Indiana

In the spring of 1847, James Brooks met with six associates in Providence to forever change the face of transportation in Indiana. The New Albany and Salem Rail Road Company was born as a result of this historic meeting.

Today this railroad, most often called the Monon, is only a memory of a time when trains streaked across the hills and farmland of southern Indiana. The Monon Railroad in Southern Indiana examines the real purpose of railroads as movers of people and the products they devoted their lives to producing and focuses on areas from New Albany to Bloomington. It identifies the only two counties in Indiana that were a part of the Salem limestone district and gives a glimpse of how the stone was removed from the earth and eventually formed into some of the nation's most beloved buildings and structures. It also takes a look at the history of several lumber-based industries and the famed products that they manufactured. New Albany was once known across America as a key producer of hardwood plywood, used in custom cabinetry, and the Showers Brothers Furniture Company of Bloomington was once the largest manufacturer of furniture in America. This book talks about the industries that created the cities and towns that many Hoosiers called home.

Starting in 1901 as a three-mile-long trolley line in East Chicago, Indiana, the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad expanded in 1908 to connect South Bend, Indiana, with Chicago, Illinois. Once a treasure in the Sam Insull utilities empire, today it is the only functioning electric interurban in the United States. From a world-class city through rolling agricultural acres, from steel mills through a national lakeshore, some 200 vintage photographs illustrate the unique view of the Calumet region that South Shore passengers have traditionally enjoyed. Images of rolling stock, passenger depots, excursion destinations, and historic sites along the way combine to reveal the century-long story of the railroad and its 90-mile corridor.

The Whitewater Valley Railroad is a historic line in scenic southeastern Indiana.

It was completed to Connersville in 1867, linking the towns of the Whitewater Valley to Cincinnati over the former towpath of the Whitewater Canal (1836-1862). Originally named the White Water Valley Railroad, the line went through several name changes before being absorbed by the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis (the "Big Four") in 1890 and later by the New York Central, the parent company of the Big Four. After merging with the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1968, the line became the Penn Central before closing in 1972 between Brookville and Connersville. It was slated for abandonment when a group of volunteers stepped in to create the Whitewater Valley Railroad, which ran its first tourist passenger trains in 1974. The nonprofit volunteer organization celebrates its 40th anniversary of operations in 2014.