Antique & Vintage Postcards

Car 298 thunders out of a stone-cut underpass on the Indianapolis interurban network — one of the fastest electric railways in early 20th-century America, boasting a top speed of 70 miles per hour that astonished travelers who had grown up with horse-drawn streetcars. The hand-colored image captures the deep mahogany livery of the "Indiana Limited," its clerestory roof and arched saloon windows gleaming, while a figure in white — likely a conductor — stands at the open front platform ready for the next stop. The card was posted from Eaton, Ohio, addressed to Blanch in Nora, Indiana, with a brief message from "Char" that hints at plans to go to Eaton on the 13th. Published by the Majestic Publishing Company of Indianapolis, this is a vivid artifact of the golden age of interurban travel that connected Indiana's towns before the automobile erased them.