The Indiana Transportation Museum was an all-volunteer not-for-profit museum dedicated to preserving and showcasing railroads of Indiana, and sharing the equipment and information with the public, as well as operating trains to show how people traveled across the country in the past.
In 2018, the museum was evicted from its home in Forest Park by the city of Noblesville. ITM moved all retained equipment to a site in Logansport, Indiana.
Heritage railroad
While located in Noblesville, the Indiana Transportation Museum operated excursion trains on 38 miles (61 km) of a former Nickel Plate Road line, originally built for the Indianapolis and Peru Railroad and, when evicted, owned by the Hoosier Heritage Port Authority (HHPA), which is made up of the Indiana cities of Indianapolis, Fishers, and Noblesville. Excursion service on the line had been suspended due to a dispute with the HHPA. The museum submitted a proposal to HHPA requesting authorization to resume service.[2]
The museum operated out of Forest Park in Noblesville and traveled to the northern terminus of the line in Tipton, Indiana, and to the southern terminus at approximately 39th Street in Indianapolis. The rail line originally extended further south but had been abandoned.
The rail line originally connected to the Norfolk Southern railroad in Tipton and to the CSX railroad in Indianapolis via the Belt Line. The railroad line had also been operated as a freight railroad by the Indiana Rail Road, hauling coal to the power generating plant in Cicero, Indiana, until the plant's conversion to natural gas in 2003.
The connection in Tipton was cut by Norfolk Southern in 1997 and the bridge connecting the line to CSX was removed by the Indiana Department of Transportation during the rebuilding of Interstate 70 in Indianapolis. In spring 2010, CSX railroad removed the diamonds connecting the southern portion to the Belt Railroad, thus isolating the line from the U.S. rail system.
Preservation
Nickel Plate Road2-8-2 Mikado steam locomotive #587 in the restoration shops at the ITM.
The museum is home to many pieces of railroading history, with primary emphasis on locomotives and equipment relating to the Nickel Plate Railroad. Most passengers are carried in the museum's restored Budd cars that date back to 1937 and were originally in service on the Santa Fe Railroad and the New Jersey Transit Authority before being sold to the museum as scrap in the early 1980s. Several cars have been restored and others await funds for restoration.
At the beginning of 2003, the museum's operating steam locomotive, Nickel Plate 587, was taken out of service for a federally mandated boiler rebuild. Since then, work has been ongoing for the restoration of this locomotive. In 2008, ownership of the engine was permanently transferred from the Indianapolis Parks Department to the ITM. In 2018, the locomotive was held in storage in Ravenna, Kentucky by the Kentucky Steam Heritage Corporation. On March 5, 2021, the ownership of No. 587 was transferred from the Indiana Transportation Museum to a private individual.[3]
While in Noblesville, the Indiana Transportation Museum operated different excursions, ranging from holiday trains to shuttles in freight cabooses.
The Morse Lake Dinner Train was a dinner train which operated from Noblesville to a variety of restaurants in Cicero, Indiana, near Morse Lake.
The Fair Train was the museum's biggest yearly event with ITM passenger trains transporting as many as 16,000 thousand people to the Indiana State Fair every day of the fair with 10 round trips each day of the fair during August.[4] As of 2017, this excursion has been put on hold indefinitely.
The Polar Bear Express was held in the months of November and December. It included a train ride and a visit from Santa Claus.
The Harvest Train was held every weekend in October and was supported by the Hamilton Heights High SchoolFFA, who grow and sell pumpkins alongside the rail line.
The Blue Arrow was run multiple Saturdays throughout the late spring, summer, and fall from Noblesville to Tipton, often called the Pizza Train. It gained its name because the stop in Tipton was at end of the track and adjacent to the Pizza Shack, where riders could eat. Riders also had the option of being shuttled to the nearby Pizza King or Jim Dandy Restaurant for their buffets, or on select dates, a meal at the Tipton Elks Club.[5]
Special events included various festivals in Tipton and the towns of Atlanta and Arcadia; private charters were also available.
School programs
The museum offered custom school tours, which included a tour of the museum grounds and an excursion train ride.
Nickel Plate Road GP7L #426; built by Electro-Motive Diesel in July 1953; operated by ITM from 2002 to 2018; sold to Nickel Plate Express; Restored to working order in 2020.
Indiana Transportation Museum GP9 #200; built by Electro-Motive Diesel in April 1954 as Union Pacific GP9 #200; operational from 2000 to 2018; retained by the city of Noblesville in storage.
Nickel Plate Road F7A #83A; built by Electro-Motive Diesel as Milwaukee Road F7A #110C in December 1950; operated by ITM from 1983 to 2018; sold to the Nickel Plate Express.
Nickel Plate Road VO-1000 #99; built by Baldwin Locomotive Works as Crane Naval Depot VO-1000 #9 in April 1945; formerly on static display; sale to the city of Kokomo failed; retained by city of Noblesville and remains on display.
Nickel Plate Road 44-Tonner #91; built by GE Transportation as Boyne City Railroad 44-Tonner #70 in September 1950; formerly on static display; sale to the city of Kokomo failed; sold to Coastal Logistics Group of Garden City, GA via Ozark Mountain RailCar in 2019.
Indianapolis Power and Light 0-4-0 Fireless #1; built by H.K. Porter in 1950; sold to the Hesston Steam Museum in 2018; the tank/pressure vessel was scrapped.
Milwaukee RoadSW-1 #867; built by Electro-Motive Diesel in 1939; repainted to original Milwaukee Road #1613[7] by Thomas Harleman in 2015; scrapped on July 4, 2018.Milwaukee Road SW-1 #1613 after Restoration by Thomas Harleman
^ abDirect sources from the AAR/NMFTA cannot be publicly accessed/located, although such markings have been second-handedly verified via the FRA and visual wise; however, these marks may be considered expired, reassigned, or unofficial as of 2009.
