Towns and Nature: Haskells, IN: GTW Depot at Monon Crossing

Kevin Horn posted
Haskells where the Michigan City line crossed the GTW. Work as relief operator here summer of 1970 which included one third shift at Dyer.

Mark E. Vaughan: As I recall from my foggy memory there was considerable interchange between the Monon and the Grand Trunk. My best guess auto parts and auto traffic. Parts to Ford Louisville Assembly Plant and body stampings out of the GM plant in Indy. Maybe castings from GM Foundry in Bedford. Just guessing on my part.

Kevin Horn: Mark E. Vaughan finished autos, when I worked there 1970 received anywhere from 15 to 30 loaded trilevels daily. Sometimes they would run a Haskells Turn out of Lafayette to protect this traffic.

Robert Scott: Kevin Horn please explain your last sentence - what is meant by "protect this traffic"?

Mark E. Vaughan: Robert Scott highly valued. Moved at very high freight rates. Subject to theft of batteries, radios tires and such. Subject to high claims for the railroad for loss and damage. Autos later subjected to graffiti. Rails did not want the cars to sit for very long on a rural siding since many bad things could happen.

In my N&W days literally interchange moves were well

orchestrated so the arriving train would arrive at the same time the other interchange partner would arrive. This happened at the former NKP to former Wabash in Peru, Former Wabash to former PRR in Logansport and former NKP to former C&O at Belfast, Indiana. I was working on the crews for each of these protected interchange connections.

Brían S Du Bois: Where were the connections (interchange tracks) located? Were the inside the Interlocking limits?

Michael Albert: Mark E. Vaughan the wye was in the NE quadrant (behind the depot). There were 2 tracks on the east side of the Monon main the GTW delivered to and a long track on the north side of the GTW the Monon delivered to. Lots of newsprint went to the Monon there too.

Mark E. Vaughan: Brían S Du Bois From my memory, considerable newsprint in CN,CP,ONR 40 foot boxcars to the Indy newspapers. Used to live north side of Indy and used to watch the cars in the yard and watched the consists when the freights passed during daylight hours.

Mark Johnson: Various history writers have noted that Haskells was the preferred interchange point between the GTW and Monon - the other crossing was in the Chicago metro area and was evidently a real pain to switch.