SARM Photo Freight on the ITM

On April 15th, the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum hosted a photo freight on the Indiana Transportation Museum's line from Indianapolis to Tipton. It was a fun filled day with a few surprises and some excellent operation on the part of the museum. I was lucky enough to enjoy the ride from the NKP 1, an observation car used by the president of the NKP railroad. It was a mild sunny day, which meant I spent most of my ride standing out on the back observation platform of the car...

The first shot of the day was SARM train organizer Bart Jennings, proclaiming the trip underway.

One of the first staged photos was the NKP 426 leading a period freight south through downtown Noblesville. The first shot turned out to be one of the sweetest, as the freight passed Syd's Bar downtown. I got the train framed just right to block out the U-haul that pulled up to the stop light just west of the tracks as the train came out into the street....

A few more shots show the photo freight rolling south past the town square (if I was a driver, I wouldn't turn left at the light), and NKP 426 on the point moving south along 8th St. with the NKP 770 bringing up the rear. A few moments later, crew member Don Nickel is out on the steps of the 426 watching over is freight while the trains prepares to have the passenger coaches reattached to the rear of the train for the continued trip south to Indianapolis.

A big thanks to Don for keeping me stocked with the occasional Cheerwine passed down from the locomotive cab.

Museum member David Wilcox was required to negotiate "trackage rights" with one of the local law enforcement officers.... :)

A mechanical problem with 426 allowed for an extended stay in Fishers while the crew was troubleshooting a newly installed blower. The crew shows its relief about 20 minutes later: crisis averted! The pit stop in Fishers allowed for a nice shot of the photo freight passing the Nickel Plate Bar & Grill. I'm sure the drivers of Fishers enjoyed the large group of people standing in the street, including the lady that was nice enough to tell me that I was Number 1.

The freight ran south to the former NKP yard at Sutherland Ave., south of 38th, where it ran around the train to head back north.

After making a stop at the museum to drop off some passengers, we headed north toward Tipton. A stop at Atlanta was made to allow Monon DS-50 to tack on to the north end of the train. This allowed me the opportunity to get a good broadside of the 426.

I switched to video at this point, so there's no more pics. But all in all, it was an excellent ride. I heard nothing but kudos to the engine crews for smooth stops and starts, and a big round of applause goes to everyone at the Museum that made all of this possible. I hope they will be able to put on more, & I definitely know that I'll be chasing them more in the future.

Some more rails, & something a little odd...

Wasn't feeling that swift this morning, so I figured I'd take the time to add more to this thing.

This first shot is NS 25A southbound at the East End of Kingston Siding, taken April 6th. Where I'm standing is approximately where Kingsland Tower once stood, guarding the crossing of the EL (Erie) with the N&W (NKP).

These next shots are some artsy types that I took while on my drives home from a day of railfanning. The first is a shot of signal 50N on the NS Marion Branch from September 18th, 2006. I wanted to take advantage of what was left of the sunset as a background.

The next is a shot of the NKP bracket mast signal protecting the westbound entrance to Dawkins Siding, just east of New Haven, IN, on April 21, 2006. It was a shot I had been wanting to get, as the NKP-style signals have been falling fairly quickly on the Fostoria District. This one has already been marked with a "Do Not Climb" sign, meaning that it will probably fall the next time a component breaks down.

And now for the oddity...

I was driving south along a country road whose name escapes me at this time, just east of Liberty Center. I was trying to check out the Wabash Central running west from Bluffton out to Warren. As I crossed the road, I noticed something sitting in the gauge about 200 feet from the grade crossing. Imagine my surprise when I parked the car & got out to get a decent look at what it was....

1st Frame

Yeah, I know, lame title.

I just was wanting a place to post up some of my railroad shots. I thought about creating a webpage, but I know how that has gone before. My old site, Central Indiana Railroad Information Network was updated fairly often while I was in college (translated: when I had much more free time). I figured if I did a blog, the chances of this thing getting uploaded would be logarithmically higher than just a web site.

Anyway, my "first frame". Southern Appalachia Railway Museum put on a photo freight at the Indiana Transportation Museum on Sunday, 15 April. Here's a first shot, taken as the train rolled it's way south through the middle of downtown Noblesville.

Until next time.

E.J.

2nd frame

Why stop the lame post titles now while I'm on a roll?


Figured I'd include a couple more for the night. The first is a shot of the photo train stopped at Sutherland Ave. Yard just south of 38th in Indy. Sutherland Ave. used to be the location of the NKP yard in town. You'll notice behind the caboose an observation car...that's the NKP 1. It's a smooth ride....

The next is something completely diffferent. This is NS train 255 with the BNSF 4597 on the point. She's rounding the curve between Aboite & Roanoke, IN westbound on the Huntington District.

OK, I think it's time for some sleep.