Wouldn't it be fun to travel back in time about 60 years and take a ride on the Monon Thoroughbred train through this beautiful Indiana scenery? The Thoroughbred streamliner ran between Chicago, Illinois and Louisville, Kentucky. According to the 1950 schedule posted here, we could leave Chicago at 1PM and arrive in Louisville at 9PM.
The Monon Railroad operated almost entirely within the state of Indiana. The railroad was also known as the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway. The Monon name was due to the convergence of the railroad's four main routes in Monon, Indiana. From Monon, the mainlines reached out to Chicago, Louisville, Indianapolis and Michigan City, Indiana.
Below is an enlarged version of the Monon emblem from the back of the postcard. The evolution of this emblem is shown here. The round shape is a wheel and the line under it is a rail. The "M" shape is two teepees side by side, and an arrowhead is above the middle of the "M." MONON is an Indian word meaning "Swift Running."
The Monon Railroad operated almost entirely within the state of Indiana. The railroad was also known as the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway. The Monon name was due to the convergence of the railroad's four main routes in Monon, Indiana. From Monon, the mainlines reached out to Chicago, Louisville, Indianapolis and Michigan City, Indiana.
Below is an enlarged version of the Monon emblem from the back of the postcard. The evolution of this emblem is shown here. The round shape is a wheel and the line under it is a rail. The "M" shape is two teepees side by side, and an arrowhead is above the middle of the "M." MONON is an Indian word meaning "Swift Running."
The Monon Route had its beginnings in 1847 with the New Albany & Salem Railroad, chartered to connect New Albany, Indiana with Salem, Indiana. The railroad celebrated its centennial in 1947. Sheet music and lyrics of "Up And Down The Monon", from the 1947 Centennial Program are shown here. This is the first verse and chorus:
This is the first of my "Transportation Tuesday" posts.
VERSE:
Out Kansas and Missouri way
They brag about the Santa Fe,
The New York Central, B. and O.,
Those are the toast of Ohio,
Kentucky's got the L. and N.,
And Pennsylvania's got the Penn,
In Michigan, it's the Pere Marquette,
But we've got the grandest railroad yet, Oh!
CHORUS:
Up and down the Monon
Everything is fine,
'Cause that rootin', tootin' Monon
She's a Hoosier line,
Up and down the Monon
Everything is fine,
'Cause that rootin', tootin' Monon
She's a Hoosier line,
All aboard!
All aboard!
It's my Indiana home that I'm a headin' toward, Oh!
Up and down the Monon
Everything is fine,
'Cause that rootin', tootin' Monon
She's a Hoosier line.
This is the first of my "Transportation Tuesday" posts.
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