Salem Trailhead Boxcar Restoration Project
Radius Indiana received a $25,000 matching grant to restore an original L&N 40 boxcar as part of the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority’s (IHCDA) CreatINg Places program. Over 90 donors contributed $25,000 for the boxcar through the Patronicity online crowd-funding platform, which enabled the project to receive the grant funds that will be used for the restoration of the new Salem Monon South trailhead landmark.
Radius will repurpose the boxcar for the community’s use at the Salem trailhead on the Monon South Trail and restore it to its original appearance. The downtown Salem trailhead will be located just two blocks from the Salem Courthouse Square and will provide a welcoming location for both local residents and trail visitors to enjoy downtown Salem’s attractions.
“This boxcar will become a local landmark for trail users as they visit Salem in the coming years,” said Jeff Quyle, president and CEO of Radius Indiana. “We look forward to providing this unique, attractive memorial to mark the importance of the railroad in Salem history.”
The next step in the rehabilitation of the L&N 40 boxcar at our Salem trailhead site will be sandblasting of the boxcar. It will be occuring during June 2024 to remove the dirt, rust, old paint,and other elements from the exterior of the boxcar. Because the sandblasting exposes the bare steel of the boxcar's structure to Indiana's typically humid environment, it is important to schedule sandblasting at a time of relatively low humidity, which prevents new corrosion from quickly forming on the exposed steel Shortly after a portion of the boxcar is sandblasted, a contractor will apply primer to the metal to seal the metal and prevent erosion.
The icon of the Salem Trailhead will begin to put on its new set of clothes!
We want to thank the many partners who contributed to this project and made it possible - the Washington County Community Foundation, Washington County Tourism, Cook Group, IHCDA's CreatINg Places program, Patronicity, the Knobstone Trail Hiking Association, dozens of individual donors, and more.
For updates on the boxcar restoration and the Monon South Trail Project, please visit www.mononsouth.com and follow Monon South Trail on Facebook.
Renovations are expected to be completed in 2024 and more information about a ribbon-cutting ceremony will be available in the future.
