Chris Parker and I drove up to the Knightstown station and started our pre-trip photography.
The trip would be aboard the Carthage Knightstown and Shirley Railroad, whose emblem was on the side of the station.
View of the train and Knightstown Station.
Our train sitting in front of the station.
The train was sitting in front of the station with a consist of GE 44-tonner 468, open car 758, coach 7102 and an unnumbered caboose.
I went inside the station and met the train crew before looking around the gift shop. Finally, I checked in with Sarah Jennings before going out to the train and taking a seat in the coach. Once everyone was aboard, we left for Carthage. The train went south through Knightstown and crossed US 40. Despite the rain everyone was in good spirits. We passed through farmlands before going under a Pennsylvania Railroad bridge, turned left and headed straight south. We were going to have a Photo Runby at the Big Blue River bridge but it was cancelled because of the rain. I went out to the covered open car for the crossing of the river and discovered that the outside temperature was rapidly dropping.
Our train crossed the Big Blue River. Here I spotted Joe Harper taking a video of our trip.
Our train has almost reached Carthage.
The train pulled into Carthage, passing the Welcome to Carthage sign.
Ex Penn Central Coach.
Another passenger car in storage at Carthage.
A grain elevator still stands in Carthage.
We continued down the track as far as it was safe to do.
The locomotive then reversed, pushing us back to a siding where it would run around us.
The engine is getting ready to run around our train in Carthage.
The engine has cut off.
It then ran by me.
Then pulled down to the switch.
It was now ready to go around the train and once it past my location, I reboarded the train.
A look back at our route as we headed north for Knightstown.
More views as we headed north.
We went back under the former Pennsylvania Railroad bridge before we returned to Knightstown.
Our train passed the station and we went as far north as we could.
We continued north at a slow pace.
The train passed the switch to the Knightstown siding and crossed another street before we stopped.
As we did so, one could see the sleet coming down because the temperature had rapidly dropped.
A view looking as far north as we could go. We returned to the Knightstown station whose platform was covered with sleet and said our goodbyes to everyone.
Chris Parker and I then drove north to Interstate 70 which took us to Indianapolis, where we stopped for dinner at a Steak and Shake. We took I70 west to I465 to I69 to Indiana 31, which took us to Noblesville. We exited Indiana 31 and checked into the Quality Inn, where I checked my e-mail before going to the room. It had been another great day of train riding and photography. Tomorrow would be the Indiana Transportation Museum photo freight, but first a good night's sleep was in order.
