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.
Images by Richard Koenig; taken May 1st 1976 and April 24th 2026.








