Source: Monon Historical and Technical Society / other
When you hear the word “Monon” what springs to mind? My guess is “Oh! The Monon Trail! I’ve heard of that.” Well, before the Monon Trail was a thing, it was a railroad that helped build and shape Indiana into what it is today.
I’m Kurt Darling. I’m typically a News Anchor and Reporter on 93 WIBC, but lately, I’ve taken up the title of “radio documentary maker.”
In putting this project together, I wanted to tell the story of the Monon Railroad that many people of my generation may not know. How it was created. How it played a pivotal role in the Civil War. How it was never a big money-making railroad. How it literally carved Indiana into what it is for many people who live in cities and towns along where it used to be.
Listen to “The Monon: A Journey Down The Hoosier Line”. Coming soon! The double premiere is Thursday, July 4th at 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on 93 WIBC!
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One of the earliest known photographs of a Monon steam locomotive. The railroad began in 1846 in New Albany as the New Albany & Salem and quickly expanded north to Michigan City.
When this locomotive was running along the railroad, it was still corporately known as the Chicago, Indianapolis, and Louisville Railway (CI&L).
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The Bedford Depot buzzing with passengers in the early 1900s. By this time, the railroad had merged with the Chicago and Indianapolis Railroad, making the “Chicago, Indianapolis, and Louisville Railway” as it was officially called, a big mode of transportation for cities and towns along the “Monon Route.”
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Workers somewhere along the Monon Railroad. Date and location unknown.
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A Monon steam locomotive pulling passenger service through downtown Bloomington in the late 1930’s. The railroad was struggling mightily even before the Great Depression hit in 1929.
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An old photo of the Stinesville Depot. Stinesville, Indiana is a small town in northern Monroe County. As of the 2000 census, there were just 194 people living there. The Monon was once its only connection to the outside world before the popularity and availability of cars.
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Another steam locomotive from the 1920s-1940s. To operate one of these locomotives, the Monon Railroad had to pay a full crew made up of a pipefitter, electrician, boiler technician, engineer, plumber, and many other workers. As you can imagine, this meant a lot of men to pay, which cost the financially struggling Monon a lot of money.
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An early photo of the Paoli trestle. This trestle was part of the Monon branch line that linked the main line to the West Baden Springs Resort in French Lick. The trestle was demolished in 1982.
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This is the Monon Depot in Carmel. The date of the photograph is unknown, but the same building still stands in the exact same spot in what is now the Arts District in downtown Carmel. The Depot is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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In the 1940s the Monon saw a reinvention of itself under the leadership of newly appointed President John W. Berringer in 1946 after WWII. The struggling railroad had been through two reorganizations before 1900 and had been in a state of receivership (a form of bankruptcy) until after the war.
Here you see a Monon diesel locomotive pulling passenger service and leaving Chicago’s Dearborn Station. Bringing in new diesel locomotives was a part of Berringer’s master plan to implement what he called “Super Railroading.”
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By 1952, the Monon was the first Class 1 railroad in the United States to be powered completely by diesel locomotives. Here you see “The Hoosier” passenger train. Notice the red, grey, and white livery. Historians debate that it represented the colors of Indiana University and/or Wabash College.
The red, grey, and white colored trains represented the Monon’s passenger service.
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In like manner to their red, grey, and white counterparts, the Monon’s black and gold locomotives were their freight haulers.
You guessed it. The black and gold colors are debated to represent Purdue University and/or DePauw University.
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Workers at the Monon shops in Lafayette, Indiana in 1949. It was here that many mechanics and technicians kept the Monon’s fleet of locomotives running. Many historians agree that without the presence of the Monon shops in Lafayette, the city never would have been as prosperous as it became.
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An outside look at the Monon shops in Lafayette, Indiana circa the mid-1950s. The buildings you see in this photo are no longer there. All that remains of the Monon shops are the current CSX railyard and a historical marker at the intersection of Stillwell Street and Monon Avenue.
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This sign no longer sits outside Union Station in Indianapolis. This sign marked the Monon’s offices and platforms in the Circle City.
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Here you see “The Hoosier” leave Indianapolis’ Union Station on the south side of downtown. You may recognize a few of the buildings.
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By the late 1960s, the Monon was strictly a freight service railroad. They ended passenger service in 1967 due to a lack of people riding. The writing was on the wall that the Monon’s days were numbered.
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The Monon merged with the Louisville & Nashville Railroad in 1971, ending its existence as an independent railroad. Here you see a BL2 diesel locomotive pulling an excursion ride near New Albany. This locomotive still exists and pulls excursion rides at the Kentucky Transportation Museum.
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By the early 1980s, the Monon Subdivision of the L&N was absorbed into what you know today as CSX. It was at this point old Monon track that was no longer used and abandoned started being torn up.
Here you see where the Monon right-of-way used to run through Bloomington. You may recognize it from the photo of the steam locomotive parked at the Bloomington Depot from earlier (Photo #4). Notice the telephone pole that is all that remains.
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This is all that remains of the Monon right-of-way in Salem, right next to where the Monon Historical and Technical Society is located.
This will soon be turned into a walking and biking trail as part of the Monon Trail South expansion as part of Gov. Eric Holcomb’s Next Level Trail initiative.
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This is the trailhead of the Monon Trail in Sheridan looking south towards Westfield. The Monon Trail had been an idea for the old Monon right-of-way north of Indianapolis as early as the 1980s. In 1999, Indianapolis paved the first ten miles of the trail.
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Though much of the old Monon tracks have been torn up, you can still see the scar of where the railroad used to be. Here you can see the old road bed that held up tracks just south of Terhune in northeastern Boone County.
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A look south along a county road in southern Clinton County. The central group of trees is where the Monon Railroad right-of-way used to run. Notice the abandoned telephone pole still standing at the edge of the brush marking where the railroad once laid.
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Looking north in Kirklin, Indiana in southeastern Clinton County. The Kirklin Depot used to sit close to this location just east of US 421. You can see some of the concrete that marks where rail crossing used to be.
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The Monon High Bridge in Delphi is the largest Monon trestle that still stands in Carroll County just east of Delphi. You used to be able to walk all the way across as part of a local walking and biking trail, however, this is no longer the case.
Though the trestle has incredible historical value to railroad history enthusiasts, it now stands more recognizable to Hoosiers as the place where the Delphi Murders happened.
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The Monon Connection Museum is one of the best places to see genuine Monon Railroad memorabilia and rolling stock. It’s located in Monon, Indiana where the railroad’s two subdivisions cross-crossed, hence giving the railroad its colloquial nickname and later official name “Monon”.
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This is the rear of a crane at the Monon Connection Museum in Monon, Indiana.
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The interior of the Monon Connection Museum is nearly bursting at the seams with genuine Monon memorabilia, but also several other railroads that are now lost to history like the Santa Fe, Baltimore & Ohio (B & O), and over 100 others.
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The Monon played a key role in the formation of what Indiana is today, and it’s a legacy that you can experience in a variety of ways today!
