#mcdoel

Communication: Old School

The crew of a southbound Amtrak Floridian receive train orders at McDoel yard in Bloomington, Indiana. At the time this was of the Louisville & Nashville but I’ll always think of it as the Monon.

First we see the fireman in the cab of the SDP40F put his arm out to catch the loop of string holding the paper flimsies; then the conductor back in a legacy coach does the same. There were radios at the time of course, but I reckon they wanted to have hard copy if anything went wrong and trains came together.

McDoel Yard Power

We’re on the Louisville & Nashville, former Monon, in Bloomington, Indiana. The yard and local power is interesting today: an Alco RS36, number 913, built in 1963, and EMD GP18, number 900, built in 1960.

Please note the one-piece windshield on the latter unit. This indicates an early low-nose model on both GE and EMD models; it would soon be split into two to lower replacement costs.

Early Effort: McDoel Yard

Here's another one of my earliest photographs, taken at McDoel Yard in Bloomington, Indiana. While the image is poorly framed, I was excited today to see the “rider car” that the Monon Railroad used for local jobs. The yard or local power is a GP7 of course.

The Louisville & Nashville took over the Hoosier Line railroad in 1971; while this is only four and a half years after that, I never saw a locomotive still in the Monon paint scheme, alas.