Abandonment of the Pennsy route in northwest Indiana

1980 Chicago Quadrangle @ 1:100,000 plus Paint

Jon Roma posted seven images with the comment:

Someone in another group asked about the main line relocation by Conrail through Hammond, Whiting, and East Chicago that took place around 1980.
I thought this was fitting subject matter for this group too, so here's images of the article. If anyone wants this as a PDF, see https://www.jonroma.net/…/Conrail%20Chicago%20Division%20Ma….
The article was written by Ed Spodobalski in the December 1982 image of Rails Northeast.

Bob Poortinga Jon, wasn't the creation of the CP at Curtis along with the relocation of the PM connection also part of this project?

Jon Roma Bob Poortinga, I should have extended the boundaries of the project eastward. I have project paperwork from the Conrail signal department though unfortunately very little about CP 497 or the Chessie side (Curtis), and this was all done around the same time.

I had the good fortune to ride the Valpo dummy on the next-to-last day of Penn Central's existence, March 30, 1976, so I can at least say that I experienced the glory of the PRR's Ft. Wayne main line before it was severed through the steel mill area and downgraded elsewhere.

However, I was 15, didn't have a camera, and didn't have a grasp of the lay of the land in that very complex and interesting part of Chicagoland. Even during the early Eighties when I was a young adult, I didn't explore this area because it was too confusing, too intimidating, and too far from home! It was only later that I realized that a major upheaval had taken place since my ride on the Valpo dummy. The article and map that I shared was my first chance to actually understand what had happened.

One small tidbit for the signal geeks among us: Conrail's project plan specified (of course) color position lights for the signals on Chessie track. Rather than being purchased by CR, Chessie supplied them as part of their contribution to the project.

Joseph Tuch Santucci A few items which came along after this article was written, in the mid 80’s, 1985 if memory serves correct, the mileposts on the Pittsburgh to Chicago main line between CP 451 and Alton Jct (21st Street) wee reconfigured to coincide with the Buffalo to Chicago main line. It was a change of approximately 49 miles in that stretch as the mileage from Buffalo to Chicago was about that much further than that of Pittsburgh to Chicago. This made everything more consistent and efficient than two separate sets of of mileposts and mileage on the now combined main line. And in latter 1985 the single tracking of the PRR across northern Indiana began in earnest, including single tracking the connection between Clarke and CP 505. The PRR was then single track ABS/manual block operation. And from what I was told, there were often signal issues as the old westbound signals were left intact and in place and merely wired into the former eastbound, now the single track.

While sitting and waiting at CP501 where four main tracks became two, I got off and took a stroll across the grounds. In the weeds I found tie butts, a few angle bars, anchors, tie plates and track bolts the magnets missed when the rail was rolled up. There was also a battery box and signal box, both stripped bare. It was truly a railroad graveyard.

If I recall correctly, the junction on the IHB of Fort Wayne actually remained open until 1982 before it was remoted with control given Hick and renamed CP100, a name I never got as there was no milepost 100 anywhere near here.

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The 1980 topo map is missing the 1968 "Lake Branch" that Penn-Central built so that it could abandon its former-NYC tracks in Chicago. Since both Pennsy and NYC had a four track mainline, Penn-Central had eight tracks, which was six more tracks than they thought they needed. (Now Amtrak trains sometimes take four hours to get from Elkhart to Union Station because of freight congestion.)

The Lake Branch was a connection from the former-NYC at the existing junction of "MS" on the right and the former-Pennsy at a new Lake Junction on the left. The Lake Branch was just one track. A second track was added in 1972.

Satellite

The diagonal row of houses make it obvious where the Pennsy RoW was. The diagonal line of the parking lot next to right field of the baseball park is where the B&OCT came north and crossed the NYC at "MS" tower to connect with the B&O mainline.

Satellite

This 1980 topo map doesn't show the Lake Branch that was added in 1968. The Pennsy route in Indiana was abandoned from Lake Junction to the southeast to Clarke Junction. Since CSX got the former Pennsy route in Indiana when Conrail was split up, they connected the former-Pennsy route to their B&OCT route at Clarke Junction rather than cross it.

1980 Chicago Quadrangle @ 1:100,000