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A few weeks ago, the Whitewater Valley Railroad started their 2009 excursion season. The Whitewater Valley is a non-profit tourist railroad that runs from Connersville to Metamora in Indiana (see map above). Earlier in the year I was invited on their annual pre-season inspection trip and have a few shots of the line to share. I’ll start with a quick photo of the power for the day, heading north out of Connersville and into the WVRR’s yard. Ex-P&G S-1 #9339 was also on hand for yard switching duties.
It was a little chilly on the crisp Saturday morning, but the ride was no less scenic. The Whitewater Valley owns 18 miles of track along the Whitewater River and we got to see the majority of it. Here’s a shot from their tallest bridge over the river.
The Whitewater Valley runs along the towpath of the historic Whitewater Canal. The railroad was originally built as the Indianapolis and Cincinnati Railroad over the length of the canal. The line eventually came to be part the Big Four, the New York Central, Penn Central, and finally Conrail. The Whitewater Valley began leasing their line from Penn Central in 1974 and formally purchased it in 1983. In a number of places the canal is still visible, and near Metamora it is partially restored as part of tourist operation during the summer.
Here’s another shot of the shops at Metamora. Not a lot was open but I’m sure once Spring hits in earnest things will get a lot more exciting here.
One of the Whitewater Valley’s wooden cabooses were also part of our train. This made for some interesting (and lengthy) switching moves at the runaround track at Metamora.
I had a good experience at my visit to the Whitewater Valley Railroad. There still were some bugs to be worked out with the crew, but I’m sure when open to the public everything went fine. I intend to return as soon as I can this summer to get some more photos with the summer foilage. If any readers are looking for something a little farther and different than the LM&M I would recommend them. It makes a nice day trip from Cincinnati.
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