I live in S.E. Pa. Roughly a hundred years ago there used to be several parks and picnic grounds that were owned by railroads and trolley companies. Some of the parks had rides and were miniature versions of what now know as amusement parks. They were built to boost pasenger ridership.
The Chicago, Aurora & Elgin was a significant part of Chicago's traction scene, with a well engineered line built at the turn of the century. It struck 30 miles west from the city's downtown "Loop" to Wheaton, IL, then fanned out to three lines to distant suburbs. It quit passenger service in 1957 and freight a few years later.
Near Chicago's lakefront in May 1979, IC Highliners and aging South Shore cars work their commuter routes. That MofW gang has a rather tight squeeze there.
I think they've all been retired. Hard for me to think that they were placed in service in the early 1970s. In my mind they're "new".
The Indiana Railroad was formed in 1930 by merging five interurban lines, creating a 600 mile system with Indianapolis at its center. The carrier made its last run in 1941. The IR had a splendid collection of varied cars, including freight equipment.
Notice, no ladders to the roof. I agree the Indian RR was a remarkable RR in many ways. Thanks for posting.... BTW, I just now got an N scale IRR high speed. Not camera ready yet but soon I hope. I'll post a pic in the n scale "interurbans are trains too" thread Randy