, long-term plans would see services extend as far as Lowell and Valparaiso, Indiana. [15]

Museums

The Indiana Railway Museum in French Lick operates trains south from French Lick to Cuzco, Indiana, out of the former Monon (Union) depot in French Lick, Indiana. [16]

The Monon Connection, which opened in 2005. is on U.S. 421 north of Monon. [17]

Monon Museum Linden Indiana Station.jpg

Located in a disused Monon railroad station, the Linden Railroad Museum is owned and operated by the Linden-Madison Township Historical Society. In 1852, the Michigan City, Salem and New Albany Railroad cut through Montgomery County. The old stage road between Crawfordsville and Linden was given to the railroad as an inducement to get it to build through Linden. 1852 also saw the building of the first Linden depot, on a site behind the present day post office. The building was moved to the current location in 1881 when the Toledo, St. Louis and Western Railroad was built through Linden, crossing the Monon at this location. [18]

The John Hay Center in Salem has the Depot Railroad Station Museum, honoring the Monon. [19] It has also been the home of the Monon Railroad Historical/Technical Society since summer 2012. [20] [21]

The Kentucky Railway Museum in New Haven, Kentucky, displays Monon's Diesel Engine No. 32, an Electro-Motive Division (EMD) BL2 model, in its original black and gold paint scheme.

The French Lick West Baden Museum in French Lick acquired a major Monon Railroad Artifact collection in 2021 that is on display from November 2022 through mid-2023. [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crawfordsville, Indiana</span> City in Indiana, United States

Crawfordsville is a city in Montgomery County in west central Indiana, United States, 49 miles (79 km) west by northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,306. The city is the county seat of Montgomery County, the only chartered city and the largest populated place in the county. It is the principal city of the Crawfordsville, IN Micropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Montgomery County. The city is also part of the Indianapolis–Carmel–Muncie, IN Combined Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monon, Indiana</span> Town in Indiana, United States

Monon is a town in Monon Township, White County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 1,777 at the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York Central Railroad</span> American Class I railroad (1853–1968)

The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midwest, along with the intermediate cities of Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, Rochester and Syracuse. New York Central was headquartered in New York City's New York Central Building, adjacent to its largest station, Grand Central Terminal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dearborn Station</span> Former train station in Chicago, United States

Dearborn Station was, beginning in the late 1800s, one of six intercity train stations serving downtown Chicago, Illinois. It remained in operation until May 1, 1971. Built in 1883, it is located at Dearborn and Polk Streets, to the south of the Loop, adjacent to Printers Row. The station was owned by the Chicago & Western Indiana Railroad, which itself was owned by the companies operating over its line. The station building headhouse now houses office, retail, and entertainment spaces, and its trackage yard, behind the headhouse, was redeveloped into part of the Dearborn Park neighborhood.

The Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway, also known as the Big Four Railroad and commonly abbreviated CCC&StL, was a railroad company in the Midwestern United States. It operated in affiliation with the New York Central system.

<i>Cardinal</i> (train) Amtrak service from Chicago, IL to New York, NY

The Cardinal is a long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between New York Penn Station and Chicago Union Station via Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Charlottesville, Charleston, Huntington, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis. Along with the Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited, it is one of three trains linking the Northeast and Chicago. Its 1,146-mile (1,844 km) trip between New York and Chicago takes 2814 hours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joint railway</span> Railway operating under multiple companies

A joint railway is a railway operating under the control of more than one railway company: those companies very often supplying the traction over the railway.

<i>Kentucky Cardinal</i> Former Amtrak passenger train

The Kentucky Cardinal was a nightly 312-mile (502 km) passenger train operated by Amtrak from 1999 to 2003 between Chicago, Illinois, and Louisville, Kentucky, via Indianapolis, Indiana. On the three days that the Cardinal ran, the Kentucky Cardinal operated as a section, splitting at Indianapolis. On the other four days, it ran on its own to Chicago.

<i>Floridian</i> (train) Former Amtrak train between Chicago and Florida

The Floridian was a train operated by Amtrak from 1971 to 1979 that ran between Chicago and Florida, with two branches south of Jacksonville terminating at Miami and St. Petersburg. For its Nashville to Montgomery segment, its route followed that of several former Louisville & Nashville Railroad (L&N) passenger trains, including the Pan-American and the Humming Bird. Originating in Chicago, the train served Lafayette and Bloomington, Indiana; Louisville and Bowling Green, Kentucky; Nashville, Tennessee; Decatur, Birmingham, Montgomery and Dothan, Alabama; and Thomasville, Valdosta and Waycross, Georgia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad</span>

The Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad was the owner of Dearborn Station in Chicago and the trackage leading to it. It was owned equally by five of the railroads using it to reach the terminal, and kept those companies from needing their own lines into the city. With the closure of Dearborn Station in 1971 and the Calumet steel mills in 1985, the railroad was gradually downgraded until 1994 when it became a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Corporation.

The Indiana Rail Road is a United States Class II railroad, originally operating over former Illinois Central Railroad trackage from Newton, Illinois, to Indianapolis, Indiana, a distance of 155 miles (249 km). This line, now known as the Indiana Rail Road's Indianapolis Subdivision, comprises most of the former IC/ICG line from Indianapolis to Effingham, Illinois; Illinois Central successor Canadian National Railway retains the portion from Newton to Effingham. INRD also owns a former Milwaukee Road line from Terre Haute, Indiana, to Burns City, Indiana, with trackage rights extending to Chicago, Illinois. INRD no longer serves Louisville, Kentucky, and the Port of Indiana on the Ohio River at Jeffersonville, Indiana, through a haulage agreement with the Louisville & Indiana Railroad (LIRC).

The Indiana Railroad (IR) was the last of the typical Midwestern United States interurban lines. It was formed in 1930–31 by combining the operations of the five major interurban systems in central Indiana into one entity. The predecessor companies came under the control of Midland Utilities, owned by Samuel Insull. His plan was to modernize the profitable routes and abandon the unprofitable ones. With the onset of the Great Depression, the Insull empire collapsed and the Indiana Railroad was left with a decaying infrastructure and little hope of overcoming the growing competition of the automobile for passenger business and the truck for freight business. The IR faced bankruptcy in 1933, and Bowman Elder was designated as the receiver to run the company. Payments on bonded debt were suspended. Elder was able to keep the system virtually intact for four years, and IR operated about 600 miles (970 km) of interurban lines throughout Indiana during this period. During the late 1930s, the routes were abandoned one by one until a 1941 wreck with fatalities south of Indianapolis put an abrupt end to the Indiana Railroad's last passenger operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Butler Branch (Indiana)</span>

The Butler Branch was a historic railroad line that operated in Indiana, USA. It ran between the city of Logansport on the Wabash River in north central Indiana and the namesake town of Butler near the Ohio border in northeastern Indiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Railroad of Indiana</span>

The Central Railroad Company of Indiana is a Class III short-line railroad that owns 92 miles (148 km) of track between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Shelbyville, Indiana, with trackage rights on CSX to Indianapolis, Indiana. CIND interchanges with CSX, Indiana & Ohio Railway, and Norfolk Southern in Cincinnati, and in North Bend, Ohio, with CSX; an Indiana & Ohio branchline splits from the CIND line at Valley Junction, a railroad location near Hooven, Ohio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indiana Northeastern Railroad</span> Railway line in the United States of America

The Indiana Northeastern Railroad is a Class III short line freight railroad operating on nearly 130 miles (210 km) in southern lower Michigan, northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio. The Indiana Northeastern Railroad Company began operations in December 1992 and is an independent privately owned company. As of 2017 the railroad hauled more than 7,000 carloads per year. Commodities moved by the railroad include corn, soybeans, wheat and flour. It also handles plastics, fiberboard, aluminum, copper, coal, perlite, stone, lumber, glass, rendering products, as well as agricultural fertilizers and chemicals.

<i>Hoosier State</i> (train) Amtrak train route between Chicago, Illinois and Indianapolis, Indiana

The Hoosier State was a 196-mile (315 km) passenger train service operated by Amtrak between Chicago and Indianapolis. It ran on the four days each week that the Cardinal did not run, giving daily rail service to the Chicago–Indianapolis corridor.

The Indianapolis Union Railway Company, is a terminal railroad operating in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was organized on May 31, 1850, as the Union Track Railway Company by the presidents of the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad (M&I), the Terre Haute and Richmond Railroad (TH&R), and the Indianapolis and Bellefontaine Railroad (I&B) for the purposes of establishing and operating joint terminal facilities in Indiana's capital city. The name of the company was changed to its present one on August 12, 1853. The next month, on September 20, Indianapolis Union Station opened its doors, becoming the first union railroad station in the world. Since 1999, the company has been owned and operated by CSX.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vandalia Railroad (1905–1917)</span>

The Vandalia Railroad Company was incorporated January 1, 1905, by a merger of several lines in Indiana and Illinois that formed a 471-mile railroad consisting of lines mostly west of Indianapolis.

The Hoosier Heritage Port Authority is a quasi-governmental organization in the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the owner of a Heritage railway, operated by the Indiana Transportation Museum, over former Norfolk Southern trackage from Tipton, Indiana, to Indianapolis, a distance of 37 miles (59.5 km). This trackage is the southernmost section of the former Indianapolis to Michigan City main line operated by several railroad companies since its original construction in the mid-19th Century, the best known being the Nickel Plate.

References

  1. 1 2 Historic Marker in Monon, erected by the Monon Historical Society, 1982
  2. "One of the first". Monon Railroad Historical-Technical Society, Inc. 2012. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  3. "Chicago Tribune - Historical Newspapers". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  4. 1 2 "Site Highlight: B-Line Trail in Bloomington" (PDF). Indiana Brownfields Program.
  5. Hallberg, Milton C. "Railroads in North America: Their Evolution and Family Structure". www.personal.psu.edu. Archived from the original on May 12, 2008. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  6. "PH MT&C -MONON Grade Crossing Signal". www.ikemeyer.com. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Monon, the Hoosier Line and connections; undated, predates, 1970s
  8. Amtrak Route Guide, 2008
  9. Rund, Christopher (2006), The Indiana Rail Road Company: America's New Regional Railroad, Indiana University Press, pp. 218–219, ISBN   9780253346926
  10. Google Earth
  11. "Monon High Bridge". Indiana Landmarks. Archived from the original on March 15, 2017. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  12. "Bridgehunter.com: Historic Bridges of the United States".
  13. Indianapolis Map, AAA, 2006
  14. 1 2 Google Maps, Victoria, Indiana
  15. "West Lake Corridor New Start Studies". Archived from the original on June 7, 2009. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  16. "Welcome to the French Lick Railway". French Lick Scenic Railway. Archived from the original on July 12, 2014.
  17. "Monon Connection". Archived from the original on April 8, 2019.
  18. "The Linden Depot Museum". Linden Depot Museum. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
  19. "MONON Railroad Historical-Technical Society". monon.org. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  20. "The Depot Railroad Museum -- Home Page". The Depot Railroad Museum. Archived from the original on December 25, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  21. "MONON Railroad Historical-Technical Society". monon.org. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  22. ""Up and Down the Monon" Town Gallery". FL/WB Museum. September 16, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2022.

Further reading