Awaiting assignment at the terminal

NG503043

Awaiting assignment at the terminal

Steam Locomotive

Though Shelby Street is hardly the foreground an Indianapolis booster would choose for a photograph intended to lure travelers, it is a fact that a reasonable view of the city's downtown section is available from the tracks east of Leota Street. Of course, this prospect is obscured by a good deal of the time by smoke and, when there is much wind, a combination of soot, cinders, and just plain trash. Here, on a still day, the taller buildings are visible behind the two engines. The latter, L-4s 3130 and 3125, are idling on a storage track while they await the call of duty. The 3125, incidentally, is the engine which was selected for no. 405 the day in May, 1954, when President White in his business car rode that train from Cincinnati to Indianapolis. Normally a 4-6-4 would have been assigned, but it was felt that the additional tractive effort of the 4-8-2 on Guilford Hill was an advantage offsetting the greater speed of the high-wheeled J engine. Of the L-4s available at the time, the 3125 was in about as good condition as any. These machinations were in spite of the fact that Mr. White, though he demanded top performances from everyone, was not a man who liked special treatment for himself.

Jeremy Taylor

Jeremy Taylor

2-1/4x3-1/4 neg

Summer, 1954

To buy a copy of this photograph; click here NG503043

4/8/2002

409

L-3b, L-4b

#3030, #3125

Lima

Shelby St., Indianapolis, IN

See NG503043a