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  • 21 Aug, 2019

  • By, Wikipedia

Beech Grove Shops

The Beech Grove Shops is a railway maintenance facility in Beech Grove, Indiana, outside Indianapolis. Beech Grove is Amtrak's primary maintenance facility. It also contains a very large freight yard.

History

The shops were originally constructed in 1904–1908 by the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St Louis Railway (the "Big Four"), servicing a network stretching across the Midwest into Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. The facility was used as the company's repair shop for steam locomotives and passenger and freight cars.

The Big Four was acquired by the New York Central Railroad (NYC) in 1906, but operated as an independent business until it was formally merged with its owner in 1922. The facility passed to Penn Central Transportation in 1968 when the NYC merged with the Pennsylvania Railroad. Penn Central declared bankruptcy in 1970. Amtrak purchased the facility from the bankrupt Penn Central in April 1975.

On September 20, 2002, an F2 tornado hit the shops, damaging Coach Shop 3, which was going to be torn down after the tornado; it had been used to overhaul Superliner passenger cars until 2000.

In the early hours of May 2, 2021, two storage buildings on the site were destroyed by a fire.

References

  1. ^ "Beech Grove shops- Amtrak: History of America's Railroad". Amtrak. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  2. ^ Beech Grove HEP Conversion Program Results in Like-New Car for Passengers Amtrak News August 1, 1980 page 10
  3. ^ Beech Grove Purchase Gets Green Light Amtrak News March 15, 1975 pages 1, 8
  4. ^ Miracle at Beech Grove Railway Age February 1985 pages 53, 56
  5. ^ Amtrak (August 27, 2012). "Beech Grove shops". Retrieved November 25, 2012.
  6. ^ "News photos: Fire destroys buildings at Amtrak's Beech Grove shops (updated)". Trains. May 7, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2021.

Media related to Beech Grove Shops at Wikimedia Commons

39°43′11″N 86°4′40″W / 39.71972°N 86.07778°W / 39.71972; -86.07778