Chicago & Alton Depots

[jlong]

[:)] Good morning folks! You all have been extremely helpful in the past and I'm back for more help. Does anyone out there know of a publication that provides information on the design and perhaps dimensions of the various depots/stations of the Chicago and Alton Railroad. Photos would also be helpful. I grew up in a town with an interesting C & A (later GM & O) depot and have since note its similarity to a couple of other C & A depots. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

[orsonroy]

The Alton and GM&O has been sadly neglected by the modeling/historical community. Your best bet is to start buying backissues of the GM&O historical society's magazine, and digging through them for photos and plans.
http://www.gmohs.org/Comisry.htm

There are a FEW photos on the Fallen Flags and Don Ross RR photo sites, but most buildings end up being in the background of photos of other things (engines, mostly):
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/gmo/gmo.html
http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/index1bg.htm

Your best bet is to hang out with other GM&O and Alton (and yes, even IC) fans. Online, it's pretty simple, with at least five targeted IC or GM&O Yahoo Groups. Once you've dug through the archives looking for answers or leads, start asking targeted questions. You'll be surprised at how much data is out there.

I'm in the same boat as you: I'm modeling Bloomington in 1950, and will need to scratchbuild the Alton's station/general HQ building, which was torn down ten years ago. Think anyone ever bothered to measure the thing or do a photographic survey? Nope...