JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX has taken the wraps off of its ninth heritage locomotive at the Waycross, Ga., paint shop:
No. 1897 representing the Monon.
“Here is a sneak peek of our ninth ONE CSX Heritage locomotive … another great job by the team in Waycross,” CEO Joe Hinrichs wrote in a LinkedIn post today.
The Monon — officially the Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville beginning in 1897 — linked its namesake cities and operated almost entirely within the state of Indiana.
It’s curious that they chose this road number, as the Monon was formed in 1847, not 1897.
Hopefully we get to see it on the old Monon.
Waycross shops finally got a font right! This one looks best of all their fade jobs. (The B & O one is the worst…)
At least it is above the handrails and won’t get blocked out like the C&O unit…
As a fan of the Monon, my grandparents lived a few blocks from South Hammond Yard in Munster, IN, this heritage unit is greatly appreciated 53 years later. I assumed the Monon and Chicago and Eastern Illinois units would be way down the list. Not sure if/when I will ever see it, it would be nice if CSX sponsored an event at a museum (maybe TVRM in Chattanooga) to showcase all their heritage loco’s once they are finished. Or hold the event in Waycross at the shop. I will travel to see them all together in one place, like the NS units at NCTM in Spencer, NC.
Very nice!!
How so?
The Monon offered itself on a silver platter to the Southern Railway. Graham Claytor, still smarting from the travails stemming from the acquisition of the Central of Georgia, said “no” leaving the Monon to the L&N and leaving the Southern without an in to Chicago.
How about Monon buying all those Alco Century Series to haul coal to the USS Plant in Gary, just to take them out due to all the track damage they caused. Ouch.
The Monon did have a propensity for punching above their weight.
Poignant reminder of industry missteps.
Thanks Daniel.
The Southern helped get the Milwaukee Road into Louisville after missing out on the Monon. Unfortunately, the Milwaukee did not have the money to fix up its track to make a truly competitive route. CSX intentionally let the Monon deteriorate south of Bedford, IN to finally get Milwaukee successor Indiana Railroad out of Louisville.