Indiana Transportation Museum

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Coordinates: 40°03′26″N 86°1′09.38″W / 40.05722°N 86.0192722°W / 40.05722; -86.0192722
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Not to be confused with Indiana Railway Museum.
Indiana Transportation Museum
Nickel Plate Road GP-7L diesel locomotive #426 pulling the Indiana State Fair Train.
Overview
HeadquartersLogansport, Indiana
Reporting markITMZ[1][nb 1] (Temporary equipment transfers/loans)
LocaleNorthern Indiana
Dates of operation1960 (1960)–present
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length38 mi (61 km)
Other
Websitehttp://itm.org

The Indiana Transportation Museum (initialized ITM, reporting mark ITMZ[1][nb 1]) is a railroad museum that was formerly located in the Forest Park neighborhood of Noblesville, Indiana, United States. It owns a variety of preserved railroad equipment, some of which still operate today. ITM is currently Located in Logansport, Indiana.

Overview[edit]

The Indiana Transportation Museum was an all-volunteer not-for-profit museum dedicated to preserving and showcasing railroads of Indiana, and sharing the equipment and information with the public, as well as operating trains to show how people traveled across the country in the past.

In 2018, the museum was evicted from its home in Forest Park by the city of Noblesville. ITM moved all retained equipment to a site in Logansport, Indiana.

Heritage railroad[edit]

While located in Noblesville, the Indiana Transportation Museum operated excursion trains on 38 miles (61 km) of a former Nickel Plate Road line, originally built for the Indianapolis and Peru Railroad and, when evicted, owned by the Hoosier Heritage Port Authority (HHPA), which is made up of the Indiana cities of Indianapolis, Fishers, and Noblesville. Excursion service on the line had been suspended due to a dispute with the HHPA. The museum submitted a proposal to HHPA requesting authorization to resume service.[2]

The museum operated out of Forest Park in Noblesville and traveled to the northern terminus of the line in Tipton, Indiana, and to the southern terminus at approximately 39th Street in Indianapolis. The rail line originally extended further south but had been abandoned.

The rail line originally connected to the Norfolk Southern railroad in Tipton and to the CSX railroad in Indianapolis via the Belt Line. The railroad line had also been operated as a freight railroad by the Indiana Rail Road, hauling coal to the power generating plant in Cicero, Indiana, until the plant's conversion to natural gas in 2003.

The connection in Tipton was cut by Norfolk Southern in 1997 and the bridge connecting the line to CSX was removed by the Indiana Department of Transportation during the rebuilding of Interstate 70 in Indianapolis. In spring 2010, CSX railroad removed the diamonds connecting the southern portion to the Belt Railroad, thus isolating the line from the U.S. rail system.

Preservation[edit]

Nickel Plate Road 2-8-2 Mikado steam locomotive #587 in the restoration shops at the ITM.

The museum is home to many pieces of railroading history, with primary emphasis on locomotives and equipment relating to the Nickel Plate Railroad. Most passengers are carried in the museum's restored Budd cars that date back to 1937 and were originally in service on the Santa Fe Railroad and the New Jersey Transit Authority before being sold to the museum as scrap in the early 1980s. Several cars have been restored and others await funds for restoration.

While the museum was in Noblesville, it had in its collection the 1898 private railcar of Henry Morrison Flagler's Florida East Coast Railroad (FEC) #90.

At the beginning of 2003, the museum's operating steam locomotive, Nickel Plate 587, was taken out of service for a federally mandated boiler rebuild. Since then, work has been ongoing for the restoration of this locomotive. In 2008, ownership of the engine was permanently transferred from the Indianapolis Parks Department to the ITM. In 2018, the locomotive was held in storage in Ravenna, Kentucky by the Kentucky Steam Heritage Corporation. On March 5, 2021, the ownership of No. 587 was transferred from the Indiana Transportation Museum to a private individual.[3]

ITM's tracks in Fishers, Indiana.

Events[edit]

While in Noblesville, the Indiana Transportation Museum operated different excursions, ranging from holiday trains to shuttles in freight cabooses.

  • The Morse Lake Dinner Train was a dinner train which operated from Noblesville to a variety of restaurants in Cicero, Indiana, near Morse Lake.
  • The Fair Train was the museum's biggest yearly event with ITM passenger trains transporting as many as 16,000 thousand people to the Indiana State Fair every day of the fair with 10 round trips each day of the fair during August.[4] As of 2017, this excursion has been put on hold indefinitely.
  • The Polar Bear Express was held in the months of November and December. It included a train ride and a visit from Santa Claus.
  • The Harvest Train was held every weekend in October and was supported by the Hamilton Heights High School FFA, who grow and sell pumpkins alongside the rail line.
  • The Blue Arrow was run multiple Saturdays throughout the late spring, summer, and fall from Noblesville to Tipton, often called the Pizza Train. It gained its name because the stop in Tipton was at end of the track and adjacent to the Pizza Shack, where riders could eat. Riders also had the option of being shuttled to the nearby Pizza King or Jim Dandy Restaurant for their buffets, or on select dates, a meal at the Tipton Elks Club.[5]
  • Special events included various festivals in Tipton and the towns of Atlanta and Arcadia; private charters were also available.

School programs[edit]

The museum offered custom school tours, which included a tour of the museum grounds and an excursion train ride.

Motive power[edit]

Rolling Stock[edit]

  • 13 Stainless-Steel Budd Coaches
  • Florida East Coast Private Car #90 "Henry Flagler"; sold to the Monon Connection Museum.
  • Nickel Plate Road Business Car #1; sold to Felix Powell, on loan to NPE.
  • Louisville & Nashville Diner #2728; sold to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum.
  • Monon Cupola Extended-vision Caboose #81528; privately owned, used by Nickel Plate Express for various events.
  • Nickel Plate Road Cupola Caboose #770
  • Nickel Plate Road Bay window caboose #405

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Indiana Transportation Museum: Equipment". Archived from the original on 2009-10-20. Retrieved 2009-10-28. Equipment markings used on official railroad-owned rolling stock.
  2. ^ "Indiana Transportation Museum Plan Expands Education, Entertainment and Excursion Trains from Tipton to Lucas Oil Stadium". Indiana Transportation Museum. Shank Public Relations Counselors, Inc. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  3. ^ Campbell, Chris (2021-03-05). "KSHC Acquires Cars; New Path For Nickel Plate 587". Kentucky Steam. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  4. ^ Tuohy, John. "New operators of fair train sought". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  5. ^ "I T M - Pizza Plus Express". Archived from the original on 2011-09-05. Retrieved 2011-07-20.
  6. ^ a b c "Collaboration Between Indiana Communities and Fort Wayne Railroad Saves Historic Artifacts". Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society. Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society. March 13, 2022. Archived from the original on March 15, 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  7. ^ "MILW 1613". www.rrpicturearchives.net. Retrieved 2020-08-06.

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b Direct sources from the AAR/NMFTA cannot be publicly accessed/located, although such markings have been second-handedly verified via the FRA and visual wise; however, these marks may be considered expired, reassigned, or unofficial as of 2009.

External links[edit]

External images
image icon Railroad Picture Archives — Indiana Railway Museum photographs from Noblesville, Indiana.
image icon RailPictures.Net — Indiana Railway Museum photographs at RailPictures.Net.

40°03′26″N 86°1′09.38″W / 40.05722°N 86.0192722°W / 40.05722; -86.0192722

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