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Easter Break Trip
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by Mike Condren
April 12 & 13 |
| SL-SF | Fayetteville to St. Louis | "Meteor" | coach |
| GM&O | St. Louis to Chicago | "Abe Lincoln" | parlor car |
| NYC | Chicago to South Bend | "New England States" | coach |
April 13, 1963
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| E-8 | #2020 | "Big Red" |
| E-8 | #2018 | "Ponder" |
| baggage | #390 | |
| baggage | #448 | |
| baggage | #430 | |
| baggage | #341 | |
| RPO | #252 | "Valley Park"* ("Meteor") |
| RPO | #218 | off Ft. Smith train |
| coach | #1259 | "Picardy Lane"* ("Meteor") |
| coach-buffet | #1651 | "Ladue"* ("Meteor") |
| coach | #1256 | "Richmond Heights"* ("Meteor") |
| diner-lounge | #1551 | "Oklahoma City"* ("Meteor" former diner-lounge-obs) |
| 14rmt-4DBR sleeper | #1455 | "George G. Vest"* ("Texas Special") |
| 14rmt-4DBR sleeper | #1459 | "Gasconade River"* ("Meteor") |
| 14rmt-4DBR sleeper | #1452 | "Henry Shaw"* ("Texas Special") off Ft. Smith train |
| 10rmt-6DBR sleeper | #203 | "City of Indianapolis"* (NKP) |
| 6DBR-5Compartment carsleeper | "Silver Pelican"* (CB&Q) | |
| diner-lounge | #1550 | "Tulsa"* ("Meteor" former diner-lounge-obs) |
| business car | #1 | (former "Missouri") |
| I rode in the vestibule after breakfast in the diner "Oklahoma City". Here are a couple of shots showing the train, forward and to the rear. | ||
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This S-2 was switching the freight yard across from Union Station as my train, the Frisco "Meteor", arrived in St. Louis on April 13, 1963. |
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I shot this VO1000 at the Union Station engine terminal from the "Abe Lincoln" as we left St. Louis on my trip to Notre Dame on April 13, 1963. |
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| I shot this SW900 out the rear window of the Abe Lincoln parlor obs as we left St. Louis and crossed Merchants Bridge over the Mississippi River. |
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Easter April 14, 1963
| After mass at Sacred Heart church and lunch on Notre Dame campus, Lou and I headed to Union Station South Bend for some action. |
| Here we see a west bound freight passing the South Bend Union Station. |
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| Here we see an east bound freight approaching the South Bend Union Station. |
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| This Detroit bound GTW freight is 2nd #494 and is seen paasing Union Station in South Bend. |
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| The Chicago bound "Inter City" is seen leaving Union Station in South Bend. |
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| This was the South Bend switcher for the GTW. |
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| The "20th Century Limit" is seen arriving in South Bend. |
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April 15, 1963
| This EMD SW1 was found in the engine terminal of the Elhart Hump Yard. |
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| These ALCo FA1s were also found in the engine terminal of the Elhart Hump Yard. |
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| Here are some other units in the engine terminal. |
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| This GP7 is seen coupling to a string of freight cars. |
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| This freight is seen leaving the west end of the yard. |
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| This freight with 3 ALCos is seen leaving the west end of the Elkhart yard. |
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| On our way to the Twin Branch we caught two freights. Here we see an east bound freight. |
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| Next was this westbound passenger train in Mishawaka. |
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| Then an eastbound passenger train. |
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| On our return from Elkhart we shot this Twin Branch battery electric, seen charging its batteries. |
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| This GE 44-ton loco was switching the yard. |
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| Back in South Bend, we caught this westbound freight. |
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| Passenger train #17 is seen in South Bend. |
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| We caught this ALCo coming out of the Studebaker plant across the tracks from South Bend Union Station. |
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| This switcher is seen with a string of cars in South Bend. |
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| While awaiting the "New England States", we shot this east bound freight. |
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| The "New England States" is seen arriving in South Bend. |
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April 16, 1963
| This SW1 was shot in La Porte, IN. |
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| This string of ALCOs was shot at LaPorte, IN across from the tower for the C&O/NYC crossing. |
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| The west bound "20th Century Limited" is seen at the same location moments later. |
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| Another passenger train is seen passing the station at LaPorte. |
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| The "Maple Leaf" is seen in Valparaiso, IN leaving the GTW station. |
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| This westbound PRR freight was caught just west of the Grand Trunk crossing at Ft. Wayne Jct. This freight had the latest in power, a GP30 and two U25Bs. |
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| Later in the day we visited Ft. Wayne Junction where we see this north bound Grand Truck freight is crossing the NKP mainline and approaching the PRR mainline. |
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| This NKP passenger train is seen west of Ft. Wayne Junction where they parallel the PRR mainline, seen to the left of the train. |
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| The next action was the westbound "Pennsylvania Limited" on the parallel PRR mainline. Note Lou next to the pole line. |
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| This east bound mail train is seen at roughly the same location. |
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| The next train was this eastbound PRR passenger. |
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| This west bound local will be seen again later in the afternoon in a meet with the "Broadway Limited". |
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| The east bound "Broadway Limited" is seen just east of the EJ&E crossing in Hobart, IN |
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April 17, 1963
| These photos were taken at the hump yard in Elkhart, IN. |
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| This view of the engine terminal was taken over the top of the train above. |
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| This shot was taken of cars on the hump. |
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| These photos were taken in the engine terminal. |
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| After visiting Elkhart, we headed to the South Shore coach yard in Sounth Bend. |
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| We then went up the hill to the station and caught this car coming up the hill and then stopped at the downtown station. |
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| In attempting to get a photo of NYC mail train at South Bend Union Station, I stepped off the platform and onto a track with a rapidly approaching east bound freight. It sounded its horn, and I got out of its way. Note Louis on the platform in the going away shot of the freight. |
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| This was the reason that I got off the platform, a pair of E7s on a westbound mail train. |
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| The "Maple Leaf" is seen on the joint trackage east of the station. |
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| This switcher is seen passing Union Station. |
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| This switcher was approaching Union Station in South Bend. |
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| A westbound passenger train is seen leaving Union Station South Bend. |
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| A west bound GTW freight is seen approaching Union Station at South Bend. |
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| GTW passenger train #17 is seen sitting at the west end of South Bend Union Station. |
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| An eastbound freight is seen approaching South Bend Union Station. |
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April 18, 1963
| While waiting on our train to Battle Creek, a wreck train appears heading east. It turns out a west bound passenger train had hit a trailer truck with a load of steel. |
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| Upon arriving in Battle Creek, MI, we shot photos of the 4-8-4 #6325 on display at the GTW station. |
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| We then shot the departing "Maple Leaf" before walking to the Grand Trunk Western back shops. |
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| We found the following at the engine service terminal at the shops. |
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| On our tour inside the back shops of the Grand Trunk Western, we discovered this SW stored beside a parade model. |
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| We rode in the cab of the second locomotive using an official cab pass. At times we ran at 83mph, the limit for these engines. In the picture at right we can see a "clear" signal" on this double track through the windows of the cab where the engineer should be seated. The conductor really did not want to honor our cab pass as the north bound counter part of our train had hit, at speed, a truck with a load of steel, derailing the engine, and injuring the engine crew. |  |
| I shot the train after we arrived in South Bend. |
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April 19, 1963
| We started the day at the engine terminal at the Elkhart Hump Yard. |
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| This coaling tower is on the Michigan Central (NYC) line north of Michigan City, IN. |  |
| Upon arriving at the shops of the South Shore, this "Little Joe" was preparing to head west with a train. |
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| We then shot the passenger equipment in the yard. |
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| We also shot some trailers in addition to the powered cars. First is a passenger trailer and then a baggage trailer. |
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| We then shot electric freight motors. |
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| We also shot the first diesel on the South Shore, mainly used as a shop switcher. |
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| Here is the South Shore line car. |
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| The east bound "Wolverine" is seen stopped at the station in Michigan City. As you can see, a storm is brewing over Lake Michigan. On our drive back to South Bend, we got in a hail storm. No fun in a convertible. |
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| This Monon freight was spotted near the Michigan Central station. |
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| The "New England States" is seen arriving at South Bend Union Station. |
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| On Easter Sunday, after mass in Sacred Heart church and lunch on campus, Lou and I headed to Union Station South Bend for some action. The "20th Century Limit" is seen arriving in South Bend. | ||
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| Louis and I took each other's picture by the tail of the obs. | ||
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| Our last train for the day was this Chicago bound #17 in South Bend. |
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April 20, 1963
| We shot the switcher used to shuttle coal to the power plant at Notre Dame. |
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| As we left South Bend, we saw this south bound local and chased it. |
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| This PRR GP7 was seen at Logansport, IN. |
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| This PRR late model ALCo was caught at Logansport, IN. |
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| This PRR E8 was caught at the engine terminal at Logansport, IN. |
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| This PRR switcher was caught at the roundhouse at Logansport, IN. |
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| This Wabash freight with a brand new U25B was caught at Logansport, IN. |
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| Our visit to the Monon shops in Lafayette produced these results. |
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| We visited the backshops of the Monon and then headed to the station and caught this Monon Passenger train. |
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| This switcher was in Lafayette, IN. |
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| This Geep was found on a freight in Lafayette, IN |
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| We then headed toward the Purdue campus and caught this freight crawling up the hill and splitting the semiphores. |
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April 21, 1963
| This is a view out the front door of the South Shore car I rode from South Bend back into Chicago on my way back to Fayetteville. |  |
| This view out the front door of the South Shore train of an IC train passing the crossing at Kennsington station in south Chicago. |
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| I caught these South Shore cars at the station near Illinois Central's Central Station. |
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| This IC switcher passed under me with a ccut of cars. |
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| This IC tranfer came by my location with the Conrad Hilton in the background. |
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| I then spotted the "Panama Limited" arriving. |
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| And its power cutting off the train for this portrait. |
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| This caboose hop is seen passing under the pedestrian bridge I was standing on. |
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| This SW1 is seen shuttling passenger cars at Central Station. |
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| I shot this train from the rear door of the "Alton Limited" as we were entering Joliet. The Santa Fe is seen branching off to the left. We have just crossed over from the southbound GM&O main to the northbound ATSF main to make our Joliet station stop. |
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| This shot was made in the engine terminal area at Joliet. |
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| Somewhere north of Bloomington my "Alton Limited" met the "Abraham Lincoln" at speed. |
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| These shots were taken as we passed through the yard in Bloomington, IL. |
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| This EMD NW-2 was on a transfer somewhere on the east side of the Mississippi River in IL as I returned from my visit to Notre Dame on April 21, 1963. The photo was taken from the rear door of the parlor car on the Alton Limited. |
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This SW9 was over taken by the "Alton Limited" on my ride back from Notre Dame on April 21, 1963. I was riding the parlor car and shot this out the rear door of the parlor car. |
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| I shot this NW2 on the west side of Merchants Bridge as I entered St. Louis. |
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April 21 & 22 |
| CSS&SB | South Bend to Chicago | coach | |
| GM&O | Chicago to St. Louis | "The Limited" | parlor car |
| SL-SF | St. Louis to Fayetteville | "Meteor" | coach |
This page was designed and is maintained by Mike Condren. If you have materials
that you would like to contribute, contact me at mcondren@cbu.edu