Quick Trip to Beech Grove

[MrFSS]

MrsFSS and I have been in IND all week and will be here until we leave for CHI next week to catch the train to BOS for the 3rd Annual Gathering.

We have grandkid sitting duties here as our daughter and son-in-law are on a long weekend vacation.

I thought I would run over to Beech Grove today to see what was going on. They wouldn't let me in, but I was able to drive around the fence line and snap a few pictures. I have done this, over the years, probably 4-5 times and two things jumped out at me this trip.

1. There were a lot more rail cars in the yards than I have ever seen before.

2. There were more autos in the employee parking lots than I have ever seen before.

I noticed a lot of baggage cars and a lot of single level cars, especially what looked like dining cars.

While there were some Superliner cars, there weren't as many as single levels.

There were also some engines that looked like they had the older paint schemes on them. I couldn't get close enough to tell what they were or their status of repair.

On the west side of the facility they have put up new walls and barriers where you use to be able to walk right up to the fence. Can't do that any more.

Bottom line - looks like lots of work is going on.

The one thing I didn't know about was what the yellow trucks on some the cars were all about. They looked very small and I wonder if they are temporary wheels just to move the cars around the facility until permanent ones can be installed. Anyone have an idea?

Here are a few pictures I took while there.

That's Viewliner 62009.

 

[MrFSS]

And, a few more.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Thanks for the pics Tom, hope they are doing some Superliners besides the ones you saw, we have been missing SSLs on the Eagles and CONOs lately, also seems to be a surplus of CCCs, perhaps they will rehabe a few real diners too!Looks like lots of baggage cars, not too many viewliners either! I did ride #22 last week dedheading two Superliner coaches from the HF for Beech Grove so perhaps theyre doing coaches too! The more the better!!

 

[J-1 3235]

Thanks for sharing the good news and photos, Tom.

See you soon!

Mike

 

[MrFSS]

Thanks for the pics Tom, hope they are doing some Superliners besides the ones you saw, we have been missing SSLs on the Eagles and CONOs lately, also seems to be a surplus of CCCs, perhaps they will rehabe a few real diners too!Looks like lots of baggage cars, not too many viewliners either! I did ride #22 last week dedheading two Superliner coaches from the HF for Beech Grove so perhaps theyre doing coaches too! The more the better!!

As you can see from some of the pictures, the buildings are very large and can hold many cars. One can never know what's going on inside. But we can hope lots of Superliners are in there.

 

[Long Train Runnin']

My guess is they are overhauling the trucks that they usually sit on so the yellow ones would be there "hospital trucks"

Very neat pictures! Were you ever successful in getting inside? I do remember you having other shots from BG before.

 

[AlanB]

perhaps they will rehabe a few real diners too!Looks like lots of baggage cars, not too many viewliners either!

There are 4 diners on the rehab list, so yes there will be a few that come out. They are slated for the Capitol Limited.

As for Viewliners, there are none with a wrecked status that I'm aware of, so the only Viewliner's that would be at Beech Grove would be the Prototype Dining car and any sleepers undergoing a major overhaul. And there should only be 2, max 3, under going such an overhaul. All other work on teh Viewliner's is handled at Hialeah in Florida, home base for the Viewliners.

 

[AlanB]

My guess is they are overhauling the trucks that they usually sit on so the yellow ones would be there "hospital trucks"

I'm thinking that Amtrak forgot to pay its tickets, so the police booted the cars. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Long Train Runnin']

My guess is they are overhauling the trucks that they usually sit on so the yellow ones would be there "hospital trucks"

I'm thinking that Amtrak forgot to pay its tickets, so the police booted the cars. :lol: :lol: :lol:

:lol: :lol: Its amtrak so ANYTHING is possible :lol:

 

[Rob_C]

Neat pics!

You can see the trans dorm in one of them that was involved in the signal bridge accident on the CZ a couple months back. Also nice to see at least one of the hi-level Heartland Flyer coachs hasn't been scrapped. Despite its age, would be nice to see it used to expand/new service with all the new routes proposed. IIRC those ran from 1999-2006 or so after some major refurb. For all that work, you'd think they'd expect at least 10 years out of em...

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

Why does the Viewliner diner say "Sleeping Car" above the vestibule?

 

[AlanB]

Why does the Viewliner diner say "Sleeping Car" above the vestibule?

The only Viewliner that I saw in Tom's photos, right at the end of the first set of pics, is a sleeper. In fact Tom identifies it at 62009, which would be Evening View.

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

Why does the Viewliner diner say "Sleeping Car" above the vestibule?

The only Viewliner that I saw in Tom's photos, right at the end of the first set of pics, is a sleeper. In fact Tom identifies it at 62009, which would be Evening View.

Gah no kidding. I'm so excited about the bloody diner every time I think Viewliner I say "diner". :lol:

 

[Long Train Runnin']

Why does the Viewliner diner say "Sleeping Car" above the vestibule?

The only Viewliner that I saw in Tom's photos, right at the end of the first set of pics, is a sleeper. In fact Tom identifies it at 62009, which would be Evening View.

Gah no kidding. I'm so excited about the bloody diner every time I think Viewliner I say "diner". :lol:

:lol: :lol: I did the same thing, I was like oh look theres 4800 gee I hope they get that into revenue service soon. :lol:

 

[cpamtfan]

I see a prototype Viewliner in one of his shots. Doesn't look like the diner nor the sleeper but one of the sleepers, most likely 62091 Evening View. Tom, is it a prototype Viewliner and not the 62009 in which you have a picture of?

 

[cpamtfan]

Right next to the string of former Crew Dorms and baggages, theres the old prototype Viewliner sleeper(not the diner)!

 

[cpamtfan]

Heritage Diners appear to be somewhere in the middle of that pile of Heritage cars, which leaves me to believe that they are not bringing any of those back.

 

[MrFSS]

I see a prototype Viewliner in one of his shots. Doesn't look like the diner nor the sleeper but one of the sleepers, most likely 62091 Evening View. Tom, is it a prototype Viewliner and not the 62009 in which you have a picture of?

In the pictures with the long strings of cars I couldn't get any numbers. These were taken with a long lens through two rows of chain link fence. Not as sharp and clear as I would like. Those cars are probably 300-400 yards away from where I was.

 

[cpamtfan]

Ahh, okay Tom. From the pictures I have seen of the 62091, it looked just like the car in your picture. Nice pictures, by the way :blink: .