David Longest 128 pages softcover
Are you aware that the Southern Railway once used half of the railroad
tunnels in the state? Indiana's first railroad, built in Shelbyville,
was only a mile long, but in 1847, completion of a major steam railroad
from Madison to Indianapolis made the state's capital a center of
transportation. Unlike canals, railroads could be built just about
anywhere. Southern Indiana's quickly growing network of rail lines was
able to haul tons of goods at low cost, and enabled settlers to travel
great distances in a single day. Railroad Depots of Southern Indiana
takes the reader on a journey through the towns and cities that shape
Indiana's railroad lore. Images depict regional rail history from the
inner workings of now demolished depots to one of the oldest "short
lines" in Indiana. Through more than 200 vintage photographs, author
David E. Longest documents locomotives, rail equipment, the moving of
stock, depots, rail stations, and freight houses, and finishes with a
tour of the rail museums and excursions that still allow tourists and
aficionados to "ride the rails."
