Marion Branch article extras

Here are a few odds and ends to my Marion Branch article that didn't make it to print or came up after the fact.

- First, Larry Lewman who helped provide information for the article, did a cab ride video up and down the Marion Branch in the winter of 1999 and it is now available from RR video dealer Keith's Railroad Videos & Maps(owner Keith Lehman) for $15. You can order a copy of it from him by contacting him at or 260-251-9713, the video number is #129. I have invited Keith to set up at the Marion RBQ this year, so if you come to Marion in a couple weeks you can buy a copy in person, plus check out all of Keith's other videos that include or feature Conrail action from various spots around the midwest.

-Second, here is a link to a photo showing Conrail action on the south end of the line at Shirley, IN from 1976(Larry Lewman was the photographer):
http://madisonrails.railfan.net/pc/pc1019.jpg
http://madisonrails.railfan.net/pc/pc1020.jpg
(these photos came from Roger Hensley's Railroads of Madison County(IN) website)

-Third, here are a couple photos of ULG coal trains from 1978, also from Roger Hensley's website(Ron Buser photos):
http://madisonrails.railfan.net/buser/ln3556_a.jpg
http://madisonrails.railfan.net/buser/ln1410_a.jpg

-Fourth, here a few photos of a grain train that derailed near Emporia, IN in 1978(train was JEM-1, Ron Buser photo on Roger Hensley's website):
http://madisonrails.railfan.net/buser/empo_1_a.jpg
http://madisonrails.railfan.net/buser/empo_2_a.jpg
http://madisonrails.railfan.net/buser/empo_3_a.jpg

Here is the link to Roger's website, he has a bunch of Conrail photos on there from the beginning to the end of the railroad, along with a bunch old NYC and PC goodies as well:
http://madisonrails.railfan.net/home.html

-Fifth, here is a link to the photo gallery here on our website of the last run on Mexico Secondary that ran from North Manchester, IN to Mexico, IN:
http://thecrhs.org/node/24260

There was more I wanted to share but can't think of it right now, so enjoy these extras and I will post the other things as I remember them :)

Thanks for the extras, I hope to get my copy today or tomorrow!

In re-reading my article again today, I discovered something that was missed during the proof reading process. The photo of the train being pulled by CP SD40's was labeled ML-301 and it should be MIL-301, because if you look behind the buffer car, those containers on flatcars contain military ordinace inside them, making this a military train. Some railroaders and railfans nicknamed these particular military moves the "dynamite train"

Also wanted to add that in the photo showing the rock cut at Wabash, IN you can see a track veering off to your left. That was the connection track to the old yard lead that Conrail used to go over and switch the few customers it had left in Wabash. It used to veer off to the right and swung around and crossed the branch at a diamond, approximately where the photographer was standing, before entering the old location of Wabash yard which was off to the left of the photo.

In the part where I discussed today's operations on the branch, I neglected to mention train L44, a local train that runs from Marion to Roanoke, IN to ferry auto parts from the GM plant in Marion to the GM truck assembly plant in Roanoke. Its based out of Goodman yard as well.

Here are some more photos:

A recent shot of the NS OCS train running under the ex Wabash mainline bridge in Wabash
http://www.flickr.com/photos/60523918@N02/7524462942/in/faves-conrailman75/

A recent photo showing the end of the signaled section and the start of the dark territory on the branch
http://www.flickr.com/photos/732mpd/7496205194/in/faves-conrailman75/

Here's a couple shots from January 1996 showing the rarely photographed ELFW crossing the Marion Branch in Warsaw, IN and passing the ex PRR depot in town
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8474804@N05/4839685030/in/faves-conrailman75/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8474804@N05/2279608018/in/faves-conrailman75/

Here are some photos from 1988 showing Conrail action on the branch(check out the cool power consists)
Warsaw, IN
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8474804@N05/6232909842/in/faves-conrailman75/

Leesburg, IN:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8474804@N05/6232388199/in/faves-conrailman75/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8474804@N05/6232909998/in/faves-conrailman75/

Here is another photographer's take on the train Dave O. photographed at Warsaw that appears with the article
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8474804@N05/6242401576/in/faves-conrailman75/

A shot from 1998 between Goshen and New Paris, IN in 1998
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8474804@N05/6242401618/in/faves-conrailman75/

Another thing I forgot to mention, Kevin Nelson, who provided some of the photos for the article, shared all of his Conrail stuff with us and its here in his photo gallery:
http://thecrhs.org/node/19105

Plus we have an "on location" photo gallery for the Marion Branch as well
http://thecrhs.org/OnLocationWithConrail/MarionBranch

And this was the only photo I could find of Conrail on what remained of the South Bend Secondary(by the time of the photo it was the Notre Dame Industrial Track)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31385681@N02/4965368392/in/set-72157625032703525

Here is a photo of Kent Tower in Marion, IN taken back in the 1940's by Ted Tobin
http://madisonrails.railfan.net/north/kent_600.jpg

And finally, here is a photo of that only remaining ex L&NE Alco I mentioned in the article
http://madisonrails.railfan.net/2005/0728_18.jpg

In Conrail Bulletion Order IN-6-S-23, dated Feb. 10, 1998, I discovered two full pages on the actual milepost renumbering of the Marion Branch and a few other tidbits I did not know until now.

- first, the Dow Secondary was abolished by this order and the Marion Branch's jurisdiction was extended to control the entire line from Goshen to Anderson(a fact I would have put in the article had I found it before now) in the last three years of Conrail.

- second, even though this information was contained in a 1998 bulletin order, I know from first hand visual sightings that the Marion Branch was renumbered in late 1996, because my photos from 1997 reflect its current milepost numbering.

- third, I discovered that Conrail made a humorous(to me) mispelling of one of the towns on the Marion Branch. The bulletin order instructs the employee to change the name Spencerville, IN to read Speicherville, IN. This is humorous to me because Spencerville, IN is a real town in Indiana that was about a half hour north of me when I lived in New Haven and the only rail line running through it was the NS former Wabash mainline.

I've been going through this pile of Conrail bulletin orders I got from the Marion Union Station folks at the Marion RBQ last weekend and have uncovered some more tidbits that had I known about them sooner I would have put them in the article as well.

- first, I discovered a Conrail Bulletin Order, no. 7-4, dated January 19, 1999 that said dispatching control of the Marion Branch had been shifted to the West Virginia Secondary dispatcher's desk(even though he always answered "Marion Branch Dispatcher" whenever crews dialed him up). Further digging discovered that the Indianapolis line dispatcher was covering the Marion Branch prior to this date, so obviously at some point between 1981 and 1998 they moved the dispatching control of the branch down to the Indianapolis office. Will do some digging to find out exactly when for sure and post it here on this thread.

-second, and this is thanks to a gentleman named Matt who works for NS and lives in Muncie, IN, I discovered that between 1982 and 1991, Conrail still detoured the ELCO/COEL trains via the Marion Branch from time to time. They would run up the Scottslawn Secondary to Ridgeway and across the Indianapolis line to Union City where it swung onto the old PRR main and ran up to Marion and turned onto the Branch to finish its journey to Elkhart. It wasn't that frequent, but would have warranted a mention of it in the article none the less. The last one Matt saw was in 1991 and in 1993 Conrail abandoned part of the line from Union City to Redkey, ending its use as a through route.

Thats the problem with research sometimes, you always find out more things after you've already completed your project, but I guess that's what this thread is for :)

Kevin Nelson has a bunch of B&W stuff on rrpicturearchives.net from all around Indiana, from pre-Conrail up through 1987, including PC action around Marion and such parts.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/archivethumbs.aspx?id=516

This collection also includes some of what's already been posted on the CRHS site.

Jerry