Central Railroad Company of Indianapolis

While visiting friends in suburban Indianapolis in April, I wandered north as far as Kokomo in search of shortline action and discovered two operations in one location -- the CERA and the WSRY. Although nothing was moving that day on either platform, the vast network of active and abandoned switching tracks that run all over the city of Kokomo forms an incredible patchwork of industrial sidings, diamond crossings, and protective signals -- all of which was worth the drive. Kokomo: Yet another example of the high water mark of American midwest production, with its supporting railroad infrastructure, now receded to a much more modest scale of railroad operations. I bet this place was humming 50 years ago.