Elkhart, IN: NYC Depots (LS&MS and Big4)

(LS&MS: Satellite, Big Four was near Jackson and Prairie Street)

The NYC/LS&MS depot is easy to find because it still stands, and it is used by Amtrak. However, I did learn it is on the north side of the tracks. I wonder what the building now used by the National New York Central Railroad Museum was originally used for.

The 20th photo posted by Raymond Storey
Joe Barron posted
The Lakeshore & Michigan Southern (later New York Central) shops and depot at Elkhart; 1910's
Thomas Spesshardt freight house on left and deshone hotel on right
[The depot we can see is the LS&MS depot. I don't understand the "DEPOT" label on the right because this photo is looking Northwest and the Big Four depot was Northeast of the LS&MS depot.]

The above photo shows the LS&MS shops were originally in downtown just west of what is now the Amtrak Station. As the importance of the NYC yards grew, newer and bigger ones were built further west of town. See Railyard and Engine Facility for more information concerning the railyards for the LS&MS route. The 1957 yard is now the classification yard for Norfolk Southern's Chicagoland destined carload freight.

Tim JH White posted, Facebook resolution
Don't remember where I got this article, but a short history up to the new Robert Young in Elkhart.

Raymond Storey posted
Richard Roberts shared

Craig Hensley Photography posted

Downtown Elkhart

We spent a couple hours at the Elkhart Amtrak station on Sunday morning and saw a bunch of trains heading into the classification yard. This 5 unit manifest was pretty cool to see, and I was able to get clearance through LAANC to fly the drone downtown, and also grabbed a couple shots of from my canon.

Tech: DJI Mavic Air 2s + Canon 5D Mark III + Canon 70-200mm f2.8 is ii

Symbol: NS ?

Date: 8/29/21

Location: Elkhart, Indiana

Main-RR-11_V1

A Big Four depot surprised me because I didn't even know Big Four was in Elkhart. Looking at a 1928 RR Atlas, Big Four and B&O shared a route that started in Louisville, crossed the Ohio River, and went to North Vernon. CSX still operates an isolated segment of this route in Southern Indiana. I added a red line to indicate that the Big Four route continued north through Greensburg, Rushville, Knightville, Shirley, and Anderson. The segment between Anderson and a little south of Emporia still exists to serve the Kokomo Grain Co. in that town. The segment between Knightstown to Carthage is a tourist operation. The Big Four route between Anderson and Goshen is now owned by Norfolk Southern.

This map is inaccurate because it doesn't show the abandoned segment between Greensburg and Rushville. Also, it doesn't show that Big Four used to run between Goshen and Elkhart to the east of the LS&MS route. It does show that the route now owned by Elkhart and Western Railway used to go all the way to Mishawaka.

INDOT 2005

What it doesn't show is that there was also a route that branched off what is now EVR where it curves to the west. This branch went to Belleview and Granger to terminate at Benton Harbor. We can still see a straight treeline for this branch.

Satellite

This map is more accurate, but it has copyright issues. And the details about how the Big Four route went through Elkhart are wrong. The Mishawaka and Benton Harbor branches shared a route through Elkhart past their depot until Mishawaka turned west on the north side of town.



Raymond Storey posted 21 photos. The 20th photo is at the top of these notes.

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Jack Franks When you went upstairs the road foreman of engines was on the left and the road trainmaster was on the right. I remember an engineer joking about when he went looking for a job the clerk asked him what he wanted to do and held up a scoop shovel and a lantern he said he picked the scoop as he didn't know what he had to do with a lantern.

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Also one of five NYC depot images posted by Raymond Storey

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Edwards Peters posted
This picture was taken around 1880 or so. This is the Chicago Wabash and Michigan roundhouse under construction in Elkhart, Indiana. Later purchased by the CCC&St L.

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