The Monon Railroad, originally named the New Albany and Salem Railroad, reached Bloomington, Indiana from the south in October of 1853. At that time the mainline entered Monroe County east of Harrodsburg, up a north valley through Smithville and Sanders, then turned northwest to Clear Creek. From Clear Creek the line ran north to the area of Morton Street and 5th St. in Bloomington, where a depot and a small yard were built.
By January of 1854 the railroad had been extended through northwestern Monroe county and across the White River to Gosport. At the same time track was being laid from Crawfordville to the south towards Gosport. The ulitmate plan for the railroad was to reach Lake Michigan, which it eventually did.
On October 24, 1859 the name of the railroad was changed to The Louisvlle, New Albany & Chicago Railroad to better describe it's possible route to it potential customers. The railroad eventually had another line that ran from Indianapolis to Chicago. The two mainlines crossed in a town named Bradford, Indiana. There was a creek that flowed nearby named Monon, meaning "swift running". The railroad picked up the nick name Monon Route and the town of Bradford changed its name to MONON. Eventually in 1956 the name MONON became the official corporate name of the railroad.
transporting students to Indiana University in Bloomington, Wabash College in Crawfordsville, DePauw University in Greencastle and Purdue University in Lafayette. The Monon color schemes for the locomotives and passenger trains was Red & White on Grey for Indiana University and Gold on Black for Purdue University. Those colors were used until the Monon merged with the L & N Railroad in 1971. L & N eventually merger with CSX Transportation.
