Train no. 3, westbound "James Whitcomb Riley"

NG503051

Train no. 3, westbound "James Whitcomb Riley"

Steam Passenger Train

Number 3, the westbound "Riley", heads towards the depot over the IU between East Street and Virginia Avenue. The B&O freighthouse is beyond the paved area below the elevation on the right. The track in the foreground is the NYC freighthouse lead, extending from the point at College Avenue where the main tracks run into the IU to the house itself on Delaware and South Streets. The crossover in the left foreground from the house lead to the It is used by ON-1 and ON-2, the Cleveland-Indianapolis merchandise trains, which begin and end their runs at the freighthouse rather than at Brightwood yard. The "B-line” swings in from the left beyond the signal in the background, and hence these trains (each known as the "Moon") must cross the IU mains to get to and from the freighthouse. The "Riley's" engine here is J-3 no. 5441, mentioned before in connection with its earlier assignment to the Mattoon-st. Louis territory. Although 4-6-4s regularly handled. the "Riley", it was unusual to see one with a conventional or "small" tender on this run. Engines with PT tenders were usually used on the Cincinnati-Kankakee trains because the "centipedes" enabled them to cover the 110 miles between Greensburg and Lafayette on a tank of water (there are no water plugs at Indianapolis Union Station). In fact, on this trip, a special stop for water had to be made at Glenn, fourteen miles west of Indianapolis.

Jeremy Taylor

Jeremy Taylor

2-1/4x3-1/4 neg

Spring, 1954

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441

J-3a

#5441

Alco-Schen

Freight house, Indianapolis, IN

See NG503051a