Fifty Years Ago... Mitchell, Indiana
Here we see a southbound Amtrak Floridian at Oak Street in Michell, Indiana. The passenger consist of legacy equipment is being pulled by two EMD SDP40Fs.
This line was part of the Louisville & Nashville at the time, formerly the Monon. The Hoosier Line ran between Louisville and Chicago, with a couple of branch lines (to Indianapolis, Michigan City, French Lick, and the coal fields in the southwest portion of the state). The train will soon pound over a crossing with the east/west B&O line that ran between Cincinnati and St. Louis.
Back to this photo: upon the passing of the lead locomotive, the distinctive semaphore signal, camera left, is in the process of dropping to the stop position. The other semaphore (with doll arm) will soon rise to reflect that the block the Amtrak train has just vacated is now clear. The doll arm indicates that the signal governs one track over from the signal (i.e. the main and not the side track).
The number on that signal mast indicates this spot is 255.8 miles from Chicago's Dearborn Station.
One image by Richard Koenig; taken July of 1976.
