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Hoosier Railroad Ghosts

Finding the reflections of what once was in what is.
  Cartersburg
 
Location: Cartersburg is a town of a couple hundred residents due west of Plainfield in Hendricks County. To get there, take US 40 west from Plainfield to Carterburg Road and turn north (there is a sign).
  History: At one time, Carterburg hosted a major railroad and an interurban line, both going between Indianapolis and Terre Haute. The railroad was the Vandalia/Pennsylvania/Penn Central/Conrail and was abandoned in the mid-1980s. The interurban was the Terre Haute, Indianapolis & Eastern (later Indiana Railroad) and was abandoned in 1940. Coming from Plainfield, the PRR was north of the THI&E until just east of Cartersburg where the interurban ducked under the steam line. Both tracks crossed the West Fork of White Lick, about 600' apart from each other. The interurban went down Main Street and then joined the PRR west of town and headed west to Clayton.
  What's left: Ironically, the interurban bridge is standing while the railroad bridge only has its abutments. The railbeds for both are still primarily intact, the interurban grade now being used for a powerline. The south portal and concrete liner of the underpass still exist.
  Maps: 2002 aerials showing the area, the bridges, and the underpass (from Hendricks County);
1946 aerial showing the area and track grades (from EACI)
 

Photos: Taken 12/18/02, about 5pm (so it was getting dark).

First view of the interurban bridge: two concrete arches Looking west toward the bridge Looking west from the bridge The south face of the bridge Closeup of south face
The north face from the creekbank. Looking east along the interurban grade from the bridge. Looking west from the underpass. The north side of the interurban underpass. It should be located near the power pole. The embankment where the underpass should be on the north side.
Looking south from the top of underpass. The exposed concrete liner tube can be seen. The filled in south portal. The wing walls are in good condition still. Well, almost filled in south portal. I don't know where the cushion came from. Towards the inside. The bolt may have been from the overhead? Inside, there is about 2 feet of clearance. Again, more bolts in the ceiling.
The east PRR bridge abutment View of where the bridge was The west abutment Another overall view The PRR grade looking east from the top of the underpass
     
The PRR grade looking west 65 years ago, you could have seen the PRR's Spirit of St. Louis on the left and an IRR highspeed on the right. Now, you might see a cow if you're lucky.