It takes all afternoon but you will be home in time for supper-
Good morning,
That's not the most convenient connection to Elkhart, with two intermediate connections and no transfers issued.
I assume in the Ingersoll days it was easer and faster. Better take Amtrak.
CSSHEGEWISCHThat's not the most convenient connection to Elkhart ...
Yes, but look at it in the light of C&O's previous lament about different agencies not knowing/caring about connecting traffic involving other operations.
This guy seems to have gone out of his way to figure out how to route our hero on his (no doubt hypothetical) trip, and mention what the costs will be. He gets a great deal of credit for this, imho.
All of which begs the question - 'Who really wants to go to Elkhart?'
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACDAll of which begs the question - 'Who really wants to go to Elkhart?'
"Because it's there"?
Does the number "3001" ring a bell?
Well I am wondering really how long would this trip take when there was a Interurban on this route? Oh yes Elkhart is the home of the "NATIONAL" NEW YORK CENTRAL RAILROAD MUSEUM!
Eastbound, Amtrak's Lakeshore would seem a good choice today. Westbound possibly less so because of timekeeping problems.
Did not Northern Indiana provide direct interurban service South Bend downtown - Elkhart? And those days the CSS&SB ran downtown, not to the Airport. But possibly the overall time would not be much less. Only one change would make the trip sensible. And there were lots of direct steam trains, six or more, on the Central to choose from with pretty good timekeeping in both directions. Half the time. Have a good lunch or dinner in the diner. For variety taking a bit longer, you could choose the Grand Trunk Western.
Dave,
It could be a brisk walk between the GTW and South Shore stations.
One would not use the South Shore to South Bend if one intended to go by train to Elkhart in those days. The Central was the obvious choice. One could use the Grand Trunk Western to South Bend and change to the Central at the same station, even the same track and platform. I had forgotton that the GTW did not serve Elkhart. But it did provide Chicago - South Bend service. And Central dining car food was pretty good in those days from all reports. But being adventurous and going by interurban was still logical, since only one change was needed, and that fairly convenient, just would take more time.
Like using NJT and SEPTA NY - Philly today. Change in Trenton.
One can use Amtrak between Belleville and St. Louis or go by light rail. Ditto BW Airport - Baltimore, three choices. New York - New Haven. Boston - Worcester, but Amtrak has only one each way each day. Boston - Providence. Washington - Baltimore Washington - Manasses. Probably lots of others, including California.
Did the Interurban between South Bend and Elkhart have its own private right of way?
Like most interurbans, yes in part, side-of-the-road in part, and definitely the streets in all towns.
Note that the interurban from South Bend to Elkhart was also a competitor with the South Shore from South Bend east to (if memory is correct from reading) Gary.
I doubt that schedules were coordinate for a smooth connection between the two interurbans in South Band, but there would probably be several times a day when the connection was good.
There was some cooperation. The Indiana Railroad's "High Speeds" of 1931 that were built by Pullman were hauled by the South Shore to South Bend, and then ran on their own power to Elkhart, then over the Winona to the connection with the Indiana (Peru?). At the time, the Indiana, like the South Shore, was an Insull operation.
The Northern Indiana Ry ran west from South Bend to Michigan City but by way of La Porte, which is much less direct than South Shore's route.
Less direct, but not much less direct. But in addition, the CSS&SB was a higher-speed, better engineered, rout.
The point though is that the interurban Chicago - Elkhart, with one reasonably convenient change, trip was a much more doable thing than the present train - bus - bus - bus thing.
If the demand were there, Transpo would run to Elkhart or Interurban Trolley would run to South Bend.
There was an interurban called the Goshen South Bend & Chicago that connected with the Northern Indiana at La Porte, and connected with lines around Gary to Hammond. The lines were merged, but then broken up by 1917, and the GSB&C ceased operating.
https://www.chicagorailfan.com/histigri.html
daveklepper ... If the demand were there, Transpo would run to Elkhart or Interurban Trolley would run to South Bend.
...
It seems the two systems are tied to the local governments and interconnection between he two is not a priority. This is a common problem with locally oriented public transit.
The South Shore is missing local bus connections thoughout most of its System that make any sence. Unlike NJ Transit who at least attempts to sycronize it bus system with the NJ transit trains.
CandOforprogress2 The South Shore is missing local bus connections thoughout most of its System that make any sence. Unlike NJ Transit who at least attempts to sycronize it bus system with the NJ transit trains.
Northern Indiana is not northern New Jersey. The only real local bus service in the South Shore territory is in Gary and South Bend. The rest is rather minimal. There is no chance of NJT type operations along the route.
The double tracking might help. i took the SS from Michigan City to South Bend and the train was packed ---On a Sunday Night. Had to wait on the floor till morning and it took 3 hours to get from the South Bend airport to Downtown Elkhart most of which was spent waiting for local Transpo- Elkhart interurban bus transfers.
We did this once from the Wal Mart on the southeast of Goshen. It was fun but I don't think I'd do it again. We had to change buses three times. Our second bus got delayed by construction at an NS (ex Conrail) grade crossing and caused us to miss our connection. Result? We arrived at the South Bend airport 15 minutes after our train had left. I had to hire a taxi driver to take us to Michigan City since waiting for the next train from South Bend would've made us miss our connecting Amtrak train at Chicago.
There was no financial savings in this exercise. The taxi ride alone costed me over 100 bucks. And, all those connecting buses (assuming they all connect), still takes about three hours from Goshen to South Bend.
Regards,
Fred M. Cain
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