Indianapolis, IN: Big Four Leota Yard and 38-Stall Roundhouse

Railyard: (Satellite, east of Shelby Street between the tracks and Calvary Street.)

Roundhouse: (Satellite, the remnants of some stalls are peaking through some storage piles.)

"The roundhouse itself contained 38 stalls. The yard would later be named after the street that ran through the middle of the facility, which was later removed: Leota Yard." After Beach Grove was built, this yard became the coach yard because of its close proximity to Union Station. [intransporthistory]

It is the yard near the lower-right corner of this excerpt.

1948/48 Indianapolis West Quad @ 24,000

Angel Ross posted 11 photos with the comment: "I recently learned of a gem I didn't know existed on Shelby Street.  The location housed the train yard for the Big Four (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad.) It also had a roundhouse to repair trains. I was always curious of this location, given the amount of space it has. The roundhouse was a major source of pollution, and citizens targeted the railroad because of it. Eventually, the Big Four moved operations to rail yards in Avon and Beech Grove. With no purpose, the roundhouse was razed in 1957. If you drive past this location today, very few remnants remain to indicate what it's purpose once served."

Tim Shanahan shared

Judi Vitale posted the same photos and comment

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

IRM Strahorn Library posted

5383, Class J-1d, was built by Alco-Schenectady in 1929 as CCC&StL 6608, Class J-1d. It became NYC 5383, Class J-1d, in August 1936.

Photo from DON'S DEPOT RAIL PHOTOS A collaborative restoration effort of the Illinois Railway Museum, IRM Strahorn Library, and the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University. Memorialized as of February 19, 2023, at https://donsdepot.irm.org/

Don was a long-term member of the IRM, joining in the mid-1950s when the museum was the Illinois Electric Railway Museum. Early on, he helped acquire several pieces of traction equipment, helped locate the present site for the IRM, and was instrumental in moving to Union, Illinois. Don was also the first editor of "Rail & Wire," the museum's newsletter, starting with issue #1 in February 1957.

The Strahorn Library houses thousands of books, tens of thousands of periodicals, and more than a hundred thousand photographs, all centering on the subject of trains and railroading and all held to support research and scholarship into the railroad history of the United States. 

The Strahorn Library is at 118 E. Washington Street in Marengo, Illinois. It is normally open from 10AM to 2:30PM on Wednesdays, and visitors are welcome. For those unable to visit, we can provide access to our collections via telephone (815-568-1060), e-mail (strahorn@irm.org), or online catalog (librarycat.org/lib/IRMStrahornLibrary).

All materials are available for non-commercial purposes and according to the “fair use” provision of the U.S. Copyright Law, which permits the use of copyrighted material for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

Bill Edrington shared
Big Four J-1d Hudson #6608 on the turntable at the Shelby Street roundhouse in Indianapolis with the second-trick shopmen.  Photo is undated, but I‘m guessing #6608 was pretty new when this was taken.

K.a. Hughes: I have a piece of the limestone trim from that building…I stopped by the site years ago and strolled around in the cold…there were some miscellaneous bits lying around…as an architect I recognized a window sill piece and grabbed it…

Sitting on my desk at home now.

My great grandfather was a fireman on the Big4 out of Greensburg, IN. He was pensioned out when his diabetes became a liability for the RR. Died years before I was born.

Dennis DeBruler shared

Dennis DeBruler commented on his share
Remnants of the foundation are still visible, https://maps.app.goo.gl/zxTBGWCEkzzWCeXV9.