(NYC 1950 Calendar Twilight in the Berkshires)

Big Four Memories - Early years thru 1929 Big Four Memories - The 30s and 40s Big Four Memories - 50s to PC Big Four Memories - PC to CR Forty eight to Chicago (ex-Riley Tail Car)

Fortville Indiana   1) 1920s? Interlocking Tower (postcard), 2) Crossing Tower (Newspaper) 3) Depot (early postcard), 4) 1950-51 - NYC 2-8-2 1365 passes by the Depot - Carl Marsh Photo (postcard), 5) 1960 - Fortville Depot has seen better days. Ronald Stuckey Photo.

The Class G-43 2-8-0s were built by Brooks Locomotive Co., Dunkirk, NY in 1902-1903. They weighed 280,00 pounds and had a tonnage rating of 1,400 tons on Cassadaga hill. They were kept in service on the Valley Branch three years beyond Dieselization due to weight restrictions on some of the bridges, finally being retired in 1949, when a couple bridges were strengthened. The 1102 was held over one more year to handle some officials on an inspection tour, and then to handle the Vision Test car, because it was steam heat-equipped for passenger cars. I am sending the pix with captions. 1) 2) 3)

These photos were taken in August, 1950 (I was 26) when my parents visited Sally and me at the station in Sinclairville, NY. James Peters Collection

Weed Burner in 1950
Lawrence Baggerly Collection.  

Leaving Chicago in a Winter twilight Great artwork; great locomotive............. (Please, it is artwork, not the real thing.) Lawrence Baggerly collection

This is a great picture provided by Linda Blackman, and shows agent/operator Hal Johns at work in the Stonefort depot. I don't have a date for the photo, but the telephone in the background tells me that it was probably in the 1950's. Hal was a notorious "saver" and had company timetables, annual reports, and various other memorabilia dating back for a couple of decades. - CAPT Rex Settlemoir Linda Blackman Collection.

Linda Blackman currently owns the ex-Big 4 depot at Stonefort, Illinois. Amazingly, after she contacted the U. S. National Archives in Washington, she found that they had a substantial number of Big 4 records. This photo is one that I took in October 2007, from about the same angle. Additionally, they furnished her with a complete set of plans and drawings of the depot. - CAPT Rex Settlemoir Linda Blackman Collection.

Ditching Equipment in 1951. A Jordan Spreader, Little Bantam, Side Dump, and a proud operator!!! Just back from the Cairo Line south of Paris ILL going to Mt.Carmel. There is nothing left now of the Team, RR or Operator.... LAB Lawrence Baggerly Collection.

#151 Arriving "Midland" The 'watchers' are Yardmaster Flannigan, and Conductor Bob Fischer. Engine #2865 is delivering local cars for further dispatchment to "SANKY" line destinations. Lawrence Baggerly Collection.

#151 crew at Paris IL Another photo from the Cairo Line local - LtoR..Engineer John Franklin, Fireman [can't remember his name], and Conductor Bob Fischer - after yarding our train at Midland, and getting ready to turn the Engine at the Paris Roundhouse. The L-2 just barely fit the Turntable, and in 1951, these "Turns" were the last gasp of steam on the Cairo Line. Lawrence Baggerly Collection.

Small Dinosaur Only two more hoppers to re-rail at Lyons Hump in 1951 - These derricks were used on the non-mainline trackages on account of their limited capacity - 100 tonners vs the 250 ton Big Hooks located at major terminals such as Indianapolis, Elkhart, Toledo, Cleveland, etc. - Lawrence Baggerly Collection.

Summer 1951 Local #152 with engine 1337 waits in the siding for Train 441 at Paris, IL. The Southern District is all steam except for thru passenger service. Lawrence Baggerly Collection.

The Southwestern Limited is just west of Midland [Paris, IL] in 1951, and up to track-speed. Next stop Mattoon, IL. Lawrence Baggerly Collection.

It's Summer and #11 (Southwestern Limited) is headed west to Mattoon, and is still showing an 'OB'!! (Observation) as it crosses Main Street in Paris Illinois. Lawrence Baggerly Collection.

September 1951 Lyons Yard, Westville, IL Lyons-Paris T/A local. Larry Baggerly says: Here is my engineer!! John Franklin from Trafalger Indiana. I miss him still! Imagine doing local switching with that L-2 Lawrence Baggerly Collection. 11/5/2003 - Larry Baggerly said: Glen Keen was a NYCRR fireman at same time I was a brakeman on the Cairo Line. His family had approximately 400 years of seniority vs my family's mere 150 years. Though history on most lines of the CCC&STL, as you no doubt know, the RR hired several generations of the same families, as long as they were 'GOOD RR FOLKS' ... Glen Keen: Larry, is that engine #2846? Wouldn't that be an L-2? Did love to fire those L-2's. Larry Baggerly: CORRECTAMUNDO!!! I was scanning some stuff to RRsofMadCty and figured you'd get a kick outa that 'gone-forever' steam loco. You're right on target re the ease of 'firing' an L-2. The #2865 alongside #2846 was headed back to Mt. Carmel with your uncle Owen as hogger. I was working the Lyons-Paris [Midland] switch run that day, and the engineer sure had a few words for the engine dispatcher for assigning that L-2 for switching. He about wore his arm out spinning the Reverser several hundred times that day.

Fall 1951 Extra #1337 South sits at Ridge Farm at the NKP crossing awaiting their Eastbound Manifest Freight ...note the volume of pipe connections leading to crossovers and signals in the middle of rural Illinois [Cairo Line] The local had just finished 'spotting' our last empty grain boxcar at the elevator there at Ridge Farm. - LAB - Lawrence Baggerly Collection.

Early 50s Unfortunately, I have no way of identifying the engineer in this picture, other than to say that he would have been from the Mt. Carmel, Illinois pool on the Cairo Line. This is a classic pose of an engineer at work on the local while switching at Vienna, Illinois. The photo was taken by agent H.C. Settlemoir in the early 1950's, before arrival of the first diesels on this branch line. The engineer's hand is perfectly posed on the throttle; whistle cord is visible in the background, and train orders are neatly rolled up and placed in a valve handle in the foreground. Of course, the engineer's large oil can is close at hand and resting on the brake stand! CAPT Rex Settlemoir

Bucyrus, Ohio 1952 Fueling station - #101!!. Not fancy, but effective Lawrence Baggerly Collection.

Corning Ohio 1952 - T&OC/CCC&STL The Round House becomes just a fueling stop. The Maintracks are to the left of this picture. Lawrence Baggerly Collection.

These two photos have absolutely no historical value in our ongoing look at the Big 4 Cairo Line. However, they do show a young Rex Settlemoir in front of the Vienna, Illinois depot, long before he was a Navy Captain, as well as before he went to Annapolis, before he went to Harrisburg High School, and even before he went to Vienna Grade School! Photo taken by agent H.C. Settlemoir, about 1953. (Obviously, sir, I disagree. RR personnel had families, too. - rph) - CAPT Rex Settlemoir

This photo looks south, toward the receiving yard at the NYC/Big 4 yard in Harrisburg, Illinois. Main line to Cairo is visible to the far left of the picture. According to Edson's book "Diesel Locomotives of the New York Central System" #7106 is a Fairbanks Morse 2000 HP unit, built in 1948 and sold to GE in 1964; it was equipped for MU operation at both ends. The picture has to date from 1953 or later, since the WSIL-TV tower is visible in the background to the right. I worked at this TV station as a high school teenager from 1963 to 1967 and know that it went on the air in December, 1953. I do not know the photographer, but can tell that the photo was taken by climbing the floodlight tower, which stood immediately south of the hump yard office there. - CAPT Rex Settlemoir

This is a northbound view of the Harrisburg, Illinois Yard on the NYC/Big 4 Cairo Line. It is the companion to the southbound view above and was taken from the floodlight tower just south of the hump yard office (roof of the yard office is visible in the foreground). Main line to Mount Carmel is visible to the right and roundhouse is on the left, along with the wreck train. Harrisburg was by no means a modern yard, so the tracks in the center were a combination classification/forwarding yard. After the cars (mostly coal) were weighed and classified on the manual hump, northbound trains were doubled together at the north end of the yard. CAPT Rex Settlemoir

Mid 50s Heavy Power on the Cairo Line This photo was shot by H.C. Settlemoir in front of the Vienna, Illinois depot and shows the last steam power to operate there. I think that it is especially interesting, because L2c Mohawk 2842 (built by ALCO in 1929) would normally be regarded as heavy mainline power. With a weight of 365,000 pounds it would have put quite a strain on the 90 pound rail south of Karnak (for this reason, perhaps it was operating on a Karnak turn and not a Cairo turn). In any event, it certainly shows "how the mighty have fallen" as it was no doubt demoted from mainline duty by diesel power at this late date. I would suspect that 2-8-2 Mikado's would have been the predominate power on the Cairo line when steam was in its heyday. CAPT Rex Settlemoir

I had previously sent this same photo of NYC Mohawk #2842 in front of the depot at Vienna, Illinois in its black & white original version. However, this color version of the same photo is not what we think of today as a 'color photo.' In addition to being a dedicated NYC/Big 4 employee, H.C. Settlemoir did his own photo developing and processing in a makeshift lab that he set up in our basement. Amateur color photography was still relatively rare (and expensive) well into the 1950's, so he took the photo in black & white, but then used a photo coloring kit to manually 'colorize' the picture. - CAPT Rex Settlemoir

Remember when MOW work was mostly done by section gangs? This picture was taken in front of the NYC/Big 4 depot in Vienna, Illinois in the mid 1950's, just before the section gangs were abolished in favor of mechanized track gangs. My memory is just strong enough to recall that two of these men were Bill Simmons and Dugan McCuan. CAPT Rex Settlemoir

Here are two photos, taken from approximately the same spot in Harrisburg, Illinois, but about 50 years apart. First shot, of course, is looking north from the hump at Harrisburg Yard in the mid-1950's -- substantial number of loaded hoppers appear to be in the bowl yard. Second picture, shot last week is the same view looking north in 2007. This once busy yard was torn out less than 20 years ago, and there is little or no evidence that it ever existed!! CAPT Rex Settlemoir

Here is another fifty year comparison at Harrisburg, Illinois. First picture looks south at Harrisburg Yard during the mid-1950's -- second picture was taken earlier this month from approximately the same location, at the former site of Harrisburg Yard. Pretty sad. CAPT Rex Settlemoir

GP7s 5797 & 5798 lead a mail/express eastward near Anderson along old SR 67 near Mounds Park. James C. Suhs Collection.

Here is a motor car/section gang picture in front of the Vienna, Illinois depot on the NYC/Big 4 Cairo Line. Photo dates from about 1955 and looks east; motor car is on the main line and the short passing track in front of the Vienna depot is just barely visible under the weeds in the background. CAPT Rex Settlemoir

NYC 6015 at Beech Grove. Last Niagara in service Charlie Smith said: June 30, 1956. Last run of 6015 in passenger service, train no. 416, Indianapolis to Cincinnati on account of a diesel failure. Departed Indianapolis 34 minutes late, arrived Cincinnati 6 minutes late. July 2, 1956. Returned to Indianapolis in freight service, train CC-3. Final run. - Photo by Soph Marty. For more info on the 6015 and the retirement dates of many of the Niagaras, see: NYC Niagara 6015 (Jacobs) and Niagaras Retired - 6015 Last Run on the Memory Pages.

An L-4b at work in Anderson just before the end came for it. This Mohawk was retired in June of 1956. James C. Suhs Collection.

1955-56 Even with all of the exclusions shown on the back of this company pass, there were still plenty of other NYC trains to ride in 1955-1956. My Father, H.C. Settlemoir, was NYC/Big 4 agent at Vienna, Illinois at the time this pass was issued. CAPT Rex Settlemoir Collection

Two Beech Grove workers check bearings in 1956. NYCSHS Photo

October 1956 NYC's Train X "The eXplorer" at Cincinnati Union Terminal Baldwin Built Power Unit had Hydraulic Drive Roger Hensley Collection.

1957 This is an original Illinois Division bulletin order, discontinuing "The Egyptian" between Chicago and Harrisburg on the Cairo Line. Notice that it was posted at Stonefort, Illinois and was signed by NYC station agent . I obtained this bulletin order about 1965, when I accompanied my Dad (H.C. Settlemoir - Official Agent at Harrisburg), as he picked up agency paperwork at Stonefort in conjunction with the closing of the station. CAPT Rex Settlemoir Collection

May 3, 1957 - Cincinnati OH NYC 1977 2-8-2 H-7E The last engine to have the fire pulled on the NYC

Here is a Wintertime shot. Photo looks North, towards Harrisburg, depot overhang is visible in the foreground. The picture dates from the last days of steam in 1950's; NYC water tower, pumphouse, and water spiggot are all shown here. This is the same company water tower that H. C. Settlemoir used to take the 'airborne' picture of the station area in 1948. CAPT Rex Settlemoir

At some point, you are bound to get tired of all these old depot pictures, but they were sure a part of our common NYC family background. As a young boy, can't tell you how much time that I spent in these old structures -- pot bellied stove, train order hoops, telegraph key, Underwood typewriter, Official Guide, semaphore signals -- the list goes on and on, but I remember all of them so well. Anyway, this is the NYC/Big 4/P & E depot at Veedersburg, Indiana. There is a car, barely visible to the left of the depot, so I would guess this photo to be about 1960, or so. No semaphore in sight, no station sign on the end of the building, and the place looks fairly desolate, so I would assume that the picture was taken sometime after the agency was closed -- probably after the massive Perlman cutbacks that took place starting in 1958 after Robert R. Young died. CAPT Rex Settlemoir collection

November 25, 1963 NYC Train Order 201 to No. 71 at Shirley Indiana All trains will cease operation between... For 2 minutes, the New York Central came to a stop in respect for a fallen President of the United States, JFK. Here is that Order.

NYC Yard at Greensburg IN Looking East in the 1960s Marc Haston Collection.

Here's WB #35 at Collinwood, Ohio, in 1962.

Here's a mix of everything. Also WB #35 at Collinwood.

...and two more.

Courtesy of James A. Peters. The first Pass is his fathers, the others are his. James A. Peters collection

Here is one more comparison that spans several decades. First photo, of course, is the NYC/Big 4 Freight House at Harrisburg, Illinois in a shot that was taken about 1964, when HCS was the Freight Agent there. Second photo is from the same spot, and shows the Gum Street location as it appears in 2007 -- quite a difference, though not quite as bad as a hamburger joint in place of the passenger station. CAPT Rex Settlemoir

Here is the NYC/Big 4 depot at Stonefort, Illinois in a photo that I took on October 5, 2007. This is one of the few remaining company structures on the former Cairo Line -- it was still an open station into the early 1960's. It was closed about 1964, and its work (primarily coal billed from the Will Scarlett Mine) was transferred to Harrisburg. A lumber company had been using the building for several years, but apparently is no longer doing so. Surprisingly, the mast for the manual block (or train order signal) is still laying on the ground after all these years. CAPT Rex Settlemoir Collection.

Here is NYC company officer H.C. Settlemoir surveying the results of a collision with the Illinois Central at Cairo in about 1965. As I recall my Dad's description of the event, the "Cairo Turn" (Harrisburg-Cairo train nos. 180 & 185 at this time) was pulling over the IC crossing when they were hit by the IC train, whose crew was "shoving blind." Pretty basic safety violation by the IC crew and I'm certain that the Illinois Central paid dearly at the joint investigation and resulting litigation. NYC/Big 4 Trainmaster W.J. (Bill Mellen) happened to be on vacation at the time of this accident, so Harrisburg agent H.C. Settlemoir got the honors of overseeing the cleanup of the mess created by the IC. CAPT Rex Settlemoir

These two photos are at Harrisburg, Illinois, and date from about 1965. The first photo is at Harrisburg Yard, and looks south toward the hump. Today, this area is all flattened and has been built over with apartments. The second photo looks north toward the freight house on Gum Street. The last time that I was in Harrisburg, the freight house was still standing, although the brick passenger station adjacent to the former main line had been torn down and replaced with a hamburger joint. CAPT Rex Settlemoir

1965 This is the NYC company pass issued to my Father (H.C. Settlemoir) in 1965. I believe this is the last year that "NYC" passes were issued to employees. As the Penn Central merger approached, the company simply extended the expiration of old passes, rather than issuing new ones. CAPT Rex Settlemoir Collection.

1966, July M-497's Record Setting Run Don Wetzel was the engineer on a July day in 1966, when a crew from Collinwood with Mr. Perlman as co-pilot roared into the history books with a one-of-a-kind rail car locomotive rigged with two jet engines. Racing along an arrow-straight track between Butler, IN, and Bryan, OH, Wetzel and his crew reached a top speed of 183 mph, a U.S. record that still stands.

1967 From: Ken Hojnacki If you ever wondered what it would be like sitting across the desk of an NYC Division Superintendent, here we see Division Superintendent Larry Baggerly hard at work at his desk in the Rochester, NY station on 5/21/67. Ken Hojnacki Collection.

On August 19, 2002, Maurice Lewman and I toured the CSX Big Four Avon Yard with permission. For the photo essay, Click Here

John sez: I came across the last New York Central HEADLIGHT, February, 1968. Attached is a copy of a picture of a welded rail trail taken from Taft Tower. I don't know when the picture was made but, there is snow on the ground. (209K) Also, here is a copy of a proclamation by the last meeting of the Board of Directors of the NYC. Was in color but the paper has fade to a yellow cast so I did it in black and white as well. (277k) John Reehling Collection

1966 - 68 NYC Bulletins

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Here's a shot of the HIckory Creek at her current home in Lebanon, NJ: And Otto Vondrak said, "Here's a picture from a few years ago of the Hickory Creek rolling past Bannerman's Island..."