Another day, another mornining and more adventures to come. Elizabeth and I woke up at the Quality Inn in Evansville, Indiana and after we checked out, we went to Bob Evans for an excellent breakfast. After that, we drove to Princeton and our first station of the day. Before we arrived, a CSX freight, which would play in later activities, was passing through Princeton and stopped us at the grade crossing.
Wabash caboose 2856 built by the railroad in 1955 on display beside the station.
The Chicago and Eastern Illinois Princeton station built in 1875, now housing the Visitor and Tourist Bureau. From here we drove to the first covered bridge of the day but stopped before we reached it.
Severn's Bridge over the Patoka River built in 1908.
Wheeling Covered Bridge built in 1877 over the Patoka River.
My beautiful wife Elizabeth at the Wheeling bridge.
On the way to Vincennes, we took a picture of this farm and did not realize that our route took us directly through Steelman Farms.
The Baltimore and Ohio station in Vincennes built in 1913. This is only portion of the Union Depot Hotel which remains.
CSX 3239 West coming through Vincennes.
CSX ES44AC 3239.
CSX AC4400 411. We drove next to Sullivan.
The Terre Haute Traction and Light Interurban freight house. A few blocks down the road we found something that neither of us had seen before.
The Terre Haute Traction and Light Interurban polygonal shelter from Stop 25 on display in Sullivan. This railroad was the second largest interurban in the state in the 1920's height of the "interurban era". This system included over 400 miles of track, with lines radiating from Indianapolis to the east, northwest, west and southwest as well as streetcar lines in several major cities. The THI&E was formed in 1907 by the Schoepf-McGowan Syndicate as a combination of several predecessor interurban and street car companies and was operated independently until incorporation into the Indiana Railroad in 1931. The THI&E served a wide range of territory, including farmlands in central Indiana, the mining region around Brazil, and numerous urban centers. Eventually, it slowly succumbed like all of the other central Indiana interurban lines, to competition from automobiles, trucks and improved paralleling highways.
The plaque inside the shelter.
My very helpful wife sitting in the shelter.
Lastly, we found the Terre Haute Traction and Light Interurban passenger station in town. Our interurban luck continued when we went to Shelburn.
The restored Terre Haute Traction and Light Interurban station in Shelburn, built in 1911.
The plaque on the station.
CSX 3239 West, which is the same train that we photographed at Vincennes, coming through Shelburn. From here we drove to the very small community of Pimento.
The Terre Haute Traction and Light Interurban relay station in Pimento. Next we drove to Fowler Park in the very southern part of Terre Haute.
The Irishman's Covered Bridge built in 1845 and moved to Fowler Park in 1971.
The plaque on the bridge.
My amazing wife and the Irishman's Covered Bridge. We drove into Terre Haute to the closed Wabash Valley Railroaders Museum and shot through the fence.
New York Central/Chicago and Eastern Illinois tower from Haley built in 1904.
Conrail bay window caboose 21264 built by Fruit Growers Express in 1978.
Pennsylvania Railroad wooden caboose 981741 built by the railroad in 1914.
Public Service Indiana 45 ton switcher 193018 built by General Electric in 1947.
United States Army troop sleeper 7118 built by Pullman in 1943 which later became Chicago and Eastern Illinois A-1147 and then Louisville and Nashville 43573.
Milwaukee Road Spring Hill Tower built in 1910.
The Pennsylvania Railroad depot from Turner, Indiana.
Museum scene. From here we drove into downtown Terre Haute for pictures on Wabash Street.
The Terre Haute Traction and Light Interurban Terminal Arcade Building built in 1911.
A former occupant of the building, Terminal Sports and Spirits. We then drove to the Highland Lawn Cemetery for a surprise.
The highly-modified Terre Haute, Indianapolis and Eastern Traction Company office building which is now the office of the cemetery. It was then on to Clinton.
A coal car at the Clinton Coal and Railroad Museum.
Chicago and Eastern Illinois Clinton station built in 1904. Now we will switch gears to covered bridges. Parke County, north of Terre Haute, has thirty-one covered bridges, the most of any county in the United States.
Near Montezuma is the Melcher Covered Bridge built in 1896 over Leatherwood Creek.
My expert navigator at this bridge.
A few minutes drive brought us to the Sim Smith Covered Bridge built 1883 over Leatherwood Creek.
My incredible Elizabeth at the Sim Smith bridge.
Elizabeth doing her happy dance at the bridge.
Close by we found the Phillips Covered Bridge built in 1909 over Big Pond Creek.
This lady keeps on showing up at the bridges the same time I am here. We drove to Rockville and Billie Creek Village, which was closed.
The Beeson Covered Bridge built in 1906 and relocated in 1980 over Williams Creek.
That same woman again!
The Billie Creek Covered Bridge built in 1895 over Williams Creek.
The most special woman in my life. To get to the last bridge at Billie Creek Village, we had to walk a distance to reach it.
The Leatherwood Station Covered Bridge built in 1899 over Williams Creek.
Elizabeth made it to the Leatherwood Station bridge.
Here she performs a happy dance.
The farm we passed on the way back to the car on a beautiful Indiana spring day.
The Crooks Covered Bridge built in 1856 over Little Raccoon Creek.
The love of my life.
McAllister Covered Bridge built in 1914 over Little Raccoon Creek.
The woman who always makes me happy.
Proving she is happy.
The Neet Covered Bridge built in 1904 over Little Raccoon Creek.
Elizabeth enjoying her visit to this bridge. From here we drove to Bridgeton.
The Bridgeton Covered Bridge over Big Raccoon Creek, and Bridgeton Mill, built in 2005 to replace the 1868 bridge that was destroyed by arson in 2005. A good job by the town to replace it so quickly.
My very special wife relaxing in her own way.
The 10 O'Clock Line plaque.
One last view of the bridge and mill.
The final happy dance of the trip. Next we drove over to Mansfield but made a stop along the way.
Conley's Ford Bridge built in 1906 over Big Raccoon Creek.
Elizabeth presenting Conley's Ford Bridge. We continued to Mansfield.
The mill up Big Raccoon Creek.
The Mansfield Covered Bridge built in 1867 over Big Raccoon Creek.
A tired Elizabeth at the Mansfield Covered Bridge. From here we drove back to Terre Haute and had dinner at Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen where we had an excellent meal before we checked in to the Drury Inn for the night. We wrote this story, checked the Internet and called it a night.
| RETURN TO THE MAIN PAGE |