Found another Monon fan at work...

[Mark Johnson]

I keep one of my custom-painted HO Monon locomotives on my desk at work as a conversation starter...a few days ago, somebody relatively new to our office stopped by and asked "What's a guy in the middle of Missouri doing with a Monon diesel on his desk?" It turned out that my new friend grew up in Sheldon, Illinois "at the junction of the TP&W and the C&EI" as he put it...and he was quite familiar with the Monon.

It never ceases to amaze me how small our world is...

Mark J
Columbia, MO

[Robert Gibson]

The TP&W crosses the old C&EI now CSX/UP at Watseka about 6 miles west of Sheldon.  The TP&W crosses the old Big Four line at Sheldon.  The old NYC line is now part of the KB&S.

[Mark Johnson]

I remember the old NYC line, on the Indiana side, quite well...when I was a little guy we used to travel from Milwaukee to see family in southern Indiana on US 41; as a 5-year old I always looked forward to seeing lots of trains along US 41!

Mark J

[Robert Gibson]

The line that runs along U.S. 41 from north of Terre Haute to Evansville is the old C&EI line now CSX. 

[Tim T Swan]

North of Terre Haute the C&EI ran parallel to the state line, but the northern 2/3 of it on the Illinois side.  The line Mark is probably remembering was indeed NYC, their "Egyptian" line, also parallel to the state line but on the Indiana side from Osborne Jct. (Gibson Yard) in Hammond to near Danville, IL. (then on to Cairo, IL.)  Much of it was visible from US41.

[George Lortz]

Back in the 1960s, when I lived there, Terre Haute was a mecca for train watching.  You couldn't go anywhere in the city without being stopped at some crossing.  The NYC and PRR ran parallel east-west and the CE&I ran north-south.  There may have been some other minor railroads that came through Vigo County.  Seems to me that a line ran southeast into the coal district, but I'm not sure which one.

George L.

[Robert Gibson]

The Milwaukee Road ran through Terre Haute on the east side of town.  The NYC line heading southeast out of Terre Haute ran through the coal fields and to Evansville.