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The Tippecanoe (SL-7)

The Tippecanoe was an institution on the Monon Railroad. Born as a heavyweight after World War I, the Tippecanoe provided morning service in both directions between Chicago and Indianapolis. On August 17, 1947, the Tippecanoe inaugurated the Monon's streamline era by employing a new consist that was created from ex-US Army hospital cars at Monon's Lafayette Shops. By November, 1947, a second set of streamlined cars was in service, allowing both the northbound and southbound morning runs of the Tippecanoe to be operated as streamliners. These same train sets were used on Monon's venerable evening Chicago-Indianapolis train, the Hoosier, and actually carried "Hoosier" drumheads on their observation cars.

The scene above depicts the northbound and southbound runs of the Tippecanoe meeting in the summer of 1948, along the shore of Cedar Lake, Indiana. The EMD F3A's and passenger cars are painted in the memorable red-and-grey scheme designed by Raymond Loewy. The meet depicted here, with F3A number 84 on the point of the northbound train, is a rare one. The southbound train is running a few minutes late, and after November 30, 1948, no trains - passenger or freight - will pass this way again. Monon will relocate its mainline away from these shores, and Cedar Lake will be left in solitude.