Long Freight Train Leaves Downtown Indy

Indianapolis, the capital and largest city in Indiana, is known around the world as the home of "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing," the Indianapolis 500. Indy also boasts several professional sports teams, including the NFL's Indianapolis Colts and the NBA's Indiana Pacers. Both teams play their home games on the south side of downtown, with their buildings separated by a busy CSX rail line that passes through the city's historic Union Station along the way. Those tracks also serve as the southern border of a piece of downtown property that's home to Victory Field, which is consistently ranked as one of the nation's best minor league ballparks and serves as the home of the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians.

On a beautiful summer afternoon, we were hanging out in the Victory Field parking lot waiting for the gates to open for an Indians game when we heard a rumbling sound approaching the ballpark. We quickly ran over to the fence at the edge of the property, just in time to catch some action on the rails. Looking southeast with Lucas Oil Stadium (home of the Colts) serving as a backdrop, we captured CSX 253 and CSX 5451 leading a 135-car mixed freight westbound out of downtown, toward the White River and the nearby Indianapolis Zoo. The train features a great variety of car types, from intermodal cars and autoracks, to boxcars and tank cars, to hoppers and gondolas. It was a nice pre-game bonus, which was followed by a trio of home runs and a victory for the home team!

Recorded on July 29, 2023.