Indiana Transportation Museum

Railroads transformed America with ribbons of steel, linking communities and moving people and commodities from coast to coast. The Indiana Transportation Museum preserves this legacy by immersing guests in moving experiences. It links destinations throughout Central Indiana, offering unique cultural encounters. ITM engages and inspires future generations through the art, science and technological innovation of the railroad.

RWH

itm_state egyptian he Indiana Transportation Museum maintained a static museum of railroad motive power and rolling stock, most of which had ties to the central Indiana region through fallen flags such as the Nickel Plate Road and the Monon. Formerly located in Noblesville, Indiana, north of Indianapolis, the museum featured first generation diesel-electrics, overhead electric interurbans, heavyweight and streamlined passenger equipment, and numerous freight cars and cabooses. The ITM also operates a number of excursions along 34 miles of former Nickel Plate Road track: from 39th Street in Indianapolis in the south to Tipton, Indiana, in the north. Originally built for the Indianapolis & Peru Railroad, today the line is owned by the Hoosier Heritage Port Authority. Despite previous connections to the Norfolk Southern in Tipton and CSX Transportation in Indianapolis, today the segment is isolated from the major rail network. In 2018, the museum was evicted from its home in Forest Park in Noblesville. ITM moved all retained equipment to a site in Logansport, Indiana.

Click to see the former Noblesville grounds plotted on a Google Maps page

Motive Power

Monon #50

Noblesville, In / Mar 2016 / RWH

Monon #50

builder:Electro Motive Division

model:SW1

type:B-B yard switcher

built:Feb 1942, EMD #1597

series:661 produced 1938-53

engine:EMD 567 (6 cyl, 600hp)

notes:

blt Chicago Indianapolis & Louisville #50
to Indiana Transportation Museum

Noblesville, In / Mar 2016 / RWH

RWH

Noblesville, In / Mar 2016 / RWH

May 2016

A trip to Zionsville to see beloved friends afforded me a free Friday to chase trains in the region north of Indianapolis. I was so pleased to discover the Indiana Transportation Museum, but disappointed that I could not catch them during operating hours. A walk around the fenced perimeter and along their mainline gave me a glimpse of their sizable rolling stock collection, but in many cases the glimpse turned out to be mostly a tease -- as in the case of their ex Milwaukee Road late 1940s F7A, painted in the beautiful blue and white Nickel Plate passenger scheme. The fence and tree lines conspired against me for a good roster shot, but now I have ample reason to get back to Noblesville -- the see our good friends nearby and, at the IRM, to make some new ones.