Monon Railroad Historical-Technical Society

06/17/2026

Caught up with this Norfolk Southern train on the way back to our hotel from hiking at Antietam.

It was another great day! 🚂 🛤️ 🚉

06/17/2026

Low key trainspotting at the Potomac River in Shepherdstown, WV

Hubby and I took a little trip for our anniversary to Shepherdstown, WV to stay at my favorite pool- er, my favorite hotel (with an amazing infinity pool). The pool, I mean hotel, just happens to have a bar, a great brewery/restaurant from which you can order food, at the pool (!) and it all overlooks the Potomac River. The C&O canal runs along the river and the hotel is also just across the Potomac and only 5 miles from Antietam, a Civil War battlefield.

Another wonderful feature of this pool, uh hotel, is it’s a fabulous location to trainspot because the N&W has a train trestle over the Potomac at Sheperdstown as well. Unfortunately on this trip we weren’t able to get video from the pool but I did capture one from our balcony at night. Not much to see in that one (it’s dark) but you can definitely hear it! 📢 🔔 🚂

I shot this video in the morning from the Shepherdstown side of the river. We were checking out some Civil war era ruins of a cement plant on the river bank and a train happened to roll through.

If you haven’t been to this area of the country, we highly recommend it! There’s loads to see and do and the train passes over the trestle here a few times a day as well- not as much on Sunday though.

The picture for Non Monon Monday was taken in Shepherdstown at the Rumsey monument. Now that we know how to get to it we will take advantage next trip out there and get video from that spot. What a great trestle in a beautiful place!

👀 🚂 🛤️

06/15/2026

Well I will give you three hints:
1) I am not in Indiana
2) I am not on the Monon.
3) It’s somewhere on the old N&W

Where am I? 🤔 🤷‍♀️
Name the place! 🚂 🛤️

P.S. Ketchams history drop in a couple days. Check back soon!

06/13/2026

Someone’s dream job!! 🚂 🛤️

is seeking skilled, safety-minded professionals to join our team as Train Operators. If you take pride in precision, responsibility, and keeping operations running smoothly, this opportunity is for you. To learn more and apply, visit INRD.com/careers

06/12/2026

Great news!!! 🗞️ 🚂 🥳

06/12/2026

Updated maps for Ketchams. In our previous post on Ketchams we made a mistake. Ok, two mistakes. These maps show the corrections. We have included a 1901 plat map showing the tracks and public road at Ketcham’s as well as the corrected google earth maps.

IC served Fluck Mill, not the Monon. The spur we had marked that paralleled the IC was their siding, not the Monon’s.

And surprisingly to me, Ketchams Depot was located on the west side of the mainline, not the east (road-side) as I had stated. I mistakenly remembered the depot being on the road-side of the tracks. This was not the case.
Mamie Eads Road did not exist at the time the line was built, that’s why the depot is not road-side in this case.

We regret to have caused any confusion or delay. My kid was a huge fan of Thomas the Tank Engine and twenty years later I can still hear the tune in my head. IYKYK. 🎶

Train on! 🚂 🛤️ 🗺️

06/11/2026

The bridge just south of Ketchams on Fluck Mill Road was this week’s Monon Monday.
Congratulations to those who guessed correctly, especially to John Butcher who got it in less than ten minutes of me posting. Great job, John!

For those who are interested, below you will find more pictures from our Monon Monday adventure to Ketchams. The area is so overgrown with weeds (and I am so very allergic to poison ivy) that we didn’t venture any further than the bridge. We did drive further up the road and snapped pictures of Ketcham’s house and Fluck Mill.

Ketchams depot was located just north of the bridge, on the west (not east!) side of the tracks. In order to share the depot location with you we dug into some pics we took during a winter visit so you will see those as well. There are a few google earth maps of the area for reference too.

We will check the archives for some history pictures and share those in a day or two so be sure to follow our page or check back soon so you don’t miss out.
Hope you enjoy these in the meantime!
📸 🚂 🛤️ 🚉

06/08/2026

Here we are at another Monon Monday! 🥳

Before we get started, you will see I did not wear my official Monon gear today. I didn’t want what I was wearing to be a distraction 😉

Here I am standing somewhere on the Monon.

Where am I? 🤔 🤷‍♀️
Name the place! 🛤️ 🚂

06/07/2026

Roachdale History Drop!

From Wikipedia:
“Roachdale was platted in 1879, and named for Judge Roach, a railroad official. Apost office has been in operation at Roachdale since 1880. Roachdale was incorporated in 1882 when the railroad was extended to that point.”

A quirky thing about the town, since 1981 they hold annual roach races as part of their Fourth of July festivities. The town imports big cockroaches from South Carolina and some people even dress them up with hats or saddles. The roaches race across a 4’ by 8’ sheet of plywood and the roach that reaches the perimeter first is the winner. 🪳 🥇

Roachdale had a joint depot for both the Monon and the B&O. The Monon, running north/south, and the B&O running east/west. There was an interchange track on the south east side of the junction of the railroads and the depot sat on the south east quadrant of the diamond.

In the late 1800s, early 1900s there was a veneer mill on the west side of the Monon’s tracks. Roachdale later had a lumber mill on the east side of the interchange track, and a grain mill and a feed and seed mill both sat on the south side of the B&O, east of the interchange. And from another picture (on the Monon bygone page, not included in this post) it looks like there was another grain mill south of the Washington Street intersection with the Monon, on the east side of the tracks.

As we saw in the present day pictures, the B&O main line has been pulled up but the Monon’s tracks are still in use. The interchange tracks are still in place as well as the old B&O siding, though not currently in use. One of the grain mills is still there today. Gavilon Grain is east of the old depot site, south of the interchange track and B&O siding. Those tracks end at CR 425E, just beyond Gavilon Grain.

I have included several Google Maps for reference as well as many photographs from our archives.
I will add captions as I have time but please feel free to help me out and add some- if you know something, say something! 😀

Hope you all enjoy 🚂 🛤️ 🚉

06/05/2026

On the trolley, riding by the French Lick depot