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Bicentennial Unit Comes to Town (2 of 4) Continuing a series of post with ICG's bicentennial unit as subject...
In this image the train has arrived just south of the Bloomington, Indiana, yard. That timber bridge carries Rogers Street and has since rebuilt of concrete. Viewing the unit head here on shows off the eagle design well. One image by Richard Koenig; taken February 2nd 1976.
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Fifty Years Ago... A Haven for F-Units
In the mid- to late-1970s, Bloomington, Illinois was well-known as a haven for the remaining GM&O F-units.
With this during the Illinois Central Gulf years, one of them, 806A, got the orange and white treatment and renumbered to 1615. All of these units are EMD F3As built for the railroad in 1946 or 1947.
Two images by Richard Koenig; taken on the eve of the Bicentennial, July 3rd 1976.
Bicentennial Unit Comes to Town (4 of 4) Concluding a series of posts with ICG's bicentennial unit as subject...
Again, we’re on Illinois Central’s line to Indianapolis, called the “hi-dry” for its tall bridges and fills. Here's another reason it got that moniker: Shuffle Creek Viaduct (near Lake Lemon, northeast of Bloomington by ten miles or so). Difficult to believe it was fifty years ago this month. One image by Richard Koenig; taken February 2nd 1976.
Bicentennial Unit Comes to Town (1 of 4) Given my zeal for railroad subjects, my parents allowed me to skip school one day fifty years ago now—for the occurrence of the Illinois Central Gulf’s bicentennial unit coming through my hometown of Bloomington, Indiana. We began our chase of the unit southwest of town at the Richland Creek Viaduct. These two shots above, however, were taken north of that, between the famous trestle and the small town of Solsberry, Indiana.
I should have said, this was IC's line that ran from Effingham, on the main line, to Indianapolis. It was called the "Hi-Dry" for that trestle (and one other to come). I've posted images of it before, but I'll add one here below (didn't get a great shot with the Eagle upon it).
Three images by Richard Koenig; two taken on February 2nd 1976, with the inset photo above made later that year.
Wisconsin Street Yard
Pictured here is what I assume to be the yard engine resting adjacent to the sanding tower. We, in the dark of night, are visiting Illinois Central's Wisconsin Street Yard in Indianapolis.
A friend of mine was researching ways to use multiple flash bulb pops to light things at night: this is a good example of a shot exposed using three separate flashes.
To do this we would have our cameras set up on tripods, side by side. I manned the cameras while he lit the subject. First, I would open the shutters and cover the lenses so that ambient light would not spoil things while Ron walked around to do the flashes. He would get in position and say "open." I would then uncover the lenses, he would pop the flash, and I'd cover the lenses once again till the next pop. When done I would close the shutters.
Even with this method you can see the green of a mercury-vapor street light distorting things over to the right side of the frame.
One image by Richard Koenig; taken April 17th 1976.
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Tracks
When I was twelve or so my family moved over to the east side of town, out near the "bypass" (pictured above). While this was a nice area, within walking distance of University Middle School, there was a railroad (ICG) adjacent to our house.
I was already taking photographs, using my dad's 35mm camera he'd procured in the service, so shooting trains was the next step. I did that pretty voraciously in my teens, but set it aside for college.
Eventually I would return to railroads, but with a deeper interest in the history behind them along with their relationship to culture.
One image by Richard Koenig; taken in April of 1976.
Death Star at Arcola
When I began taking pictures of trains in the mid-1970s, Illinois Central meant locomotives painted in the "new image" orange and white scheme, along with a smattering of the older black units with green diamond logo. Mixed in with this were occasional units of the GM&O (both red/white and black/white schemes) as that road had merged with the IC in 1972 to form the Illinois Central Gulf.
In any case, I moved away from the Midwest for decades as railroads went through many changes—the merger era. After the Staggers Act, railroads were able to shed their underused lines; by 1988 the ICG had slimmed down and became, once again, the Illinois Central.
With this rebirth of the IC, the road decided to paint their locomotives a simple black scheme once again; their logo took on a slightly different look—with horizontal lines—which fans likened to the Death Star.
As I didn't live in the area, I don't have many images of this scheme at all, only saw a few times during trips back to visit a pal who lived in Illinois. This local train, on the main line, is southbound in Arcola.
The Canadian National would soon purchase the Illinois Central and that would bring on yet another new look, though some black IC "Death Star" units can still be seen here and there to this day.
One image by Richard Koenig; taken in 1991 or 1992.
PS: I have another post of the little depot at Arcola, with orange and white units powering a main line train, here.
Bicentennial Unit Comes to Town (3 of 4)
Continuing a series of posts with ICG's bicentennial unit as subject... Here the train is entering the Bloomington proper; nice to see a yard switcher still exists at that time. One image by Richard Koenig; taken February 2nd 1976.
