Along the tracks

A number of things intrigued me recently as I traveled parallel to the railroad tracks. Do you know where the Rex Blacker village is and how many homes it contains? I had not noticed the sign before.

The Rex Blacker Village is very small. Do you know where it is? If anyone can give us the back story on this, I would like to hear it. Rex Blacker died in 2009. He owned the Rensselaer NAPA auto parts store.

The trailer that was serving as the office at the elevator is gone now that the new office/weight station has been completed.

There was a dumpster by the storage lockers on Vine. I wonder if a locker was abandoned. If it was, there could have been an auction--Storage Wars Indiana. (Some evenings the most interesting thing on the cable is a re-run of an episode of Storage Wars. So many channels, so little worth watching.)

There are for sale signs on the property at Walnut and Scott. I think Talbert has used this lot in the past. However, most of what is along Walnut is a mystery to me.

Also a mystery is the business in the large building north of the tracks on Melville. It seems to be a machine shop of some sort. I was intrigued by a Fed Ex truck either making a delivery or picking up a load.

Finally, I discovered a new business ready to open on Walnut Street, R&R Auto Repair. It it located just to the west of the city buildings near Walnut and Melville. It will be the third auto repair business in that area, joining Rich's Cycle Solutions and MG Repairs.

The owner gave me his business card, which has contact information.

Update: The Rex Blacker Village is the Habitat for Humanity area along the east end of Elm Street. Currently there is only one house there.