Historical Sketch

The state legislature in 1838 approved the charters of eight different railroads and it was 1847 that saw the first steam train enter Indianapolis (Madison to Indianapolis).  Wood was used for fuel and the water tank was filled at wayside streams by leather buckets carried on hooks along the side of the tender.  Twenty miles per hour was top and dangerous speed.

The line of iron rails next stretched to Lafayette.  Then in 1853 the New Albany and Salem Company built a line through the west side of Pulaski county and White Post township ending at Pierre.  There was a turntable (roundhouse) there for reversing the direction of the engine.  However, that may have belonged to the previously built railroad between San Pierre and Michigan City, known as the Culvertown or Custer.

Prior to and during the Civil War, the railroad operated under receivership, because of its ill success. In 1881 it was merged with what is now the Monon (Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway.)  The system extended in the form of an X - Chicago to Indy was one line, Michigan City to Louisville was the other, with the crossing being at Monon.  Passenger service flourished over our line until 1929.  After that date a passenger train briefly came up from Monon Daily and returned. Today only freight service, local and through, is maintained.

On May 1, 1865, the funeral train bearing the body of Abraham Lincoln passed through Medaryville. The body of the martyred president had been honored in Indianapolis throughout Sunday, April 30th. Late at night the funeral car was taken to Lafayette and there was transferred to another railroad.  At 3:35am, the train left Lafayette for Michigan City. It stopped briefly at Francesville, then Medaryville at 5:55.  The old accounts state that people were lined up along the right-of-way in all the towns at whatever hour as the train passed.

HISTORICAL SKETCH

The origin of Monon Railroad dates back to 1847 when James Brooks and six others organized the New Albany and Salem Railroad (N.A. & S.) in Providence, (now Borden) Indiana. By 1854, the track, stretching from the Ohio River to the Great Lakes, was opened for traffic. However, in 1858, financial difficulties resulting partially from the Panic of 1857 forced the railroad into receivership. By 1859, the N.A.& S. was renamed the Louisville, New Albany, and Chicago Railroad (L.N.A.& C.) under the trusteeship of D.D. Williamson.

The L.N.A.& C. prospered during the early 1860s by carrying Union supplies to the Mason Dixon Line. (As an interesting note, in 1865, Lincoln's funeral train rolled over the northern part of the L.N.A.& C. track on its way to Illinois). After the War, however, traffic plummeted and by 1869 the railroad was sold to a New York group headed by John J. Astor. During the 1880s, after ten years of stagnancy, the L.N.A.& C. rapidly expanded. It was renamed "Monon" after a creek near Bradford (Monon), Indiana, the site at which the L.N.A.& C. and its newly acquired Chicago Air Line crossed. The Panic of 1893, however, once again brought foreclosure and in 1897 the railroad was passed to the Chicago, Indianapolis, and Louisville Railway Company (C.I.& L.).

During WWI, under the control of the United States Railroad Administration, traffic on the Monon fluctuated. Continued decline in traffic through the 1920s caused the railroad to operate in a state of bankruptcy by 1933. Although WWII boosted the American economy, it did not affect Monon substantially. Most war movement was east - west and the C.I.& L. was a north-south railroad. It wasn't until 1946, after twelve years of bankruptcy that Monon reorganized and established independence from the C.I.& L. Under a new president, John W. Barriger, freight equipment was purchased, freight operations were improved, engines were dieselized, and passenger service revitalized. By the mid to late 1950s, however, a decline in freight traffic plagued the company. In 1960, an investment group headed by William C. Coleman took working control of the Monon. After several setbacks and frustrations, Coleman resigned in 1967. A four-year campaign ensued for merger with Louisville Nashville Railroad (L.& N.), and in 1971 the deal was finalized.

Sources: Dolzall, Gary W. Monon: The Hoosier Line. Glendale, CA: Interurban Press, 1987.
Good, A.E. "History of the Monon", Sheridan News Dec. 30, 1975.

Many railroads served the state, but the Monon was Indiana's own. If you wanted to travel from Delphi to Broad Ripple, or from Gosport to Smithville, you took the Monon. The self-proclaimed "Hoosier Line" celebrated its heritage by naming its flagship passenger train The Hoosier, featuring Indiana cooking in the dining cars and offering homespun service. Monon celebrates the history of this magnificent railroad, from its inception in 1847 as the New Albany & Salem Rail Road, then as the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago, to its merger in 1970 with the L&N, and beyond.

Company Logo
One of several official logos used by the Monon Line.

The Monon Line
From Chicago to Indianapolis and from Michigan City to Louisville, crossing at Monon.
(click map to view)

Monon Trains
The original steam engine (top) and the version that followed c1953 (below).