#ijtower

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.

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.

Eastbound at IJ Tower

Here's an eastbound job at the tower, and it has an F-unit in the consist, which I'm sure would have thrilled me at the time. If the number 1681, that's an F7 built in 1950 for the NYC.

While this resembles the Penn Central, Conrail is three months old; this train is on the former New York Central (Big Four). IJ Tower is one mile west of Indianapolis Union Station according to a mile marker here. The B&O and P&E joins the NYC for the run to the station, and the Pennsy is running parallel to all just to the south. I'll add a map in here to show the lay of the land.

Baltimore & Ohio at IJ Tower

Here is an eastbound train on the B&O through Indianapolis. The job is seen approaching the tower, and then continuing on where it merges onto the former Big Four/New York Central/Penn Central/Conrail line; it will soon cross over the White River.

[See USGS map detail of 1948, attached.]

This combined trackage will take the train through Union Station, the location of which is marked by the clock tower toward the left-hand side of the second image. One may note that there’s a nice little covered wagon of Western Maryland ilk tucked into the consist.

Action at IJ Tower

Here we see a couple of trains on the Big Four/New York Central/Penn Central/Conrail line through the center of Indianapolis. The first image shows us an eastbound, while the second a westbound. IJ tower is where the Pennsy and B&O split off from some joint trackage that runs over to Union Station—the clock tower of which is visible toward the left-hand side of the second image.

Penn Central Action

These two images were made at IJ Tower just west of downtown Indianapolis. This is where the B&O splits off from the combined tracks (with NYC) through a bit of town and Union Station.

In the first image we see a westbound Penn Central train approaching the location of the tower, which is not shown, camera left. In the going away shot we see that there is an eastbound coming down the line, with lead unit running long-nose forward. It would be just another few months before the creation of Conrail.

Westbound at IJ Tower

Here’s a westbound Conrail train at IJ Tower, which is located west of Indianapolis Union Station by one mile. Conrail has only been around a little over a month at this point, and so still resembles the PC.

The line here is former Big Four/New York Central/Penn Central; IJ Tower is where the B&O (and Peoria & Eastern) splits off from the joint trackage. The lead unit is a GP40 built for the PC in 1968.

Big Alco at IJ

Here's another westbound train at IJ tower, this time with a big Alco on point. This unit, a C628, was built for the Pennsylvania in 1965 with the same number.

As with my previous post, the line here is former Big Four/New York Central/Penn Central; IJ Tower is where the B&O (and Peoria & Eastern) splits off from the joint trackage. We’re exactly one mile west of Union Station in Indianapolis.