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passenger depot

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  • Member since
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passenger depot
Posted by Cotton Belt MP104 on Tuesday, December 24, 2013 5:26 PM

Does anyone know if there was a practice of putting a time capsule in the floor of older waiting rooms when first constructed? Our local depot has been demolished. Sad. However the floor in all it's beauty of colorful tile is still there. Those who don't know the history are in awe, and ask, what is this?!  Of interest in one corner of this floor is a rectangular white tile appx 3x4 feet.  No where else does this appear.  It makes me wonder if it might be a time capsule.  

Tags: Passenger
The ONE the ONLY/ Paragould, Arkansas/ Est. 1883 / formerly called The Crossing/ a portmanteau/ JW Paramore (Cotton Belt RR) Jay Gould (MoPac)/crossed at our town/ None other, NOWHERE in the world
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  • From: South Dakota
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Posted by Dakguy201 on Wednesday, December 25, 2013 7:02 AM

I'd not heard of the practice of putting time capsules in private buildings, but I suppose it is possible.  Perhaps your local library has newspaper files from the time of the building's construction/dedication that could be consulted.  Offhand, I'd think that including a time capsule without some kind of permanent marker designated the location as such would be unlikely.

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Posted by schlimm on Wednesday, December 25, 2013 9:58 AM

Typically time capsules were placed in the cornerstone of buildings, both private and government, but mostly pre-1940.  Placing it in the floor sounds like an interesting variant.   Will they remove the white plaque and open?

C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan

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Posted by Cotton Belt MP104 on Wednesday, December 25, 2013 11:03 AM

After consulting the UPRR folks, and if they are not concerned.....local historians might take a sledge and accidentally drop it in a certain spot..... by the way ..... the depot floor corner is only a few feet away from a public sidewalk .... and there is absolutely no real estate standing which "our accident" would devalue any of the property ..... I wish when they were installing a 40 mph switch (it was laid out and constructed on this old depot slab) ..... I could have talked the backhoe operator into accidentally dropping his bucket on the spot ..... that would have been handy

Tags: Passenger
The ONE the ONLY/ Paragould, Arkansas/ Est. 1883 / formerly called The Crossing/ a portmanteau/ JW Paramore (Cotton Belt RR) Jay Gould (MoPac)/crossed at our town/ None other, NOWHERE in the world
  • Member since
    July 2006
  • 9,610 posts
Posted by schlimm on Wednesday, December 25, 2013 4:02 PM

Given it is a tile, it may well be thinner than you think.

C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan

  • Member since
    December 2012
  • 310 posts
Posted by Cotton Belt MP104 on Friday, April 22, 2016 12:34 AM
mystery solved, maybe: recent construction in the area caused utility line searches.....guess what, a water line goes directly to that :"vault" ..... guess it was a utility/water junction box endmrw0422160034
The ONE the ONLY/ Paragould, Arkansas/ Est. 1883 / formerly called The Crossing/ a portmanteau/ JW Paramore (Cotton Belt RR) Jay Gould (MoPac)/crossed at our town/ None other, NOWHERE in the world

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