Save the Carthage Knightstown&Shriely Railroad

10/28/2024

It’s been 4 years since the last update I’m sad to announce that CKS is now officially a distant memory sadly nothing worked to save the railroad. That’s why I haven’t posted anyway. We will come here as the memories will never be forgotten thanks to photos and videos of cks we will always remember and thank you to
The Tom and his wife to
There dedicated fans to come ride their own little railroad. We will never forget the enjoyment of this experienced train ride that brought many people memories. If anyone sends messages I’m bad about responding so if I don’t respond I’m not ignoring anyway this page feel free to share your memories and photos and videos if you have any

05/22/2020

A couple weeks ago I went out and got some pictures of the line in the condition of everything is not great. But at least 468 and 215 are not rotting away. Anymore. I would like to dedicate this post to a thank you to Tom Allison thank you for the many memories when it was opened we surely lost a true attraction to the Knightstown community. We wish we could of gotten it going. But enjoy the pictures. Share your best memories with us we would love to hear what you have. Videos pictures you name it.

05/21/2020

05/21/2020

Incase anyone was curious. Engine 215 has been sold off. It left Carthage yard for the last time last Thursday.

Locomotive number 215 and locomotive 468 have been sold to Kokomo grain to be put back into working service. They picked up locomotive 215 today with the hop...

04/10/2020

Hey all we have been quiet for a while we are sadly not able to save the cks. We just learned that locomotives 215 and 468 have been sold off to Kokomo grain company. We have tried to look into ways to save it. But honestly we didn’t have any luck we are going to rename this page for memories of the cks. It will be missed but not forgotten we want to shout out who uploaded these videos there’s more to be shared soon. We hope everyone is hanging in there during this difficult time in our nation. Stay safe out there

07/13/2019

04/26/2019

Anyone in the Knightstown area we are aware that a Tornado Warning is effect for Knightstown and Carthage stay safe everyone.

04/03/2019

Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. He was a great man and will be missed by so many. From ITM and Whitewater Valley.

We are saddened to share the news that long-time Indiana railroad preservation advocate, Francis H. Parker, has passed away. Francis was a more than 40-year member of the railroad preservation movement within the state of Indiana. He contributed to numerous research projects, authored a number of books, and volunteered actively for the nonprofit Whitewater Valley Railroad and Indiana Transportation Museum as a historian and train crew member.

Francis, one of the original urban planning professors at Ball State University, where a number of people within our organization attended college, specialized in transportation planning and maintained a special interest in Indiana's electric railways. Francis was often a source of scholarly information regarding the vast several-hundred-mile electric railway system and the manner in which it operated across Indiana.

During his time with the Indiana Transportation Museum in the 1970s, then the Indiana Museum of Transport and Communication, Francis was instrumental in saving our 1902 wooden interurban, Terre Haute, Indianapolis & Eastern Traction Co. No. 81. His efforts helped remove the car from inside a house at 56th St. & Guion Road in Indianapolis, originally discovered by airplane.

When hard times fell upon No. 81, Francis was instrumental in becoming one of the first donors and supporters of the nonprofit Hoosier Heartland Trolley Company, supporting the move of THI&E No. 81 to indoor storage and safety.

It is with great enthusiasm that the Board of Directors of the Hoosier Heartland Trolley Company announces the organization will eventually pursue the restoration and operation of THI&E No. 81 in his honor, for which he has made possible by helping save the car twice.

Francis served as a mentor, trainer, friend and inspiration to all members of our organization, many of whom grew up under his wing and met with at Ball State. He was a man of strong character, patience, and wisdom, and will be greatly missed.

To learn more about THI&E No. 81, visit here: https://bit.ly/2VhA984

-The Hoosier Heartland Trolley Company Team

04/03/2019

This day in history will be never forgotten.

45 years ago today - This F4 tornado wreaked havoc on Hancock County and other Hoosier Communities during the "Super Outbreak" on April 3rd and 4th 1974. This is a photograph of a large tornado as it was on the ground in the Wilkinson and Shirley area on its way to Kennard. The photo was taken from Route 140 in Knightstown.

This was the most destructive tornado outbreak of the 20th century. During a 16-hour period, 148 tornadoes hit 13 states, including Indiana. The path of destruction stretched 2,500 miles, from Windsor, Ontario as far south as Alabama. More than 300 people died and more than 5,000 were injured. The most notable tornado in this group destroyed much of Xenia, Ohio, where the force of the tornado lifted railcars from their tracks.

02/05/2019

Hey all we are going to wait on the go fund me. We are going to talk to the owner before anything happens. Sorry for that We will repost it once we know actually what his needs are thank you please keep getting our page out there. Thank you all. It’s going to be a privacy issue until we can talk to the owner. We don’t want lawsuits coming after us. Please stay tuned we will try asap.

02/05/2019

As much as we know the owner wants someone to run the CKS as a business. We have done our research and the best thing for this railroad to run is going nonprofit. We don’t plan to do this as a living, we hope to do it as a private owned nonprofit railroad as a museum If we do a business side it would be moving freight on the line in the future. And a restaurant in the Knightstown Depot. This is all still being discussed so wants we know the official plans we will let everyone know.

02/04/2019

Hey all we talked to Hoosier Trolley Company today at the great train show. We have some hope at the end of the tunnel the problem we are facing is the owner wants to much money for the line. And it’s not worth it to the shape it’s in. We are really starting to realize that we need to raise the money for buying the property and fixing all the problems that we would have to rebuild the line to make it reliable to run. At this rate we are going to need to raise a couple million dollars to do something to make it safe and up to code. We can’t do it with out 100% of your help please help get the word out. We are trying everything and we have a lot of things to do but bare with us. It can happen if y’all back it. We are also looking into a lot of things to extend our vision. We would like to extend the line back to Rushville for storage space for CSX on the former B&O Railroad. To help with money for the line and eventually run back to the Shirley Train station. We also are hoping to move some freight on this line the economy booming in Knightstown. Please stay tuned this is all developing we have a lot of things hopefully happening here in the next few months. Please share our page we hope to hit a 1000 likes. Also if anyone can help us with a website that would be greatly appreciated and get a place for the funds to go. Thank all for barring with us. Have a blessed week.