Golden Twilight of Postwar Steam, Part 2

It was an era of war and heartbreak and then of peace and hope and prosperity. The nation’s railroads were stressed nearly to the limit during World War II and then emerged from the conflict to confront nearly worn-out and aging steam locomotives and a dwindling passenger business.
br>Despite this, it was still a heady period on the high iron. Gene Miller was in the Heartland during this era shooting 16mm movies of this tough transition initially, in and around Evansville, Indiana.
br>Many of our rail action scenes were shot in Evansville where the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railway made an end-to-end connection with the Louisville and Nashville at the L&N passenger depot alongside the Ohio River. The C & E I entered Evansville from the northeast, ran down the middle of Division Street, and jogged over one block to end at the depot which had run-through tracks and a stub-end terminal for Louisville & Nashville trains.
br>The L&N headed west, across Pigeon Creek, where its line to St. Louis split off at a wye at North Howell. The L&N’s Howell Yard and bustling engine terminal were alongside the line heading south to Louisville and Nashville.