#bigfour

Fifty Years Hence (8 of 8)

Being in Indianapolis for a conference last weekend, I made a series of down and dirty before-and-after work: the Big Four in Indianapolis, west of town to Avon Yard, and fifteen miles beyond that.

This eighth and final pair in the series has us 27 miles west of Union Station along the Big Four (New York Central). I was excited to finally find this spot to match my vintage image—made six months into the Conrail era (note the blue SD45 trailing).

But no train would come on this visit, despite a long wait as the sun dipped below the horizon. I had to force myself to give up: it was getting late, I was cold, hungry, with a drive to the hotel yet to accomplish. But the sunset was pleasing: I bagged this shot along the way, just west of Danville, a while after the sun had dropped.

I would end up going to bed with but a granola bar for my dinner. Once again, a photo series ends, not with a bang, but a whimper.

Fifty Years Hence (6 of 8)

Being in Indianapolis for a conference last weekend, I made a series of down and dirty before and after work: the Big Four in Indianapolis, west of town to Avon Yard, and beyond just past Danville, Indiana.

This sixth pair was also made at the west end of Avon Yard. The vintage image here was made when Conrail was nine days old. Both the old and new here highlight the use of the hump yard for classifying rail cars. With this model, a long string of cars is slowly shoved over the hump with a person disconnecting them at the top; the cars then roll via gravity to this track or that, depending upon their destination.

As mentioned in the previous post, the locomotives doing the shoving seem to be remote control operated (note the flashing yellow lights on the lead unit). Unit 4010 was built as an SD40-2 for the L&N in 1979, while 8462 was built in 1969 for the Missouri Pacific as an SD40.

Fifty Years Hence (5 of 8)

Being in Indianapolis for a conference last weekend, I made a series of down and dirty before and after work: the Big Four in Indianapolis, west of town to Avon Yard, and beyond just past Danville, Indiana.

This fifth pair was made at the west end of Avon Yard (which is located west of Indianapolis by ten miles or so). The vintage image here was made when Conrail was but one month old.

We rail enthusiasts were excited as motive power from several eastern roads (which had been folded into the new consolidated railway) suddenly populated this Midwest engine servicing track and piloted trains on the mainline. Here we have a pair of Reading GP35s running a train westward on the Big Four/NYC toward St. Louis.

And the new image shows that not much had changed here for whatever reason. Prior to this trip, I had thought the hump may have been removed (they seem to have fallen out of favor over the last decade or two), but we now see that it's still alive and well. However: the two engines shoving cars over the top were remote control operated, which is different from the time of the vintage image.

Fifty Years Hence (4 of 8)

Being in Indianapolis for a conference last weekend, I made a series of down and dirty before and after work: the Big Four in Indianapolis, west of town to Avon Yard, and beyond just past Danville, Indiana.

This fourth pair was made at the east end of Avon Yard, west of Indianapolis. Conrail was literally ten days old at the time. As mentioned in other posts, a common denominator in the work is an explosion of foliage—this made it impossible for me to stand in the same spot for the updated image, common with these pairs.

In the older image, the WB train (entering yard) is powered by a matched set of former New York Central GP20s (probably built around 1961) and is flying over Raceway Road. In the current view, some power was rolling light eastward.

Fifty Years Hence (3 of 8)

Being in Indianapolis for a conference last weekend, I made a series of down and dirty before and after work: the Big Four in Indianapolis, west of town to Avon Yard, and beyond just past Danville, Indiana.

This third pair is also from IJ Tower, looking westward along the combined B&O/P&E.

The vintage images in this string of posts come from the time around the formation of Conrail (April 1st 1976). Two common denominators in the work: an explosion of foliage—along with a reduction in rails.

Fifty Years Hence (2 of 8)

Being in Indianapolis for a conference last weekend, I made a series of down and dirty before and after work: the Big Four in Indianapolis, west of town to Avon Yard, and beyond just past Danville, Indiana.

This second pair is also from IJ Tower, looking westward along the Big Four (New York Central). The Pennsy is to the left of the frame with the B&O/P&E off to the right.

The vintage images in this string of posts come from the time around the formation of Conrail (April 1st 1976). Two common denominators in the work: an explosion of foliage—along with a reduction in rails.

Fifty Years Hence (1 of 8)

Being in Indianapolis for a conference last weekend, I made a series of down and dirty before and after work: the Big Four in Indianapolis, west of town to Avon Yard, and beyond just past Danville, Indiana.

We begin one mile west of Union Station at IJ Tower. The tracks are of several roads combined here: Big Four (New York Central), B&O, P&E.

The vintage images in this string of posts come from the time around the formation of Conrail (April 1st 1976). Two common denominators in the work: an explosion of foliage—along with a reduction in rails.

Tetherが「Big Four」監査法人を起用、USDTの完全監査へ——不透明な準備金問題に終止符か