The Ben Hur

[daveklepper]

The Ben Hur was operated by the Terra Haut, Indianapolis, and Eastern Railway, an interurban extending from Lafayette and Crawfordsville, Indiana, through Terra Haut and Indianapolis to Richmond, Indiana, where it connected to the Dayton and Western for Dayton and connection to the Ohio interurbans.  It became part of the Indiana Railroad in 1931, but only after it abandoned its two lines from Terra Haut to Crawfordsville, one direct and one basically a direct line to Lafayette with a branch to Crawfordsville.  The direct line, which I assume the Indianapolis - Crawfordsville Ben Hur used, had been the projected all the way to Danville, Illinois, and a connection with Illinois Terminal system.   This could have been a through freight route, since both the IT and the line from Crawfordsville to the Indianapolis city limits could handle regular railroad freight cars.  The line from Terra Haut to Indianapolis continued until the final stages of abandonment of the Indiana Railroad, around 1940, with then only the Fort Wayne - Indianapolis and Indianpolis - Seymour lines continuing until 1941.   The Danville - Crawfordsville link would have involved a major bridge and considerable hilly railroading and was never built.   Sam Insull was inolved in one way or another with all the lines mentioned.

[ZephyrOverland]

Dave - thanks for the info on the Ben Hur.

[wanswheel]

http://books.google.com/books?id=IwbnAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA159

http://books.google.com/books?id=XXZ1JQs1K6IC&pg=PA44

 

[FlyingCrow]

Fast and Friendly Non-Stop Chariot Service  

[erikem]

daveklepper

The direct line, which I assume the Indianapolis - Crawfordsville Ben Hur used, had been the projected all the way to Danville, Illinois, and a connection with Illinois Terminal system.   This could have been a through freight route, since both the IT and the line from Crawfordsville to the Indianapolis city limits could handle regular railroad freight cars.  The line from Terra Haut to Indianapolis continued until the final stages of abandonment of the Indiana Railroad, around 1940, with then only the Fort Wayne - Indianapolis and Indianpolis - Seymour lines continuing until 1941.   The Danville - Crawfordsville link would have involved a major bridge and considerable hilly railroading and was never built.   Sam Insull was inolved in one way or another with all the lines mentioned.

Hilton and Due mentioned the Covington and South Western Railroad had been graded most of the way from Covington to Crawfordsville but was not completed as one of the officers absconded with the funding to complete the line. Covington was across the state line from Danville and thus would have made a very easy connection with the Illinois Traction system. Sigh....

It is quite possible that a connection with the Illinois Traction would have been very beneficial to the Indiana lines and might have helped the Ohio lines a bit. My guess is that part of the Indiana RR would have survived to the start of WW2 and thus would have lasted to at least the 1946 to '47 time frame (but probably not much longer).

- Erik

[daveklepper]

I think that if it had not been for the Anderson transit and power station strike (Dec, 1936-Jan 1937), the Indiana Rilroad would have survived through WWII.    And if it had not been for the tragic accident from a missunderstanding when the ghost of the Indiana kept on running a round-trip daily, Indianapolis-Seymore, that line would have been put t o good use during WWII.

[artpeterson]

Hi Dave (and others) - the late George Krambles was at IR as an intern in the period just before the substation employees stuck, and in fact it was the threat of that action (and his knowledge that IR could not afford what the employees were demanding) that led him to leave IR and move to CRT.  Since you've also mentioned IT in this string, another now-deceased traction notable, Bill Janssen, always used to lament that for the amount that IT paid for the streamliners, they could have bought 1,000 IR lightweights (had that quantity been available) when IR put them up for sale!  FW(L)IW, Art

[daveklepper]

Lots of companies could have put the IR Highspeeds to good use.   Regauged, they would have been just the ticket for Pittsburgh Ry's Charleroi-Rosco and Washington interurbans.   Laural Linec could have used them if 3rd-rail equipped and saved a barrel of dough on power costs and possibly implemented one-man operation.   Market Street could have used the on San Mateo.   CN could have used them to St. An de Bau Pre and St. JOaquim from Quebec.   Milwaukee Electric interurban lines.   Not North Shore, South Shore, or C&AE, requirements were too different, expecially with through running on either the "L" or the IC-Electric.