Local train no. 419

NG503057

Local train no. 419

Steam Locomotive

Number 419 follows an unusually filthy J-1, no. 5402, across the White River bridge at the outset of its leisurely run to Chicago. Though about two years elapsed between the making of this picture and the removal of the train from the schedule, the conditions which led to its demise existed throughout those years and considerably before then. A moderate head-end business which lost money and virtually no patronage by the travelling public - those were the ills of no. 419 and its eastbound running mate, no. 414, just as they were and are of a multitude of similar divisional locals running through rural areas with good highway facilities. The very makeup of such trains suggests an air of defeat, as though both the public and the railroad had agreed that they were no longer of any use (though there has been much debate on the question of which of the two reached this conclusion first). The consist of no. 419 is typical - a couple of head-end cars, a combine, and a coach, all somewhat shabby and well along in years. Other : items of interest in the picture are the Kingan plant (behind the ; train), the depot clock tower (above the telephone booth next to the eastward main), and, in the right background, a generating station of the Indianapolis Power and Light Company.

Jeremy Taylor

Jeremy Taylor

2-1/4x3-1/4 neg

Spring, 1954

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4/6/2004

447

J-1e

#5402

Alco-Schen

White River, Indianapolis, IN

See NG503057a