#emdgp40

Near Effingham

Here are a couple of shots I don't believe I've posted on Tumblr: both taken on the Illinois Central main line near Effingham, Illinois.

The first shot shows a northbound train with an SD40A on point. This unit was a variation on the SD40 that only the IC owned—kind of a precursor to the SD40-2, at least by spotting details if not electrical components. The location here is north of Effingham, half way to Sigel, with Buening Equipment in the background.

Not sure of the exact locale of the second shot, but I believe in was taken in the same general area as the first image. That's a GP40 on point of what appears to be a local train; the loco is sporting the old black, with green diamond logo, paint scheme.

Local Power

I imagine this is equipment for a local hanging around Mitchell, Indiana. This is where the east/west former Ohio & Mississippi crossed the north/south Monon. By the time this image was made it was the Baltimore & Ohio and the Louisville & Nashville. The locomotive here is an EMD GP40 built in November of 1971.

Seymour, Indiana

This is a westbound train doing a little switching at Seymour, Indiana. This is the former Ohio & Mississippi line through southern Indiana. It looks like the power is a trio of EMD GP40s this day.

Westbound on the Big Four

Forty-three years ago I went out with a couple of friends looking for trains. Upon reaching Greencastle, Indiana, we found a westbound train sitting at the nice station north of town there.

[This is the Big Four/NYC/PC/Conrail line that runs west from Indianapolis/Avon to Terre Haute.]

After getting a drink of water for the lead locomotive, a GE U25B that was built for the NYC in 1964, the train was able to head out. The last photograph shows the train just west of Greencastle about a mile or so. The second engine, also a GE U25B, was built for the Pennsy in 1965; the final engine, painted in Conrail blue, is a GP40 built for the NYC in 1967.

Going back up to the first image, the close-up of the U25B, it seems to represent boiled-down simplicity. Compare this piece of equipment to a locomotive made in the last ten or fifteen years—it would be akin viewing a WWII plane, a P51, say, next to an F35.