Railfan Rambles Railfan Rambles · slightly from 2013 levels; at the end of 2014 we had ninety...

Railfans of Indianapolis Officers are: President — Kim Heusel ([email protected]) Vice President — Warren Bascom; Secretary-Treasurer — Larry Nilles ([email protected]); Archivist — Trey Kunz; Webmaster — Tom Bonsett; Rambles Editor — Jeff Griner ([email protected])

Please send material for potential publication in the Rambles to: [email protected]

Visit our website at: http://members.iquest.net/~tbonsett/rfipage.html

Membership is open to all having an interest in railfanning and railroad photography. Members receive twelve Railfan Rambles per year either as a color PDF file by email or as a black and white hard copy sent by regular mail. Dues are $12.00 a year and should be sent to

Larry Nilles, RFI Treasurer, 783 Northampton Row, Danville, IN 46122. Please make your check payable to “Railfans of Indianapolis.”

Railfan Rambles Railfan Rambles Railfan Rambles Railfan Rambles February 2015 Edition

Railfans of Indianapolis was originally formed in 1937 as the Indianapolis Railfans Club and is one of the country’s oldest

“rail enthusiast” organizations. Volume 50, Number 2

RFI member Bob Jettmore caught GE C40-9W Norfolk Southern #8926 leading I-99 through Muncie on Saturday January 24th, 2015, with 29 flat cars hauling truck frames.

RAILFANS OF INDIANAPOLIS 2014 FINANCIAL REPORT Prepared by Larry Nilles Secretary-Treasurer January 31, 2015

A Financial Report from the Secretary-Treasurer’s Desk

by Larry Nilles

If you can’t make it to our next meeting on Saturday February 14th with $12 in hand to pay your dues in person then please mail a check by February 15th to:

Larry Nilles RFI Treasurer 783 Northampton Row Danville, IN 46122

Please remember to make checks payable to:

Railfans of Indianapolis

Last call for RFI Members to pay their 2015 Dues!

Thanks to RFI member Pat Sweeney for his great show in January highlighting travels to Missouri and Pennsylvania. It’s always good to have programs presented by our own members.

February’s program continues that trend as we welcome member Dick Wolff. I have not been able to get any advance information on what Dick will be showing, but Dick’s history goes back many years and he always has a great variety of shots from the “good old days.”

Also, don’t forget that our February meeting will be on Valentine’s Day. In setting up the program for this month, Dick promised a real “sweetheart” of a show. So all you guys who aren’t sure what to do for that special someone on Valentine’s Day, what better way to show your date a good time then treating her (or him) to a night of watching old train slides?

Yeah, sounds like a real hot date in the making! All kidding aside, this should be a good show. I hope to see a lot of you there at the meeting February 14th!

— RFI President Kim Heusel

Our dues collections during 2014 are down slightly from 2013 levels; at the end of 2014 we had ninety three active members versus ninety seven a year ago. Of that total, twenty one have yet to pay their 2015 dues, so we hope to see that money real soon.

Calendar sales have also fallen and we have not yet fully recovered the 2015 edition’s printing costs. Total expenses for 2014 were down several hundred dollars from 2013, mostly due to lower newsletter mailing and program costs. We continue to send twenty four print copies of the “Rambles” each month via regular mail.

Our cash-in-the-bank position improved by $300 in 2014, so we still have the capacity to attract more quality programs in the coming year. Most importantly, no need for a dues increase is foreseen. In fact, a reduction in individual dues fees that members pay may be something to be considered!

Volume 50, Number 02 Railfan RamblesRailfan RamblesRailfan RamblesRailfan Rambles February 2015

A northbound Canadian National manifest train moves through the junction where CN (ex-IC) and KCS (ex-IC) come together and cross over near the Amtrak station at Jackson, MS. — photo taken by Dave Nealy on December 7th, 2014

A couple of pics from RFI member Dave Nealy’s December 2014 trip down south

RTA 968 on the Saint Charles Avenue streetcar line crossing Saint Andrew Street — photo taken by Dave Nealy in New Orleans on December 13th, 2014


CHESTERTON, Ind. (AP) — Commuters in northern Indiana will be able to get on a train in South Bend and arrive in downtown Chicago in less than two hours, starting in March. The South Shore com-muter rail service plans to begin offering an express westbound train from South Bend to Chicago in the morning and as well as an eastbound train in the afternoon, The Times of Munster reports.

The train will depart from South Bend at 6 a.m. and arrive at Millennium Station in Chicago 1 hour and 55 minutes later. It currently takes South Shore trains 2 hours and 36 minutes to make the trip. A return express train in the afternoon will take slightly longer.

“This certainly is the wave of the future for this railroad,” railroad general manager Michael Noland said. “It’s what people want and it’s what the strategic plan can deliver.” The express train will make only two stops in Indiana, at the Dune Park stop in Chesterton and East Chicago.

Travel time from Dune Park will be cut to less than an hour, compared to the 1 hour and 19 minutes it takes now. Three other rush-hour trains will also see reduced travel times due to fewer stops.

As Tina Jones brought to our attention at the last RFI meeting, due to some previously promised contributions never actually materializing, it is now critical for the Indianapolis Parks Foundation to raise the necessary $25,000 by Valentine’s Day, February 14th, 2015 deadline in order to secure part of the matching grant funds.

The Garfield Park Trolley Shelter needs your help!

$25,000 needs to be raised by February 14, 2015

Posted on Jan. 31, 2015

South Shore commuter train plans daily express service between South Bend and Chicago

http://www.elkharttruth.com/news/indiana/2015/01/31/Express-trains-service-planned-between-South-Bend-Chicago.html


501(c)(3) Tax deductible donations can be made to:

Indianapolis Parks Foundation

615 N. Alabama Street, Suite 119

Indianapolis, IN 46204 Label funds: SAVE THE TROLLEY SHELTER!

Or contribute online at:

www.indyparksfoundation.org

Located in the southwest corner of Garfield Park here in Indianapolis, it is thought to be the last “wooden splayed arch trolley shelter” in the state, and possibly the last in the Midwest as well. The trolley shelter is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the Indianapolis Park & Boulevard System Historic District.

10am to 3pm. Show is at Manual High School’s gym, 2405 S. Madison Avenue, Indianapolis, IN.

Admission: Adults $6, children 12 & under are free.

xxxxFree admission to Cub and Boy Scoutsxxx xxin uniform with a paying adult!

The open house is in the big one level cinderblock building (NWR club house) at 1115 McDougal Street, which is north of Troy Ave and east of Shelby Street.

SATURDAY–SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7 & 8, 2015, 10:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. AT THE RESTORED PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD PASSENGER STATION,

221 W. BAKER STREET, FORT WAYNE, INDIANA ADMISSION $5 / UNDER 12 FREE

Exhibitors needed, but this is not a buy-sell swap meet. We are a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization…for info call 260-747-2766 or 260-436-6158

Saturday March 7th, 2015

Naptown & White River

Train Show and Open House

THE THREE RIVERS RAILROAD HERITAGE COUNCIL’S ANNUAL RAILROAD CELEBRATION FEATURING THE RAILROADS SERVING THE TRI-SATE AREA

WITH A SPECIAL EMPHASIS THIS YEAR ON THE NEW YORK CENTRAL RAILROAD!! AN ALL-AGES EVENT: HISTORIC MAPS – PHOTOGRAPHS – MEMORABLIA - MODEL RAILROADS ON DISPLAY


Next RFI Meeting is 2nd Saturday — February 14th, 2015

7:00 p.m. at St. Andrew United Methodist Church, 2560 S. Villa Ave. Exit I-65 at Raymond St. east. Turn south on State St. (or take Keystone Ave. south) to Walker. The church is on the southwest corner of Walker and Villa Avenues midway between State Street and Keystone Ave.

Final Frame: GP11 Paducah rebuild SWP 2002 at the Wheeling and Lake Erie shops in Brewster Ohio on January 8th, 2015

Folks, last chance to pay your dues at a meeting before the February 15th cutoff. If you can’t make it to the meeting with $12 in hand to pay them in person then please mail in a

check to: Larry Nilles, RFI Treasurer, 783 Northampton Row, Danville, IN 46122.

This month RFI member Dick Wolff will again be bringing slides from his vast collection, and is promising a real “sweetheart” of a show. So please try to get your Valentine’s Day arranged such that you can still make this months RFI meeting to see Dick’s presentation!

Visitors are always welcome, so tell your friends! See you at the meeting February 14th!

“Who the heck is the SWP? Southwest Pennsylvania Railroad, according to what I could find. This is former ICG GP11 8744, and before that UP GP7 number 108. Of course, considering the normal practices of the Paducah shops, this unit is a mongrel consisting of parts of several Geeps. ‘Frankengeep’ has been a GP11 for longer than it was a GP7.” — both photo and commentary by Mike Steffen


Railfan Rambles Railfan Rambles · slightly from 2013 levels; at the end of 2014 we had ninety...

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