#u23b

Ex-Monon Leader

Here’s a southbound train on the Louisville & Nashville, former Monon—and the lead unit happens to be an ex-Monon unit as well. L&N number 2707, a GE U23B, was built as Monon number 608. The train has just rumbled over the Baltimore & Ohio in Mitchell, Indiana.

This may be my best shot of an ex-Monon unit, and it’s marred a bit with blur, alas.

A Meet and a Pass

We’re along the Louisville & Nashville, former Monon. A northbound freight is in the hole at Thornton Siding for an Amtrak Floridian moving in each direction. The tiny burg of Peerless is here at the north end of the siding; all of this lies between Bedford and Bloomington, Indiana.

About the black unit, an Alco C420: obviously it’s in former SCL paint, but shows on the L&N roster as theirs. It was built for the Seaboard Air Line in 1965; this is at or near the time of the so-called Family Lines being formed.

Charging the Hill

Here we see a northbound train on the Louisville & Nashville, former Monon, trying to climb up and out of Bloomington, Indiana. This is just south of Adams Street. The yard engine from McDoel would sometimes be seen pushing on the back of these trains to get them up to Hunter Switch, at the summit. The lead unit here is a General Electric U23B built for the L&N in 1974.

Another Northbound

Here’s some more L&N action on the former Monon in Bloomington, Indiana. We first see the train with some yard power on the south side of town at McDoel. Then we have three shots of the same train on the north side climbing the hill up to Hunter Switch. Once again I’m standing just a bit south of the Adams Street road crossing.

I had a surprise while scanning these slides—in the final image, I noticed that the two trailing units (2707 and 2702, both GE U23Bs) are former Monon, coming back to their home turf.