Ft Wayne-Kendallville GR&I 1979

[cjberndt]

These were taken Nov. 10, 1979, after the Kendallville-Michigan State Line track was abandoned. Sorry about the quality. The track from Washington Center Rd. at Ft. Wayne to Kendallville was abandoned in 1982.

The Washington Center Rd. bridge had only 12'-7" of vertical clearance, so no large through-trucks on it. The Pufferbelly Trail over State Blvd. will have 17.5 or 18 ft. of clearance, the minimum required today.

The Avilla photo is looking north toward the town. The wood crossing for B&O's MoW equipment is on the former south main track. B&O ran through the heart of Avilla until 1899, when it relocated between Altona and Albion. At Avilla, it ran northwest-southeast along the south side of Railroad St., and at Main St. it continued straight southeast, cutting through the buildings there today, crossing the GR&I just north of the co-op at 1st and Van Scoyoc, and cutting through the cul-de-sac on Vice Blvd.

In the Kendallville photo at the US-6 crossing it's clear that the Kendallville-Michigan track had not been used for a long time. Some photos north of town show road crossings completely covered. I was told that the NYC-GR&I diamond was damaged in a 1975 wreck and replaced, then removed in 1976. The north track had a connection to eastbound NYC and the south track to westbound NYC, which is still in place today for the Kendallville Terminal RR.

Craig

[matt]

Great pics!! This is the first time I've seen a right of way pic from the u.s. 6 crossing.

[cjberndt]

Note the PRR position light signal in the attached Kendallville photo.

LaOtto had connecting tracks between the GR&I and Eel River/Vandalia RR on the east side of the GR&I, which made a Y-track for turning locomotives. This one was in the northeast corner of the GR&I-Eel River RR crossing. The Y-track was installed long before SR-205 existed and was used daily when traffic to Churubusco was routed Ft. Wayne-LaOtto-Churubusco after 1961, when the Eel River RR was abandoned Columbia City-Churubusco. Churubusco was busy into the mid-1960s.

Apparently some traffic went east from LaOtto to Auburn after 1961, but that ended early and Auburn trains originated at Waterloo. Auburn-Churubusco was abandoned in 1973. Waterloo-Auburn was abandoned in 1975.

Craig

[matt]

Thank you for posting these!!