My son at the old railroad bridge
Minolta XG 1, 50mm f/1.7 Minolta MD
Agfa Vista 200 at EI 100
2018
A lot of abandoned railroad infrastructure remains across our nation. As railroads consolidated and shed lines through the 20th century, they left a lot behind.
Some of those lines have been converted to rail-trails. The best-known one in central Indiana is the Monon, named for its former rail line. But there are others.
A short rail-trail in Zionsville ends/begins at this bridge over Eagle Creek. A ramp leads down into Starkey Nature Park below, where there are great hiking trails. I like to go over there with my sons when they visit. Hence this photo.
This line was originally part of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway, also known as the Big Four Railroad. The New York Central took it over in 1906; they built this bridge. In 1968 New York Central merged with the Pennsylvania Railroad to form Penn Central, which went bankrupt in 1970. When Conrail was formed in 1976 it took over this line. I don’t know when it was abandoned.
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Last updated on 18 March 2020 by Jim Grey
Nice. I am going to have to go find this bridge, as I am not too far away.
Just go to Starkey Park and follow the trails! Or take the Zionsville Rail Trail to near its end and follow the ramp down into Starkey Park.
Nice, there’s a rail trail about 2 blocks from our house. Don’t have a cool bridge like that though, many of your photos remind me that the USA basically had a 100 year head start on Canada for infrastructure.
Our railroad boom started in the 1850s and ran through probably 1900. Crazy amounts of infrastructure built.
This line from Zionsville to Lebanon was abandoned in the late 70s when Conrail came in. Probably ’76 but maybe a year or two later.
Thanks for pinning it down!