Train no. 419

NG503017

Train no. 419

Steam Locomotive

Since a picture of an Illinois Division train was not available, this shot of Indiana Division no. 419 (an Indianapolis-Chicago local, now discontinued) was inserted here to begin the Illinois Division portion of the Ohio-Illinois Division photographic sequence, No. 419 is leaving the depot and passing through the cluster of hand-throw puzzle switches at Kentucky Avenue. The switchtender's shanty is at the extreme right, and the west end of the train shed is visible above and beyond it. The clock-tower on top of the station building shows above the locomotive tender. The engine on no. 419 is a J-3, no. 5437, which had a somewhat unusual tour of duty on the Big Four for a time. Together with sister-engine 5441, she was assigned to no's. 407-446 and 473-472: between Mattoon and St. Louis during a period when s-] power was handling these trains between Cleveland and Mattoon. The bulky S-1s could not run through to St. Louis because of restrictions barring them from the TRRA's Merchants Bridge. All other St. Louis trains were dieselized, but the 5437 and 5441 would occasionally catch the "Southwestern", "Knickerbocker", et. al., when the diesels failed or had to be cut at Mattoon to make their eastbound cycled runs (when the trains were late). Finally, TRRA engineers took another look at aging Merchants Bridge and decided that even the J-3s were too much for its frail latticework, so the NYC substituted J-1s on the steam-assigned runs and transferred the 5437 and 5441 back to Indiana-Ohio Division territory where they could do some work.

Jeremy Taylor

Jeremy Taylor

2-1/4x3-1/4 neg

Spring, 1954

To buy a copy of this photograph; click here NG503017

4/6/2004

444

J-3a

#5437

Alco-Schen

Union Depot, Indianapolis, IN

See NG503017a