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Monon Railroad Streamliners

For a line of its small size that did not reach outside of Indiana (except for its connection to Chicago) and at the time was suffering through severe financial problems there were, surprisingly, several Monon Railroad streamliners which the company operated. Most notable of these trains included the Thoroughbred, Tippecanoe, Hoosier, and Varsity. These streamliners would likely never have became a reality had it not been for the railroad's new leadership at the time by one John W. Barriger III. Under his direction the company vastly improved its operations and was able to dive into the streamliner fad itself, albeit not with new equipment. Still, the fleet it sported was nonetheless a classy, well-maintained operation with exceptional service revered by the folks of Indiana that lived near the Monon. While most of the line's trains were retired even prior to 1960 dud to declining ridership one did survive late into that decade.

The Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville Railway, better known as simply the Monon Route, had a history that dated back to the mid-19th century and during that time the line had always provided local and regional passenger services along its route. However, the railroad always struggled financially for much of its early years, through the 20th century, and all of the up until World War II. The war effort did allow the CI&L the ability to gain much needed traffic and pay off some of its debt although it was partially hampered by the fact that its infrastructure by that point was sorely outdated and its motive power fleet was very aged with the newest locomotives dating back more than 20 years. Change for the Monon finally came in 1946 when John Barriger became president.

It was under his direction that the railroad finally turned around its financial situation and added streamliners to its passenger fleet. Barriger was a professional railroader and knew how the business worked. He replaced the Monon's steam fleet as quickly as possible and updated its infrastructure with heavier rail to the greatest extent across the system as money would allow. Additionally, with the streamliner era in full swing directly after the war Barriger felt that his company would not pass up such an opportunity to dazzle the public and get folks to return to the rails. Unfortunately, however, the Monon did not have the funds at the time to purchase a large fleet of new cars from companies like Pullman-Standard, Budd, or American Car & Foundry (ACF).

Instead, Barriger went out looking for secondary equipment which his shops could then overhaul. He quickly located several former hospital and troop cars built by the ACF for the U.S. Army. Not only was the equipment in excellent condition but it was also very inexpensive. Barriger tasked his Lafayette, Indiana shops to overhaul the cars into streamliner status and they did quite an impressive job turning out express-mail cars, coaches, grill-parlor cars, diner-bar-lounges, diner-parlor observations, and parlor observations! Perhaps most amazing is that after only one year on the job there were three Monon Railroad streamliners in operation by 1947; the flagship Thoroughbred as well as the Hoosier and Tippecanoe.

For power the trains featured Electro-Motive Division F3A and F3B diesel locomotives, 30 of which in total were purchased between 1946 and 1948. The trains featured a rather simple but attractive livery of two-tone grey offset by red with white trim. Both the Hoosier and Tippecanoe operated as local/regional runs providing two daily round trips between Chicago and Indianapolis via Monon covering the distance in about 184 miles. The Thoroughbred, however, operated between Chicago and Louisville, via Lafayette on a route that was around 324, which provided passengers connections to other eastern/southeastern trains if they so chose like the Chesapeake & Ohio, Southern, and Louisville & Nashville.

For instance, in the case of the Thoroughbred (train #5, southbound) it left Chicago's Dearborn Station daily at 1 P.M. arriving in Louisville eight hours later at 9 P.M. Its companion, #4 northbound, left Louisville at 9:30 A.M. and arrived back in Chicago by 5:15 P.M. For more information about this train please click here. In the early 1950s this train featured reclining seat coaches and a dining-parlor observation. Soon after the first three Monon Railroad streamliners were launched the company inaugurated the Varsity between Chicago and Bloomington, Indiana, a distance of 221.5 miles. As the name implies the train was meant to serve the several universities along the railroad's route (including Purdue and Indiana Universities).

Perhaps more than any other railroad the people of the Hoosier State loved the Monon and as a result its passenger trains as well. Many lamented the loss of its streamliners, the first two of which to be dropped in 1959 included the Hoosier and Tippecanoe. Surprisingly, the Thoroughbred survived all of the way until September 30, 1967 when it was finally discontinued. Finally, for a bit more information about Monon Railroad streamliners please click here.

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For more reading on trains like Monon Railroad streamliners you might want to also consider the book Streamliners: A History of the Railroad Icon from renowned author Mike Schafer who covers in detail most of the well-known and remembered “classic” passenger trains to operate in the country. If you have any interest in such you should very much enjoy Mr. Schafer’s book. Also, for a superb general history of passenger trains consider the book American Passenger Train from Mike Schafer. Using plenty of colored photographs complemented with lots of good information, if you are interested in passenger trains or would like to learn more about them this book will get you started. If you're interested in perhaps purchasing either (or both) of these books please visit the links below which will take you to ordering information through Amazon.com, the trusted online shopping network.

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