Train no. ON-2

NG503015

Train no. ON-2

Steam Freight Train

Though the main attraction - the motive power is very different, there is otherwise a good deal of similarity between this picture and the preceding one. The train is the same (ON-2), the consist is about the same (26 cars bere vs. 32 before, including in each 1 case one perishable for Yorktown, Ind., followed by mostly house freight), the time of day is the same within minutes (around 5:30 PM), and the locations are three blocks apart (the scene above is at East Michigan Street). Now, about the power here, P&LE 2-8-4 no. 9406: it may be recalled that this engine was shown in the first picture in this album, making her initial run on the Big Tour after coming dead-in-train from the P&LE. In : this picture, taken on the same day, she was making the return trip to Bellefontaine, Mention has also been made of the trials and tribulations of the P&LE engines on the Big Four, and this . one had about as bad luck as any of them. On August 31, 1955, seven days after she was first put into service, she developed a hot driving box, and since the pair of drivers involved had to be sent to Beech Grove, she was not ready to go again until October 14th. On November 20th, after a total period of availability of only 43 days, she was taken out of service at Riverside, never to return, with her superheater units badly pitted and leaking. Even at that, hers was not a record for brevity of service - the 9400, with only 20 days of availability, held that dubious distinction.

Jeremy Taylor

Jeremy Taylor

2-1/4x3-1/4 neg

Summer, 1955

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379

A-2a

#9406

Alco-Schen

Mass. Ave. Yard, Indianapolis, IN

See NG503015a