Monon Railroad Historical-Technical Society

Monon Railroad Historical-Technical Society The Facebook home of the Monon Railroad Historical Technical Society, Inc. https://monon.org

The Monon Railroad Historical-Technical Society is housed in the Depot Museum in Salem, IN. The Museum is open to the public, the Society's facilities are not open to the public, except on Board Meeting days when Society members are welcome to attend.

Linden was this week’s Monon Monday. As we learned in our post on the town of Crawfordsville, the New Albany and Salem (...
05/30/2026

Linden was this week’s Monon Monday.
As we learned in our post on the town of Crawfordsville, the New Albany and Salem (later, the Monon) bought the Crawfordsville and Wabash in 1852. The town of Linden was platted in 1852 when the railroad was extended northwards to that point.

Linden has a post office, established in 1851 and is famous for the Linden Depot, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
The depot served both the Monon and the Nickel Plate. The original depot was situated diagonally on the southeast corner of the diamond.
The depot that replaced it is shaped in an L, with a joint waiting room in the corner of the L, and is situated on the same corner of the diamond as the original.

Here’s some photos from our archives showing both depots and a few google earth maps of Linden too. We also have some great photos of trains switching at Linden, taken by our good friend and Monon engineer Ron Marquardt (we sure do miss you, Ron!)
There’s also a caboose photo from long time MRHTS member and well known model railroader Mont Switzer.

Hope you enjoy!




05/28/2026

Monon Monday railfanning 🚂
Look what we saw on our way to the Linden Depot Museum 😃

05/28/2026

Spotted on US 231, CSX heading south out of Linden.







Linden was this week’s Monon Monday- Congratulations to those who guessed correctly! Especially to Dennis Morgan who got...
05/27/2026

Linden was this week’s Monon Monday- Congratulations to those who guessed correctly! Especially to Dennis Morgan who got it in two minutes of me posting 🤩 Awesome work Dennis 👏 👏

Linden has a joint Monon and Nickel Plate depot , a museum in the depot and a model railroad on display as well.

Here’s pictures from our visit to the Linden depot 🛤️ 🚂

We took a tour of the museum and met a super nice fella working the model railroad room. We thank Adam for his hospitality and wish him well in his Monon modeling!





A few have asked if we would do a Monon Monday on Memorial Day, and I guess I am here to answer that… 🥁 Happy Monon Mond...
05/25/2026

A few have asked if we would do a Monon Monday on Memorial Day, and I guess I am here to answer that… 🥁

Happy Monon Monday, y’all!

Here I am standing somewhere in Indiana by the old Monon line.

Where am I? 🤔 🤷‍♀️
Name the place! 🚂 🛤️




05/24/2026

I was at the freight depot filming the trolley going by and the conductor stops and offers us a ride… so ofcourse we said yes!





05/24/2026

French Lick Trolley 🚋

This restored 1903 trolley runs between the French Lick and West Baden Hotels, 7 days a week. The best part is, the rides are free!


From the Monon Bygone page on French Lick - Mile post D17.7 on the French Lick Branch of the Monon: “Today, French Lick,...
05/23/2026

From the Monon Bygone page on French Lick - Mile post D17.7 on the French Lick Branch of the Monon:

“Today, French Lick, Indiana is better known as the hometown of Indiana basketball legend and NBA Hall Of Farmer Larry Bird. At one time this southern Indiana community was better known for other things. The Monon's 17.7 mile track ended at the very front steps of the French Lick Springs Hotel. This resort, in its heyday was home to all manner of entertainment, including infamous gambling. The Springs was a favorite haunt for horse players who attended the Kentucky Derby. On derby weekend the house tracks would be full of special derby consists. This long tradition of Derby trains lasted until the very end of the Monon. The last derby special ran May 1971 and included one coach and a business car, pulled by C-420 #503.”

The French Lick Depot was a joint depot which served both the Monon and Southern Railway. It was completed in 1907. It hasn’t changed much over the years and is still being used as a train depot for the French Lick Scenic Railway and is home to the Indiana Railway Museum. It is a must see for Indiana rail fans.

Here are some photographs from the MRHTS archives of French Lick, from back in the day.
As always, there’s more in our archives and on the Monon.org website.





Here’s the remainder of the pictures we took on our trek to French Lick for this week’s Monon Monday on Tuesday. When we...
05/22/2026

Here’s the remainder of the pictures we took on our trek to French Lick for this week’s Monon Monday on Tuesday.

When we arrived at the station and started taking pictures, the train was getting ready to leave the station. We were lucky enough to get video of that (see yesterday’s post). After I shot that video, we walked down to the end of the platform to take our Monon Monday photo and while we were standing at the end of the passenger platform, here comes the trolley, running between West Baden and French Lick- so we captured some photos and video of the Trolley too. And on her way back through the conductor stopped and gave us a ride. 😎

Check back soon for video of the trolley. In the meantime I hope you enjoy the pictures we took at the depot and the trolley ride too 🚋 🚂




05/21/2026

French Lick was this week’s Monon Monday on Tuesday. Congratulations to you all- you got it right! And Drew Burkhardt guessed it in just two minutes of me posting. Awesome work! 💪

When we rolled into town and started taking pictures at the depot the French Lick Scenic Railway was rolling out. What great timing!

Here’s video. Be sure to turn up the sound 📢




Address

206 S College Avenue
Salem, IN
47167

Opening Hours

Tuesday 1pm - 5pm
Wednesday 1pm - 5pm
Thursday 1pm - 5pm
Friday 1pm - 5pm

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