Having lived south of La Porte IN, along the Wabash RR since 1952,
near Magee (Wabash/PM-C&O) interchange in early 1920's-40's, I had
the chance to explore in the summer a lot of near by railroading by
bicycle. One area always a mystery was along IN39 south of LaPorte
near 250 South a railroad row that had been abandoned for year, but
visible. As a teen I had a friend Johnny Pahs who lived on a farm along
Joliet Road in Door Village that I visited frequently, we used to go get
the cows in the afternoon south of the farm on a John Deere Model 60
to the area of a fill that was sand. Over the years the sand was used
for many uses on the farm, but as I remember it was 20-30 feet above
the lay of the land. Never knew exactly what line it was until later years.

But since the book Faster than the Limiteds has been put out by the
CERA, I have got much information about the entire line. Another book
put out by the CERA Northern Indiana Railways, detail of the lines
and how they interconnected in La Porte downtown on what is now
LincolnWay the main street thru town (IN 2) and the La Porte County
courthouse was the center of the rail activity. On page 64B of Faster than
the Limiteds, a map of South La Porte is shown and the interconnection
with the PM, page 259 shows the historical marker on the east side
of IN 39, now on the LP airport properity, just south of 250 South.
Now on page 258 shows a picture of shows the vacant right-of-way
in 1939, now trees abound on the entire row.

The for sale sign now is on the row. In the Northern Indiana book,
this area at one time was a summer pavilion for dances, picnics etc
from La Porte for a nickel ride on the street car.

If interested e-mail me and I will provide a phone number. I don't know
how much is for sale acre wise or how much in dollars. A couple of years
ago some effort was to clear a path for a road and possible putting
a house up off the road. Electric power lines do cross the properity
along with phone lines some where buried, don't know if natural gas
for heat is avail.

Some areas of the line is still visible from IN39 to near US421, you have
to really look to find it, but tree lines do mark it quite well at certain
spots in IN 2 west of La Porte. Some of the line has been reclaimed by
farmers and no sign where it once existed.

La Porte is a nice town, but civilization is encroaching fast from the
west with houses.

Tom Travis HVRM North Judson IN, Restoration Dept, but still lives on
500 South with all the ham radio antennas visible from the highway.