Category:Railroads

Engine 6081 crosses SR 45 east of Bloomington

Bloomington was traditionally home to two major rail lines; the Monon Route came from Gosport and entered the city from the northeast before turning south and going downtown between Walnut Street and Rogers Street. It then went south to Bedford. This line was later abandoned, but parts of it were made into the B-Line Trail and Clear Creek Trail.

The Monon was a direct Chicago/Louisville route, bypassing Indianapolis to use the more direct route through Greencastle. In 1899, the Indianapolis Southern Railroad was organized as an Indianapolis/Evansville route. This route was eventually finished by the Illinois Central Railroad and was completed in 1906. Still in existence, the line comes from Bloomfield, passes by the Monroe County Airport and behind Kohl's. It goes by bridges over SR 37 and Walnut Street and through the Indiana University campus, where loads of coal are dropped at the power plant. It crosses Pete Ellis Drive at a crossing just south of 10th Street before returning to a bridge to cross Smith Road. It then follows SR 45 to Bean Blossom before heading north.

The Illinois Central freight and passenger depots still stand: the freight depot at the northwest corner of 7th Street and Morton Street; the passenger depot at 13th Street and College Avenue. The depot was most recently the home of Jazz at the Station.