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Re: (erielack) Re: West End inspection trip - Rochester, IN and west



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- ----- Original Message -----
From: <TrainGG1_@_aol.com>
To: <erielack_@_lists.railfan.net>
Sent: Friday, November 28, 2003 9:40 AM
Subject: (erielack) Re: West End inspection trip - Rochester, IN and west


> 11/28
>
> Being interested in Chicago area suburban service, particularly the
one-time
> ERIE suburban service betw Chicago and Rochester, IN (which appears to
have
> operated until at least 1917), a freind of mine and I took a trip along
the
> now-silent ERIE between Rochester and Winfield, IN. While I knew upfront
that it
> was abandoned, it brought me to tears to see just how it had been
removed -- a
> one-time double-track railroad, and in some places there is NO SIGN OF
IT --
> totally obliterated by farmers who have removed the right-of-way and now
plant
> crops on it. Also, that some of the highway bridges have been removed and
> their grades lowered, which has also eliminated other physical traces of
the
> railroad.
>
> Anyway, on with the tour.
>
> Bill Shapotkin
>
> On Sunday, November 16th, Bill Kaepplinger and Bill Shapotkin ventured out
> into the Wilds of Indiana in search of the ERIE. Their trip starts in
> Rochester, IN -- the one-time eastern terminus of the ERIE's Chicago
suburban service.
> Here is what they saw:
>
> Rochester --
> The ERIE station, located on the north side of 1st and Pontiac is
> still standing. From its appearance, it is being used to store grade
crossing
> devices (signals, gates, etc.) for the short line which operates this
small
> segment of the ERIE. There is but on track remaining (the former W/B
main), and
> while it is in sad shape, there are a number of new crossties and alot of
fresh
> ballast in place. Both psgr platforms remain, although very much
weed-grown.
> The west end of the building, is settling badly. Otherwise, with a little
> attention by Norm Abrams and a coat of paint and it would not look bad.
> There is a frt customer (an elevator) located on the north side of the
> tracks approx 1/4 mile west of the depot. The track ends just east of IN
Rt
> #31. The one-time bridge over the ERIE has been removed and the grade cut
down.
>
> Pershing -- Once named Germany (name changed circa 1917 due to World War
I).
> While there are inhabitants here, there is no town as such
(unincorporated).
> For the record, this place is located on CO RD 400W approx 1/2 mile north
of
> CO RD 200N in Fulton County.
>
> Lieters Ford -- the ERIE seems to have called this place "Lieters," at
least
> that is the name on the still-standing depot (located south of Railroad St
> west of River St (CO RD 750W)). Be careful when approaching the
building -- it
> will such a paint brush out of your hand at fifty paces!! There is a town
> (Leiters Ford) here, and the local post office is on the east side of
River St.
> Nice little place.
>
> DeLong -- the station (and one-time xing with the PRR's Logansport-South
Bend
> "Vandalia" line) is was located on the north side of Olson Rd east of CO
RD
> 900W. While the ERIE's right-of-way is visible, the PRR's is even more
so --
> especially abutments and bridge piers north of town where the railroad
crossed a
> creek. Like Lieters Ford there is a town (and post office) there and is an
> otherwise pleasant little local.
>
> Monterrey to North Judson --
> The line is up for abandonment, and it is easy to see why. The one
> customer (a grain elevator in Monterrey), has had its siding removed and
the
> rails are most rusty. There is a locomotive in the enginehouse at
Monterrey and
> the ERIE depot there is still standing (but don't breath too heavily on
it -- it
> might collapse), but this longest remaining piece of the
> ERIE on the West End does not look like it is long for this world.
> Forward now to North Judson, the Hooser Valley Railroad Museum
> (http://hvrm.railfan.net/) seems to be alive and well, but alas, it is
open on
> Saturday (not Sunday). As for the railroad crossings to the west -- if
your life
> depended on proving to me on available physical evidence that four
railroads
> (three of which were mainlines -- and two of those were double-tracked)
once
> crossed here, you might not live to see tomorrow. It's a sad site. (What
is even
> more disturbing is that I remember riding through North Judson under
Amtrak on
> both the Floridian and the Cardinal on the PRR's Panhandle line and the
C&O of
> Indiana!)
>
> Lomax -- Located on CO RD 900W south of CO RD 300N in Starke County, there
is
> no town here. There does appear to be some kind of private housing
> development which requires driving west on the ERIE r-o-w to get to, but
without a key
> to the lock on the gate, it would require a good hike!
>
> Wilders -- one-time crossing with the Monon-Michigan City line of the
Monon,
> is located on the north side of CO RD 2350S west of U.S. 421 (the actual
xing
> is now on private property -- so ask nicely (unless the family who lives
there
> is not home, in which case you ignore the "No Trespassing" sign, get your
> shots and get the hell out of there). It was rather interesting that while
we
> were scouting the area out, an older fella, who lives on the south side of
the
> street east of the Monon r-o-w came up to the truck and asked "You fellows
> railfans?" We did not realize we were that obvious. Perhaps it was the
fact that we
> were studing a map and pointing out the windows. Wilders is
unincorporated,
> but unlike Pershing, there is an honest-to-goodness community located
here.
>
> Clanricarde -- could somebody PLEASE tell me how to pronounce the name of
> this place? The ERIE crossed through this local (which still has a grain
> elevator) across the intersection of CO Rd 100S/CO RD 600E in Porter
County. While the
> r-o-w is very visible, there are no other remains (i.e.: signals,
buildings,
> etc.) of the railroad.
>
> Kouts -- the xing of the ERIE/PRR is now located in the corner of a
farmer's
> field north of Mentor St approx 1/4 mile east of Oak St. The area has been
so
> obliterated that the site could only be determined by lining up the
visible
> r-o-w of both railroads and by site figuring where the xing had been.
There are
> no signs of the tower (not even the foundation!). The ERIE station (which
we
> think was located just east of IN RT #49 south of IN RT #8) is nowhere to
be
> found -- however --the one-time PRR station (now an ice cream parlor and
is
> beutiful condition) can be found in the SW corner of Railroad Ave (based
on the
> name, it would seem the PCC&StL was the first railroad in town) and Maple
St.
>
> Boone Grove -- the ERIE cut through this small but quaint commuty across
the
> intersection of CO RD 550S/CO RD 350W in Porter County. The r-o-w is
visible,
> but no buildings or other related railroad items can be seen10.
>
> Hurlburt --
> From what we can tell, the location of the station is on the south
> side of CO RD 500S-450S (the road runs on a SE/NW angle) approx 1/4-1/2
mile east
> of CO RD 600W in Porter County. Somebody has constructed a house on the
south
> side of the embankment and has gone to an extreme effort to haul away
about
> 300 yards of the embankment to afford them a view of their neighbors to
the
> north. There is no "town" here, not even a sign telling you that this was
> "Hurlburt."
> One CO RD 600W, the ERIE bridged not only the highway, but a creek,
> located on the west side of the roadway. The creek has been routed through
a
> concrete channel (perhaps to keep it from undermining both the highway and
the
> railroad). It's different than your usual run-of-the-mill bridge
abutments.
>
> Palmer -- Now there is a town here. Located on the north side of the ERIE
> r-o-w (which itself is located north if 125th Ave) on the east side of
Randolph
> St, it is a mix of old fixer-uppers and newly constructed homes. The
station
> (we believe) was located east of Randolph St. It should be noted that from
the
> appearance of the bridge abutments on either side of Randolph St, the ERIE
may
> have relocated its mainline when the line was double-tracked. There is as
set
> of stone abutments (wide enough for one track) located north of the
concrete
> abutments which once carried the two-track railroad across the street.
>
> West of Palmer is Winfield, but due to darkness, hunger and the need to
use t
> he can, we left Winfield (and the remainder of the line into Hammond) for
> anothere day. It is all-too-easy to see that the ERIE WESTERN (short line
operator
> which tried unsuccessfully to make a living by serving the west end of the
> ERIE) learned the hard way what Conrail already knew -- that there was
> insufficient on-time business to keep this portion of the ERIE going. It
was a bridge
> route, plain and simple. Unable to justify another mainline across
Indiana,
> Conrail cut it lose, allowing it to die.
>
> If you have or know of anyone with pics of the ERIE, ERIE-LACKAWANNA or
ERIE
> WESTERN from any point, Rochester and west, Bill Shapotkin is looking for
them
> and will be more than happy to wheel-and-deal to get copies for his
> collection of Chicago suburban railroads. Contact me at TrainGG1_@_aol.com.
Thanks.
>
>

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End of EL List Daily V3 #1116
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