I was driving by the old Missouri Pacific depot in my town, Otterville, MO along the old Sedalia sub (now busy UP main) and I thought this would make a good discussion. Tell us what old depots are being used for in your town–or better yet take a pic and show us.
Below is ours. It is now owned by a grain elevator and ag supply dealer and has been converted into a mechanic shop and catch-all storage. It was moved about 100 feet from the tracks and turned 90 degrees years ago. At least it still looks like a depot.
The old depot in Lombard was replaced by a new depot–and it’s being used as <gasp!> a depot!.
Now, if you go to Grand Haven, Michigan, the town I grew up in, there were two railroads and three depots. The 1870 GTW depot was converted to a crew layover facility after passenger service ended (freight agent and track department were still housed there). When the City bought the property and built a waterfront stadium, the tracks were taken up for a few hundred feet and a new building built for crew layover and agency. When the GTW pulled out of town completely, this newer building became some sort of commercial office. The original, over 135 years old, is now a historical museum. Besides these depots, a concrete coal dock is still standing, and a caboose is on display near the coal dock.
The 1930 Pere Marquette (later C&O) depot housed an agent until the end of passenger service in 1971, and the track department for some years after that. It lay derelict for a while, then was purchased by a high-school classmate of mine–it now houses his dental office and a couple of other similar ventures. A few trains still pass by it, but the platform has been taken up. The PM is also represented in Grand Haven by a caboose, box car, and Berkshire 1223, all near the old GTW coal dock.
I couldn’t be sure about this, but rumor has it that part of the house on the farm where I grew up was office and housing for the agent at what was once a named station on the CMStP&P logging branch that ran through the land that we now own.
The classic MILW depot in Merrill, WI on the Valley Line (now CN) was converted into a parking lot a few years ago.
a lot of the small town depots around my area are gone. the depot here in Ladd, IL…i believe of which was former milwaukee, was torn down a year ago to make way for a pole building to be used by a construction company. it stood unused for years and plans were to move it and turn it into a museum of sorts for the town but that never worked out. the guy who bought the property where it sat couldn’t wait any longer to use it.
the closest standing depot is in LaSalle-Peru, IL. it is a former rock island depot and is in business now as a small lawnmower repair/dealership. i haven’t been in it, but it looks good yet and hasn’t been modified much. the “Rock Island” name tag and “LaSalle-Peru” is still on it and the really tall 3 light signal is still standing (dunno what that was used for).
to ramble on some more…also nearby in Princeton, IL there’s an old CB&Q depot. there are 6 amtrak trains that stop there daily (3 each way). over the past few years there’s been close to a million dollars or better spent on renovating it. all new station platforms, all new windows and other assorted fix-ups and it’s lookin good. last i read, there’s something like 10-15,000 people who pass through there a year.
when i get around to learning how to, i’ll put some pictures up.
As in so many towns, the depot where I grew up is now a parking lot, too… Elsewhere (close to home) the old Milwaukee Road depot in Green Bay is (not inappropriately) the Chamber of Commerce office and the C&NW depot is now a brewpub/restaurant (both the food & train watching are highly recommeded-try their beer cheese soup!). Alas, we lost the GB&W depot to arson some years ago.
The Milwaukee Road depot in Madison, WI, housed a restaurant for some years but now appears to be a bicycle store.
The Milwaukee Road depot in Brookfiled WI is still in great shape. I’m not sure what is used for though. I’ve seen MOW trucks parked there over the years, but I’m not sure if CP still uses it or not. I’ve been to that brewery in the old CNW station in Gren Bay, and the food, train watching, beer are all good.
Hummm…
They tore down the SP Grand central, build a new main Post Office on top of it…then tore down the Katy’s lovely building, now Houston Community College Downtown sits there.
Union Station became part of Enron Field, now Minutemaid Park.
Building still stands, but you can’t tell it was ever the depot for 5 class 1s, an electric interurban, and a city trolley system.
Ed
The once Pere Marquette depot in my old hometown in Michigan still stands. It think it’s a contractor in it now.
The depots in my area now run the gamut from parking lots to parks to restaurants. Once is the anchor (and offices) for a window company. One is a microbrewery, another was just renovated and expanded to a restaurant (it was a tiny depot). One got moved years ago, many miles from its original location and is now - a museum about a railroad attraction (Rail City). Another small depot was the headquarters for a local rail historical group, but is currently empty, and possibly for sale. There’s one that’s a lumber yard, another is part of a farm supply store complex. A few miles north of me, a couple of nice brick stations (one pax, one frt) are still in the hands of the railroad, albeit for MoW and the like.
During the early 1980s the Union Pacific abandoned the Northern portion of the Blackfoot, Idaho - Makay, ID branch. Shortly thereafter both the Arco, ID and Mackay, ID stations were moved 90 miles to Blackfoot.
At the present time I am helping a lady who recently bought the Arco station, to find out all we can about the historfy of the building. She is thinking about opening a restaurant ing her station.
The local librarys, newspapers and historical societies have little or no information about the stations or the branch. When the snow drifts around here get down to a reasonable size, I intend to see if I can find some oldtimers with information.
Anybody have suggestions as to where to look for information in addition to the UPRR historical society and the UP Museum?
Although our address is officially Cedar Rapids, my wife and I are quite fond of Marion, IA, having lived there for many years. In Marion, the former Milwaukee Road depot has long since been torn down, but they did save the roof and use it for the town square park’s pavilion. I tried searching for a picture, but none seem to be available here in cyberspace, so I’ll have to get out and get a shot and add it later.
I’ve been curious about why this depot was the only one on the racetrack located on the north/outbound side of the tracks, and I think I’ve finally found an answer, thanks to a book on how railroads affected the development of the Chicago area. Rather than being a commuter or passenger stop, the depot was used as a milk stop and was located for easier access to the existing plank road. Farmers would bring fresh milk to the depot which would be sent on to Chicago. They would also pick up supplies sent from Chicago. Passenger traffic was minimal until much later and the passenger waiting area of this depot is extremely small.
For Chicago area people, the book is “Chicagoland - City and Suburbs in the Railroad Age” by Ann Keating. The author is a history professor at North Central College in Naperville and the book is the basis for the local PBS series. One section of the book describes the tours and historical places used in that series and includes driving directions.
The former UP depot in Brigham City is still in its original location between two tracks. It is currently a museum and meeting place for the Golden Spike Historical Society. It is planned to become the northern terminal of the newly annouced UTA FrontRunner commuter rail service – but that is at least 10 years away.
The old depot in my area of southwestern Pennsylvania on the old B&O branch…was a small wooden building and later moved about 10 miles for another use…along a railroad, but then moved back within a mile of where it was originally and completely rebuilt. It is now on Lions Club property in Stoystown and is serving as a railroad historic spot, etc…Very nicely rebuilt, looks like it did when new, or better. Will have period pieces of rail related items inside. Now a historic spot. Depot served on {still in place}, S&C of B&O coal hauler…and until the early thirty’s, passenger trains…several a day…and this was just a 45 mile branch.
Check depot photo on link below:
We have 2 here in Streator the old CB&Q is a recycling company but still looks like a depot. The A.T.S.F depot is still were it was built now used by the MOW employees and layover crews until the late 90’s also sevred the Southwest Chief.
DeKalb, IL CNW depot luckly still here. Used currently as a MOW base. As part of the grand east Lincoln Hwy revitalization project a new MOW base for UP will be built somewhere in the city, I would guess probably somewhere along the Troy Grove Branch nestled in with the new distro centers.
Once the city purchases the depot and move the MOW base the plan is to use a portion of it as some sort of museum, the rest as a transportation center with bus (local and Greyhound) and cabs. Lastly once Metra does decide to grace DeKalb with a stop it will be incorporated within the transportation center. Some of the old buildings (houses and a grain silo) around the depot have been torn down so we have should have room for the required number of parking spots.
Well in LA Union Station is still a station, in fact its a major transit hub, with Jamtrak, commuter trains, light rail, subway, and bus lines all converging there. Its quite a hopping place now compared to 10 years ago, wi***hey would go the next step and reopen the Harvey House restauraunt and find a good use for the old ticket wing, both are still vacant.
In Pasadena where I live, the old SF depot on Raymond was moved to make way for a big … no, huge apartment/condo complex built over the whole block, but the move was only temporary as they have moved it back and restored it as the centerpiece of the complex and now its back next to the Gold Line Metrorail trolley station which operates along the old SF ROW to downtown
Sedalia, MO–just 10 miles from me–is home to the beautiful old brick Katy Depot (MKT). This one has been restored and houses the Sedalia Chamber of Commerce, a museum, and a model railroad club with a permanent display layout. Here is a link with pics of the original depot and restored condition.
