EWR Upgrades

Anything pertaining to railfanning in Indiana.
Reading
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon May 06, 2019 12:21 pm

EWR Upgrades

Unread post by Reading »

Hello, i'm new here but anyway, The Elkhart & Western Has been Upgrading The Line Between Currant Road and Bittersweet i think They Built a Siding and did some stuff to the End of the Line where it use to Continue to the GTW, I'm not sure but i'll look into the Siding more Tomorrow.

User avatar
SD80MAC
Ingersoll's Mr. Michigan
Posts: 10430
Joined: Thu Mar 10, 2005 4:59 pm
Location: Grand Rapids

Re: EWR Upgrades

Unread post by SD80MAC »

Is this the Elkhart & Western in Elkhart proper, or the Argos line?
"Remember, 4 mph is a couple, 5's a collision!"
http://flickriver.com/photos/conrail680 ... teresting/
Image

Reading
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon May 06, 2019 12:21 pm

Re: EWR Upgrades

Unread post by Reading »

It's The Elkhart Branch.

GreatLakesRailfan
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 4828
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2005 12:28 am
Location: Marysville, Michigan

Re: EWR Upgrades

Unread post by GreatLakesRailfan »

Reading wrote:Hello, i'm new here but anyway, The Elkhart & Western Has been Upgrading The Line Between Currant Road and Bittersweet i think They Built a Siding and did some stuff to the End of the Line where it use to Continue to the GTW, I'm not sure but i'll look into the Siding more Tomorrow.
My understanding is that it didn't connect to the GTW. It served the Uniroyal plant in downtown Mishawaka, which was a bunch of empty fields between the commercial district and the river 15 years ago.
~ Charles W.

Dajudge
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 74
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2014 8:01 pm

Re: EWR Upgrades

Unread post by Dajudge »

Hey Great Lakes Railfan, the original E&W from Elkhart did indeed connect to the GTW at main street in Mishawaka at the now gone freight station, also on Main street. Back to the east, just east of Merrifield Street there was a "Y" with the E&W coming in from the northeast and one branch would follow the river to the south across the river bridge at Central Park and on to Ball Band (later Uniroyal). The third branch of the Y would extend directly west behind Jordan Ford dealership across main and attach to the freight house siding. I grew up in that neighborhood and got in a lot of mischief there.

GreatLakesRailfan
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 4828
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2005 12:28 am
Location: Marysville, Michigan

Re: EWR Upgrades

Unread post by GreatLakesRailfan »

Dajudge wrote:Hey Great Lakes Railfan, the original E&W from Elkhart did indeed connect to the GTW at main street in Mishawaka at the now gone freight station, also on Main street. Back to the east, just east of Merrifield Street there was a "Y" with the E&W coming in from the northeast and one branch would follow the river to the south across the river bridge at Central Park and on to Ball Band (later Uniroyal). The third branch of the Y would extend directly west behind Jordan Ford dealership across main and attach to the freight house siding. I grew up in that neighborhood and got in a lot of mischief there.
Thanks Dajudge! That makes a lot of sense, much more than anything else I've seen or read about how the E&W got into downtown, and it explains why I recall the layout of the area around Jordan Ford feeling like something was missing. Looking at the area on Google maps, I can see where that grade actually ran, something that hadn't been entirely clear before.

Was the freight station on the east side of Main Street? I'm sure it was long gone before my time in the area, but I'm trying to place where it had been. Whenever I would explore the areas around the GTW in that area it always seemed like something was missing. I'll bet that area was a pretty neat place to grow up in.
~ Charles W.

Dajudge
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 74
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2014 8:01 pm

Re: EWR Upgrades

Unread post by Dajudge »

Hey Great Lakes. I "worked" at that station for one summer when I was 9 year old. My 'job' was to go out and record the serial numbers of all the cars in the yards and bring them back to the agent. Of course I never received any payment but did get to rub shoulders with a lot of railroad paraphernalia. One day the Battle Creek local (called The Turn) came in and we managed to talk our way into a ride into Olive yard when the train would 'turn' back with an exchange of loads and empties. The station was on the west side of main street. Cars being interchanged with GTW/E&W would be placed on the east side of main street next to the Farm Feed store. Usually 1 or 2 cars. Most traffic went down to Ball Band/Uniroyal. There were always a lot of tankers setting to the west end stub yards down by Kamms Brewery and the island in the river. Here are couple of shots, one of the freight house looking southwest. The other shows the GTW track plan for the area.
Attachments
GTW track plan
GTW track plan
GTW freight house Mishawaka on Main st
GTW freight house Mishawaka on Main st
Last edited by Dajudge on Tue Jul 02, 2019 9:25 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
justalurker66
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 1964
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2011 2:51 am

Re: EWR Upgrades

Unread post by justalurker66 »

The left end of the map shows where the original alignment was removed and redirected south to the NYC line. The original alignment along Western Ave isn't hard to trace on a map.

Dajudge
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 74
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2014 8:01 pm

Re: EWR Upgrades

Unread post by Dajudge »

Hey Great Lakes. A little more on the old E&W downtown Mishawaka. The pedestrian bridge which now crosses the St Joe river is in the approximate location of the old E&W wood bridge. The old bridge crossed at a shallower angle to the dam and started closer to it on the Central Park side. Half way across the bridge was a switch to a siding used to deliver coal to the Ball Band power plant. It sat on the east side of Main street between the river and the power race to the south a few feet. It was common (and scary) to be on the walkway of the bridge over the river while the E&W SW-1 engine delivered a cut of full coal cars. The bridge used to creak and moan a lot under the weight and movement. What a riot!!

Also note on the track map I sent earlier you can see the GTW originally went straight thru the east side of downtown South Bend and over the single track bridge at Howard park (still there) where it crossed Lincolnway East and right into a warehouse neighborhood with several sidings and a resident SW-1. Then out the west side of the yards across Michigan street and down the center of Western Ave. Then just past Chapen street it angle southwest across the Lakeshore and on to Valporaso. All before the merger onto what was called "the highline" thru SB where it is today. Ok, time for a nap....

Dajudge
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 74
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2014 8:01 pm

Re: EWR Upgrades

Unread post by Dajudge »

Here's a question for you Mishawaka railfan geezers. Does anybody else remember this style of crossing guard on the Twin Branch railroad on McKinley and Jefferson? The vertical lights on the support mast spell out S.T.O.P. when glowing.
Attachments
DSC_1278a.JPG

1TrackMind
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 222
Joined: Thu May 24, 2018 5:47 pm

Re: EWR Upgrades

Unread post by 1TrackMind »

Anyone know what customers they service in Elkhart?

User avatar
AARR
Ann Arbor RR Nerd
Posts: 37900
Joined: Wed Dec 22, 2004 7:39 pm
Location: Washington, MI

Re: EWR Upgrades

Unread post by AARR »

Cement plant is the big customer. Seems like there is a box car customer too.
1TrackMind wrote:Anyone know what customers they service in Elkhart?
PatC created a monster, 'cause nobody wants to see Don Simon no more they want AARR I'm chopped liver, well if you want AARR this is what I'll give ya, bad humor mixed with irrelevant info that'll make you roll your eyes quicker than a ~Z~ banhammer...

Post Reply