Keeping the Lights On 3: BUSY Day on the Indiana Southern Railroad! Spencer, IN to Edwardsport, IN

The third and final (for now) installment of my little "Keeping the Lights On" series of Southern Indiana/Kentucky shortline and regional coal trains on this spring break. On 3-12-25, I ventured down to the Indiana Southern Railroad with ‪@railfan5254‬ and ‪@mb_rock0342‬ to try to catch ISRR jobs PW1 and WL1 meeting and swapping trains on their seldom used Spencer Subdivision at Spencer, Indiana. This line only sees about one movement per week at any given point with just a few carloads for some industries in Indianapolis, IN, at the ISRR's north end. With such little traffic, this segment is really endangered. I live very close to here and had never seen anything on it until this trip so I really wanted to document this at least once. The runs to meet up in Spencer typically happen on Wednesdays but not always. We were successful in finding both trains, however unfortunately the SB run was light power and the NB run would be backlit. We got what we could of this operation before WL1 tied up for the day and PW1 headed back engine light. On our way back south, we found out that an ISRR crew was on duty to run an empty IPL Petersburg coal train up to the INRD interchange at Elnora, and then they would cab over to Marco to bring a loaded "EDW" (Edwardsport) coal train down their Hawthorne Subdivision. We spent most of the rest of the afternoon and evening chasing these trains and got some very nice golden light shots of the EDW. The Hawthorne Sub is interesting in that about half of it is brand new reactivated PRR trackage that had previously been abandoned. Another great example of a shortline/regional in this part of the country keeping our lights on! Enjoy! 3-12-25 Train 1: NB/SB ISRR PW1, ISRR Spencer Sub ISRR 3487 SD40-2 (G&W Orange) NF K3LA ISRR 5597 SD40-2 (G&W Orange) NC P3 0:00 PW1 creeping by a private crossing in the woods south of Spencer, IN 1:04 PW1 passing Trout Drive, Spencer, IN Train 2: SB/NB ISRR WL1, ISRR Spencer Sub ISRR 3043 GP40-2 (G&W Orange) NF K3LA (Dead 4a) 2:30 WL1 coming right through downtown Spencer, IN. A scene I've always wanted to capture, albeit light power. 4:29 After meeting and swapping trains with PW1, WL1 ties down for the day in Spencer. 5:07 PW1 headed back south light power at Trout Drive near Spencer, now with 5597 leading. 5597 is an ex-CP SD40-2 still with its original brass bell, my favorite engine on the ISRR roster currently. Train 3: NB ISRR IPL, ISRR Petersburg Sub ISRR 3386 SD40-2 (G&W Orange) NF K3LA ISRR 3383 SD40-2 (G&W Orange) ISRR 3372 SD40-2 (G&W Orange) 6:06 IPL cruising through Plainville, IN 6:51 IPL passing 1400 N just south of Elnora, IN 9:15 IPL entering the INRD Chicago Sub at C.P. Elnora, the crew would bring it a couple miles further north before tying down to hand it off to the INRD for the rest of its trip to Bear Run Mine near Dugger, IN. Train 4: SB ISRR EDW, ISRR Hawthorne Sub 10:53 EDW departing Marco, IN 13:16 EDW passing a sign being Marco and Sandborn welcoming travelers on IN-67 into the area of the White River Valley High School 16:49 EDW coming into Sandborn, IN. It would briefly stop here to set off a loaded centerbeam at Blue Jay Supply. ISRR GP40 3046 was used to assist. 19:03 Now on the recently (2012) reactivated trackage, EDW cresting a nice hill just north of Westphalia, IN 21:26 EDW just south of Westphalia, IN 23:07 EDW entering Duke Energy's Edwardsport Coal Gasification Plant, with a nice scenic overlook 30:05 EDW also brings sulfur tanks to the plant which are tacked onto the rear.