What is that old depot in your town used for today?

[wpsteve]

I just happen to be writing a history of the Depots on the Old Western Pacific Railroad. Below is from the proposed text.

Today little information is readily available about these Depots and Stations. Only nine are know to exist today. Three are private residences, Sunol- Irvington and Pleasant Grove. Two are restaurants, Oroville-Sacramento. One is office spaces, Oakland. One is a women’s shelter, Marysville and Stockton is fighting the elements to just survive, slowly sinking into the ground. The Greenville depot resides in the town park waiting for a determination of its future use.

[rrgrassi]

In Greenville, TX It still has it's MKT markings, and is now used as a railroad musuem and train store. It does have a state Historical marker. Now if only there was some way to get some stat funding to restore the building. It still has most of it's Western Union telegraph equipment.

[Anonymous]

The Durango Silverton Railroad ticket office and museum. Come ride a
narrow gauge steam train thru the rocky mountains.
Tomas in Durango

[Anonymous]

Here in tropical Fargo, ND...

NP - now the offices of the Fargo Park District and also houses a seniors activity center

GN - a beautiful building that has housed an assortment of failed resturants all using the moniker "GREAT NORTHERN...(insert: bar, resturant, grill, brewery)"

right beside the palatial GN depot is the amtrak depot, erected in the traditional flat-roofed waiting room style architecture.
I always wished Amtrak would buy the GN depot and use the building as intended, but the amount of traffic that originates in Fargo...they would only need one small corner.

[warhammerdriver]

It's used as a day house for the local adult developmentally challenged organization. They came to the local planning board for approval and wanted to wall off the platform. They received a resounding "NO! THOU SHALL NOT!"

The D&H freight house in Whitehall, NY (plans were in MR a few years back) is now a snowmobile/4 wheeler dealer.

[myred02]

My depot here in Hopkinsville is used as a meeting place for the Pennyrile Arts Council (Pennyrile being the region of Kentucky that my town is located in), as well as being a popular train watching hotspot. [8D]

[Anonymous]

It is defunct. It used to house a dental clinic from the late '70's to the early '90's. Although, I just recently read that they are planning a $750,000 renovation to it for future passenger rail service.

[Anonymous]

There are quite a few around my area, and 5 in my town alone. The ones that weren't burned down by vandals are either real estate offices or restaurants. One was luckily saved and is now the Chelten Hills Model RR Club. All are former Reading RR stations. I'll get pics posted soon.

[Anonymous]

the milwaukee depot and notheren pacific depot are today used as a news station and the other is used as a concert and bar area.although there still are train tracks running by the np depot,they are used as a dillapidated freight yard tracks for the few ore trains that still run to the local mine.

[frisco1519]

We have two still here in Enid Oklahoma. The old Frisco depot was destroyed years ago along with the roundhouse and most of the yard. The Rock Island depot is still standing but in very poor condition. Several attempts have been made to convert it into a business but all have been abandoned. The Santa Fe Depot was refurbished with a Federal grant and is the Senior Citizens center here. Next door is the Sante Fe freight depot which houses the railroad Museum of Oklahoma. If you ever have a chance to come by this museum please stop by to visit. You will not be disappointed. Here is the website for the museum, http://www.railroadmuseumofoklahoma.org/

[fiatfan]

QUOTE: Originally posted by frisco1519

We have two still here in Enid Oklahoma. The old Frisco depot was destroyed years ago along with the roundhouse and most of the yard. The Rock Island depot is still standing but in very poor condition. Several attempts have been made to convert it into a business but all have been abandoned. The Santa Fe Depot was refurbished with a Federal grant and is the Senior Citizens center here. Next door is the Sante Fe freight depot which houses the railroad Museum of Oklahoma. If you ever have a chance to come by this museum please stop by to visit. You will not be disappointed. Here is the website for the museum, http://www.railroadmuseumofoklahoma.org/

I was there in '97. Well worth the trip. Lots of RR meorabilia inside and a fair collection of equipment outside.

Tom

[Anonymous]

Spring Hope, NC depot (one waterstop east from Raleigh NC), is now a public library.

Black Creek NC, same line, next waterstop, approximately, is also a public library.

Depot at Everetts, NC, same line, 5 miles west of Williamston, NC, has collapsed.


Station Square, Pittsburgh Pa, south shore of Monangehela river, holds lotsa' fun in
store...

[tomikawaTT]

In Nashville, another ex - hometown of mine, the old Union Station is now the Union Station Hotel. The old train shed was the subject of a save - or - scrap debate until it burned down a couple of years ago.

This is a case where the building, and the mainline tracks, are still present, in use and in good repair, but the ground that used to be passenger platforms and tracks is now a parking lot.

[tatans]

Please tell me what is happening to the Texas and Pacific station (terminal-office) in Fort Worth, the last time I peeked in the windows of this magnificant structure it was just gathering dust---but it was still there. One of the few existing art-deco sites left (Ithink it's the finest in the U.S.)

[railroadyoshi]

No wonder I can't find it! It's a dirt lot!

I have no idea when the station was demolished/burnt down, etc.

It is now a dirt lot used as overflow commuter parking for the new(er) commuter station on the other side of the MA-27 Overpass.

Here is the old depot:
http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?200103121526166110.jpg:bysearch:South+Acton:SEARCHTYPE=SIMPLE&PAGE=4&SEARCHSTRING=South+Acton&BOOL=ALL

And here is the new(er) station (Although the area is much more built up now):

http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?2003071721365911642.jpg:bysearch:South+Acton:SEARCHTYPE=SIMPLE&PAGE=3&SEARCHSTRING=South+Acton&BOOL=ALL

[jim h]

The old c&o train station in Peru Indiana has been completely renovated and is now being used as a theater for play productions by our civic theater group. The inside is much the same as it was many years ago with the exception of the one end. There they have added a stage.
Sorry but I have no pictures at this time

[e-mail]

[n2mopac]

Thanks, everyone, for your input into this discussion. I had no idea when I started it that I would get this much response (not to mention the posts on the same topic on the Trains forum). I have really enjoyed reading and seeing your depot stories/pics.

Thanks,
Ron

[pcarrell]

What is that old depot in your town used for today? A field.

Matter of fact, the original town isn't even there any more. I live in one of the last three houses from that town. All three are due to be turned into a community center (i.e. demolished) next fall for the town that took over the area.

[robert sylvester]

I have two depot's to mention. First where I lived for twenty years before moving back to Tennessee. There is a cross roads in Fairfax, South Carolina. Hwy 278 from Augusta, GA to Charleston, SC, and 301 from Maine to Florida. Running parallel is CSX, and it is Fairfax, SC that the North-South crosses East-West, or visa versa. There are 24 trains a day that hit that diamond, and it is where the old Seaboard Coast Line, Atlantic Coast Line, Southern, and the like stopped during the Hey Day. There are still some old timers that ramember the famous East coast trains that use to travel through. My house was right next to the tracks near the depot, and day and night I heard, breathed, smelled trains, it was great. The depot was the police station, now it has been refurbished and it the towns senior center and gathering place. The trains still pass by, 22 frieght and 2 Amtraks, and all kinds of engines from Rio Grande to Milwaukee Road, CSX, to Union Pacifics.
In Jackson, Tennessee, where I live now, the old depot, which was I believe IC& G is now a museum. It is opened weekly 10 A.M. to 5 P.m., Saturdays too. Many picutures throughout and an HO model railroad layout depicting Jackson.
By the way Jackson at one time was the home of five railroad owners in the 1920's through the 1950's. All of their homes are still standing and of course they are all magnificent.
WTRR
General Offices

[n2mopac]

I loved this thread when it was going strong, so I thought I would "re-up" it to see if we could get some more great depot stories and photos.

Ron

[Dave Vollmer]

In Apex, NC it's now the Chamber of Commerce.  The tracks are still there and still busy.  Was SAL, then SCL, then CSXT.  The old Durham and Southern (now NS) connected in APEX as well.

Wasn't into southern railroading before, but it has a very unique and appealing charm.  Were I not so deep into northeastern railroading, I might be tempted to model something like the Clinchfield, SAL, or even modern-day CSX.

[Anonymous]

my towns old train depot is now a home to a model railroading club. they have a ho,o,and n guage train sets the largest is the oh. i live pretty close to it.they also have a pennselviana caboose on display since 1954.

[Ibflattop]

My hometown Ft.Wayne Indiana.

 The PRR station is still standing. An Archetect firm bought it and revamped the east end into their offices. The Main concourse is still open. Meetings are held in there. The stairs to the passenger platforms are walled off with sheet rock.  The west end of the station is used by a chuch and they hold concerts there on Monday nights.

 The Wabash station was to the SE of the PRR station. The only remains of the station are steps that lead up to the passenger plaform. When my son and I were there the last time we saw a Goundhog running up the Stairs.( Last Spring)

 The NYC depot is still standing and is being used as a fabric shop.

The only thing left of the NKP passenger Depot is the Stairs and baggage elevator to the passenger eleavation.  Not a good thing to go around here cause of the NS police.      Kevin

[whywaites]

Thankfully mine is still used for trains albeit a modern bus shelter style, the other station nearby still retains it's Victorian elegance as a station.

Shaun

[fec153]

Here in Eustis, Fla. , the freight depot is now a paint warehouse with 3 boxcars connected to the building as added storage space. They bring in supplies on the still existing spur.

The passenger depot is now a Bank of America branch .                                                                                                                                                                                     Mt. Doras depot is now the chamber of commerce . Still has the semiphore.

Tavares depot is now a fire station.

Flip

 

 

[Metro Red Line]

Well, being thatI live in a city and not a town...
Los Angeles was once served by ATSF, UP and SP passenger operations. Back in the day there was one station for each railroad, all of which have since been demolished. there were all supplanted in 1939 by the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal, otherwise known as Union Station. It has been regarded as "The Last of the Great Railroad Stations."

Union Station is still in operation today and is almost as bustling as it was in its heyday. Since the arrival of the jet age, actuvuty at the station was very low (pigeons literally outnumbered passengers) but it experienced a rail rennaisance in the early 1990s when our Metrolink commuter rail system began and our subway (my userid's namesake :)) was opened. To top it off, the old San Diegans train to San Diego was expanded and re-named the Pacific Surfliner, which is the most popular Amtrak route outside the NEC.
Just a few years ago a light rail line (Metro Gold Line) served the station as well and commuter service was gradually expanded over the years from three lines to eight.

The property around the station has been developed as well. There is a popular restaurant and bar located in the station (appropriately named TRAX) and the old ticket hall has been converted into a multipurpose venue for receptions, concerts and even movie shoots (hey, it's Hollywood after all).
The local transit authority has locsted their headquarters and a major bus plaza behind the station, and the adjoining lots next to the station serve as space for an office building and condominums.
 
The future's still bright for the station; the light rail line is being extended and the tracks span over the Hollywood Freeway next to the station. There are also plans in place to change the current stub-end alignment of the tracks to a thru-tracks arrangement with a similar railroad bridge over the freeway. The stub-end alignment slows Amtrak and Metrolink trains down as it forces trains to maneuver through a bunch of wyes and crossover tracks from the mainline to the station itself.

[BRAKIE]

Thankfully the old T&OC station here in Bucyrus,Ohio is being refurbish.

 

 

Also the old "milk " station that was on Plymouth Street was moved to the T&OC station area and refurbish. 

 

 

[BillyDee53]

I live in Fort Myers Florida.  Ft Myers was once served by both the Atlantic Coast Line and the Seaboard Air Line railroads.  The ACL had 3 depots; SAL had one.  The first ACL depot was in a store.  The railroad leased the upstairs living quarters for the agent who sold tickets from a desk in the store.  This building is a restaurant today.  The second ACL depot was a combination passenger and freight depot.  It was located on a pier in the river.  The passenger depot was moved to a new building around 1925; the building continued to serve as a freight station until it was torn down a week before President Kennedy was assasinated.  The last ACL passenger depot is now the town museum; the freight station is used by a truck dealer.

The Seaboard Air Line had a passenger depot and a freight station.  The passenger depot is now a hardware store, and the freight station is used by a store-fixture dealer.

[weinschenksk]

In Wickenburg, AZ , the old Santa Fe has been restored to its orginal outside appearance and is now used as the Chamber of Commerce.......also at the site is an old steam engine and a wooden caboose....

Sam

 

[wgnrr]

I have lived in two towns since I was born. Pardeeville, WI, and Oxford, WI (my current home)

Pardeeville's Milwaukee Road depot is still existing, 2 miles out of town, as a house in a subdivision.

Oxford's Chicago & North Western, a standard #2 style, depot is still used by the Union Pacific as a M-O-W office. Aparently, all of the offices are being moved to Adams (similar to the CP's switch of M-O-W stations to Tomah, in which the Sparta depot, and the New Lisbon depot were torn down), and the depot has been offered to the city of Oxford. Here is is...

 

Phil