EJ&E/DMIR SDM duo chase with Missabe P5 horn

As its first duty following nearly 2 years of work, EJ&E 818 leads EJ&E 814 on a series of Santa Train excursions for the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum of North Judson, Indiana. In this video, we see the day’s first excursion on its way back to the museum grounds after shoving their train roughly 5 miles west to English Lake, Indiana where the chase begins. 814 was serving as backup power in case the 818 suffered any issues, but otherwise wasn’t providing any sort of assistance in powering the train throughout the day.

EJ&E 818 and 814 were both built as EMD SD9s for the DM&IR before getting rebuilt into SD9M/SDM’s. Once being placed under the EJ&E banner, they were renumbered from 318 and 314 to 818 and 814 since the J already had switch engines with those numbers. The two would survive through the CN takeover and see service on the Chesapeake & Indiana shortline that owns this section of former C&O mainline seen in this video.

This video was filmed 11/30/24 at various locations in Starke County, Indiana between English Lake and North Judson. Come by for a visit and a chance to ride behind this historic power!