Nostalgia & History > Gary, IN Union Station - 1948 Presidential Visit

A few weeks ago, Roadjob (aka Bill Rettburg) posted a great shot of an eastbound train passing the Gary, IN Union Station with a C&O C630 leading.  That post started a most informative thread about the history of the station, including a link to the 1951 movie Appointment with Danger that had a segment filmed there featuring the passage of a NYC freight train, with one of the characters clinging to the side of a Pacemaker boxcar.  Gary Union Station was used by the B&O and NYC, with the B&O on the south side of the building and NYC to the north.  Here is a link to Roadjob's original post.  https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,5641504,page=1 

Gary Union Station had another moment in the limelight in October 1948, near the end of a momentous Presidential campaign.  President Harry S. Truman's campaign train stopped there, and thanks to E. L. "Tommy" Thompson of the B&O Passenger Dept, we have a good photographic record of that moment.  Truman had become President with the death of Franklin Roosevelt in 1945, and was running for a full term in the 1948 election.  Almost everyone expected Truman to loose to his Republican challenger, Tom Dewey, the popular Governor of New York.  But Truman embarked on a hard-hitting campaign that featured numerous "whistle-stop" train trips across the country, and he pulled off a stunning upset victory.  I believe that Harry Truman was a bit of a railfan.  He liked to travel by train, and liked being around railroad people.  While in his late teens, he worked as a timekeeper for about a year for a contractor that was double tracking the Santa Fe main line near Kansas City.  When he got into politics in the 1930's, he got plenty of support from the rail unions, and spoke with appreciation of the help he got from "Missouri Pacific men".

On the evening of October 24, 1948, Truman's campaign train departed Washington DC on the B&O, en route to Chicago.  The following day, Monday Oct 25, Truman's train stopped at Garrett, IN, a division point on the B&O, where he made a speech from the platform of the Presidential Pullman car, the Ferdinand Magellan, to a crowd estimated at 3,000 people.  The train continued on to Gary, IN, stopping at Gary Union Station.  Truman de-boarded from the train and was driven by auto to Gary Memorial Auditorium, where he gave a speech to an overflow crowd.  Truman then returned to the train and it continued on to Chicago.  That night, he gave a speech at Chicago Stadium, and while he was doing that, his train was turned and delivered to the New York Central for an eastbound trip, with campaign stops at South Bend, Elkhart, and Cleveland, and from there to New England and New York.  

While the train was stopped at Gary Union Station, it was photographed by Mr. E. L. "Tommy" Thompson of B&O's Passenger Dept.  Thompson accompanied most of the campaign trains that traversed the B&O, and he kept meticulous records of the events of those trips.  His records have been preserved in the archives of the B&O Historical Society at Eldersburg, Maryland.  Here are three of the photos that he took at Gary, which I share with consent of the B&O Historical Society:

#1  President Truman is exiting Gary Union Station for his ride by auto to Gary Memorial Auditorium.  
#2  The campaign train waits on the main line, with Gary Union Station to the left, and the NYC on the north side of the station.  Appears the train is 16 cars, including sleepers for Presidential staff and Secret Service personnel, a radio car for the press, several coaches for day riders, and a diner.  
#3  A view from the south side of the B&O elevated line.  Power is almost new E7A #68, followed by an E6B and another E7A.  

The date attached to these photos is erroneous, it should be October 25.  Truman was in Massachusetts on October 27, with train stops at Pittsfield, Springfield, Worcester, and Framingham, followed by an evening rally in Boston.  On the morning of October 28, Truman's train departed Boston on the New Haven for New York City.  After more stops in New York, Truman's train continued on the New York Central to Saint Louis, then took the Missouri Pacific to Truman's hometown of Independence, Missouri, arriving Oct 31, where he waited for the election results.  After his victory in the November 2 election, Truman returned to Washington DC on the "Victory Special" via MP and B&O, on November 4-5.  

Steve Salamon
Valley City, Ohio

 



Edited 7 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/23 11:59 by cr7998.

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Excellent photos and history lesson! I've been in that station a handful of times to explore----quite an errie place....

Historic treasures.
Bob

Thanks for the photos. I actually was in the station once in the 1950s when we took our aunt there to begin her trip to NYC. I recall the trip was on the Commodore.
Apparently there is a move afoot to restore the station. I believe it is of mostly concrete construction, so that might make it more feasable (and less costly) than other types of construction. 

Gary Union Station today:
 

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Harry liked whistle stop trains

Thanks for posting the fine photo!

cr7998 Wrote:
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That post started a most informative
> thread about the history of the station, including
> a link to the 1951 movie Appointment with Danger
> that had a segment filmed there featuring the
> passage of a NYC freight train, with one of the
> characters clinging to the side of a Pacemaker
> boxcar. 

Not to mention several good scenes filmed there in this gem of a blaxploitation-type movie, complete with passing trains:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117260/

JG
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/23 10:14 by jgilmore.