Wallace Junction, IN: Monon vs Monon Junction, Depot and Coaling & Water Towers

(Satellite)

Once again, this depot must have been for passengers that were transferring from one train to another at the junction.

Monon Railroad Historical-Technical Society posted 25 photos with the comment:

Here are some great photos of a little place on the Monon called Wallace Junction. 

Wallace Junction is the next stop south of Cloverdale on the Monon’s mainline and is where the Indianapolis and Louisville Branch ran off south west to Cataract and beyond. The I & L Branch came to be known as the Midland Branch, as Midland was where it ended. 

Wallace Junction’s depot served both passenger and freight. The depot had a large platform that surrounded the east, west and south sides of the building. There was a water tower, a pump house, an ice house, scale house, tool house, coal tower, supply house and office, rip track, repair man’s office, end car repair shop, sand house, hostler’s house and shanties, and it’s not shown on the map but there was an engine house and a small yard as well. 

Wallace Junction was built in 1906. By the 1940s the Monon was considering abandoning it  but new mines opened and traffic increased. By the late 60s, the junction was still there but the Midland turn was being run out Bloomington or Lafayette. 

The photos shared are all from the MRHTS archives. The oldest pictures date from the early 1900s up through 1971. 

In addition to all the photos, in the archives we have also found a 1929 engineer’s map of Wallace Junction’s wye and layout of buildings. 

While I was researching online I found a newspaper article about Wallace Junction from 2001 shared on another facebook page (The People and History of Quincy Indiana) and I have included it because it shows a wonderful aerial view of Wallace Junction and its wye, taken in the early 1970s. 

You will also see a stylized Monon map with all the stations, rivers and the rail lines the Monon connected to. (I really love that map!) 

And for completeness sake, I’ve shared the google earth map of Wallace Junction and Quincy area that I posted previously, showing the Monon marked in red and the Midland (I & L) in purple. 

Hope you enjoy! 🛤️ 🚂 📸 🗺️

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1949/49 Quincy Quad @ 24,000