In celebration of the City of Beech Grove’s 100th anniversary, Amtrak opened their repair facility for public tours on 11/11/06. The place was originally built in 1906/07 and was the New York Central Engine Repair facility.
NYC paid $5 Million for 640 acres of land about 6 miles SE of downtown Indianapolis, IN. They say there was a large stand of trees nearby and hence the name, Beech Grove.
As happens, the city sprang up around the repair shops which were built to handle 48 engines inside at the same time. It was once known as the “Largest Locomotive Hospital in the World.”
Today it is the repair facility for Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corporation) and the size is down to about 100 acres.
More information about the history of the shops is in with the pictures at the site mentioned below.
There are several different buildings where various types of repairs are carried out. We were only allowed in the engine shop. They had brought in a recently renovated coach that everyone could walk through, but we weren't’t allowed in any of the other buildings where cars are repaired, trimmed and painted. Several of us were interested in seeing a new diner-lounge, but they wouldn’t even talk about them.
We were able to see a Parlor Car sitting inside the main gate area and it was completely stripped of all paint and markings. Again, no word on how many others of these were on the property.
Here are a few pictures. All of them I took can be seen at this LINK
If anyone has a question, I’d be happy to try and answer.
Plugs at every seat!
Jim is the Beech Grove Safety Manager and our Tour Guide
NYC paid $5 Million for 640 acres of land about 6 miles SE of downtown Indianapolis, IN. They say there was a large stand of trees nearby and hence the name, Beech Grove.
As happens, the city sprang up around the repair shops which were built to handle 48 engines inside at the same time. It was once known as the “Largest Locomotive Hospital in the World.”
Today it is the repair facility for Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corporation) and the size is down to about 100 acres.
More information about the history of the shops is in with the pictures at the site mentioned below.
There are several different buildings where various types of repairs are carried out. We were only allowed in the engine shop. They had brought in a recently renovated coach that everyone could walk through, but we weren't’t allowed in any of the other buildings where cars are repaired, trimmed and painted. Several of us were interested in seeing a new diner-lounge, but they wouldn’t even talk about them.
We were able to see a Parlor Car sitting inside the main gate area and it was completely stripped of all paint and markings. Again, no word on how many others of these were on the property.
Here are a few pictures. All of them I took can be seen at this LINK
If anyone has a question, I’d be happy to try and answer.
Plugs at every seat!
Jim is the Beech Grove Safety Manager and our Tour Guide
