La Porte and Valparaiso were connected by a stagecoach line from the 1840’s to 1870.
Westville’s William S. Parkinson was the line’s last owner.
The fare to Valparaiso was $1.25; La Porte to Westville cost 75 cents.
The coach carried nine people crowded inside, and ten outside on top.
The trip from La Porte to Westville took about 2 hours.



http://www.dunelady.com/laporte/histories/Stage_Coach.htm

Some days if you get stuck behind the right person on highway 2, I swear it feels like two hours from LP to Westville!

That's so wild you posted this. I was JUST reading about it yesterday.

Speaking of which, something else I was reading has sparked a question I'm having trouble finding the answer to....

Does anyone know where Seller's Four Corners was in LP Co?
Also, where was Indian Point?

I've also once heard that there was a Union Civil War Camp at some place called "Satan's Hallow".

I believe that is in Kingsbury, but I could be wrong.....

Indeed, especially with all that road construction currently going on 421. Its even worse when an accident happens. A bit of a trivia: They actually had a stagecoach running between Chicago and Laporte.....which took around six hours.

Along the same lines. . . . at one time there was an electric trolley service, similar to the South Shore Railroad cars, that connected (among other stops) Michigan City, LaPorte, Waterford, Rolling Prairie, New Carlisle, and South Bend. The service went as far as South Bend, Elkhart, Goshen, Benton Harbor, Niles, Buchanan, and Berrien Springs. The company was eventually named the Northern Indiana Railway, Inc. The cars travelled at approximately 11 mph and rides, at one time, were priced at 5-cents each. There was service on the Michigan City line, in both directions at about two-hour intervals. The service began in South Bend in April of 1886 and consisted of a small, black and white horse drawn carriage. After an interesting early history, the electric trolley car service followed. At one time the company was named the LaPorte and Michigan City Traction Company and, in 1904, constructed a line between LaPorte, Michigan City, and South Bend. From then until the mid 1930’s, the company had acquired new owners and occasionally fell on hard times. It appears that service was discontinued in June 1, 1934. Over the years, I’ve heard (unsubstantiated) rumors that there are still railroad tracks from this line embedded underneath Franklin Street.

If I'm not mistaken, the Heston steam trains travel faster than that.

http://www.hesston.org/

.....and likewise with the Hoosier Valley train that I might see this weekend.

http://www.hoosiervalley.org/

All the above are rockets, compared to the old electric trolley. But maybe not the stage coach. That was only four horsepower.

Only problem.....is they sure don't sound or even look like steam trains:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L-A4YwbZqQ

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Perhaps there are folks out there who can remember when the coal tower by the tracks on Highway 12 (just east of where Josam was and Pioneer Lumber now is) was functional. It’s still there; I’ve seen large black birds, either vultures or buzzards roosting in it. You could see and hear the steam locomotive coming a long ways off. It would stop under the tower to take on coal and water. Quite impressive. And, then at the north end of Franklin Street, there was the roundhouse where the engines would turn around on the turntable so they could head in the opposite direction.

I once rented out the: 'America's Railroads: The Steam Train Legacy 3-Pack' from the MC library. Highly recommend watching this fascinating RR history.



So did that coal tower on 12 service this train when it departed MC back in 09:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY_h5asQ_ZU

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Oh my......IT DID !

Looks familiar.....and sometin you don't see everyday:

http://bit.ly/QXrsLi

MORE: http://bit.ly/TKOOWC