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

[rogerhensley]

The PRR Depot burned 20 or more years ago, but the NYC Depot is very much in use as a dance studio.

 

 

[stebbycentral]

My original hometown was Cedar Rapids, IA.  At one time it had a large downtown depot served by the C&NW.  Had is the operative word, as it was demolished in the 60's to make way for a downtown parking garage.

In the community where I live today, there are three surviving depots.  The ex MILW Road depot in Davenport, IA survives as a community and visitor's center.  The old CRI&P depot in Rock Island, IL underwent hard times until it was purchased by a private company, restored, and today is used as a banquet hall for weddings and catered events. 

      http://www.theabbeyhotel.com/Abbey_Station.html

The last surviving depot is the old Burlington Depot in Moline, IL.  It has served for years as a visitor's center, though it's days may now be numbered.  It sets perilously close to where the proposed new I-74 Mississippi River bridge will go.

My most unusual story comes from the community of Galesburg, IL, about 60 miles south of where I live.  It concerns the old Burlington RR depot which was torn down in the 1980's to make way for... a railroad depot.  Yep, Galesburg is a major AMTRAK stop, and they had the old depot dismantled in favor of a smaller structure which is reportedly based on the architecture of the first RR depot built in the community in the 1800's.  It' really a very nice station. 

        http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM12Y8

 

[cbq9911a]

The old depots on the nearest RR (UP - ex CNW - Northwest Line) are all gone in my area; replaced by new depots for the commuters.

The oldest depot in Chicagoland in Marengo Illinois was moved to the next town east, Union, and is the main depot at the Illinois Railway Museum; it sees heavier service than it ever did as a C&NW depot. 

[wjstix]

AFAIK neither town I lived in in Minnesota, Richfield and now Cottage Grove, ever had a railroad depot, although both have rail lines running thru or alongside them. I work in St.Paul MN, it sounds like the SPUD - the old St.Paul Union Depot - may be used again for rail service when/if the light rail line between Minneapolis and St.Paul gets built. It would have streetcar - light rail service on one side, and a connection to future heavy commuter rail down the Missisippi on the other side. (The depot is right on the river.) I believe it hasn't been used for rail service since 1971, has been used for offices, a restaurant, and storage for the US Post Office facility next door to it.

[Arjay1969]

There were actually two or three depots here in the Bryan/College Station area.  The town(s) and college were served by both the International & Great Northern (later absorbed into Missouri Pacific) and Houston & Texas Central (later Southern Pacific).  I believe both lines had depots adjacent to the Texas A&M campus, hence the name "College Station."  Bryan had at least one freight depot, and I'm pretty sure that there was originally a passenger station there as well.

 

Sadly, all of them are long gone.  The SP depot's location at A&M is now in the middle of a road, the MoPac depot's location there is now a parking lot.  Bryan's depots were torn down long ago, so the only one that I'm even certain of the original location of is the old MoPac freight depot.

 

There is a replica of the SP depot that was built as an art gallery, complete with a restored 1905 caboose.  You can see it at http://www.benjaminknox.com/arch_design.asp?pid=7.

[wm3798]

I've got more pictures I took at Elkins in my gallery...  Lots of other depots in there, too.  Sort of a hobby unto itself...

Lee 

[dmitzel]

My current home(town) hasn't had a depot in years - the joint GTW-NYC station was vandalized and burned down in the '70s, I believe.

http://www.michiganrailroads.com/RRHX/Stations/CountyStations/OaklandStations/OxfordMI.htm

The nearest active depot is in Lapeer, 15 miles north up the state highway. It has been restored to its original condition and is used for municipal events (meetings, etc.) and Amtrak's Bluewater (#364/365) stops there on its back-and-forth run to Chicago.

http://www.michiganrailroads.com/RRHX/Stations/CountyStations/LapeerStations/LapeerArea/LapeerMI-GTWStation.htm

The old NYC depot in town is still standing, but I believe it's vacant - previously used as a real estate office (not much business there anymore).

http://www.michiganrailroads.com/RRHX/Stations/CountyStations/LapeerStations/LapeerArea/LapeerMI-MCStation.htm 

Other than that, pretty much everything else in the area has been torn down. The old NYC Lake Orion depot site is now an Autozone location. However, a new tire dealer built their shop to look like a depot, just north of the original location. Kind of neat, even if it never was a real station.

[leighant]

Corpus Christi, Texas ex-San Antonio Uvalde & Gulf/ ex-Gulf Coast Lines (Missouri Pacific) now used as UP office

Corpus Christi, Texas Tex Mex tourist train depot of 1980s- tourist information center 2 miles from original site

Kingsville, Texas- community museum

Ingleside, Texas- was Chamber of Commerce visitor center 1 mile from original site, now used for storage

Rockport, Texas- was dance studio, offshore-marine electronics store, now vacant

Laredo, Texas TexMex (1880s) railroad offices? 

1986 photo

Alice, Texas TexMex vacant

Pleasanton Texas- community history museum

Brownsville, Texas- historical museum with 100 year old loco preserved indoors (but no photos allowed!)

Hebbronville Texas- unknown if still standing

[Norman]

Sadly, a gravel yard.  Evansville, IN's old L&N depot was demolished 25-30 years ago.  I spent the last dozen years working next door to the vacant lot, now used for overflow storage for a sand and gravel company.  As of this week, even the building I worked in is being torn down, destined to become an off-ramp.  I think this is what they call "progress".

[Jumijo]

My hometown's train station is still standing, as it is made of stone and brick. It was an auto parts store for quite a long time. But now it's a coffee house. The building is in great shape, having been kept up all along. The long platform and it's roof are still there as well. Part of the old B&M line between Boston and Haverhill and points north.

[Anonymous]

my station still stands.  The passenger part was burned down in the 70's but the freight still stands....AND NS uses it as a office

[CNE Runner]

The railroad depot in Guntersville, AL was in very bad shape some years ago. Age, disuse and neglect had certainly taken their toll on this historic structure. The depot has been completely restored and is home to a fairly large collection of railroad memorabilia from the station's days on the N.C.& St.L and the L&N. Guntersville had the longest car ferry in the world at one point - ferrying cars from Guntersville to Hobbs Island near Huntsville, AL. Today the station is still located on an active shortline owned by the CSX and leased to Omnitrax. Trains composed of grain, feed, fuel oil and scrap metal are carried daily.

The depot can be toured (by prior arrangement with the Guntersville Historical Society) and gives a visual contact with the Tennessee valley's history. Google: Lake Guntersville or Guntersville Depot for more information on our beautiful area of the South. I had planned to include a picture of the present depot...but can't figure out how to do that.

 

[yankee flyer]

 I looked at this whole thread and didn't find St. Louis. 

The St. Louis Mo. Union Station is a hotel and shopping center although the shopping part may be closed. The suburban Webster Groves station is home to a model railroad club.The kirkwood station hosts Amtrak. I don't have pictures but all three are kind of interesting maybe someone else from St. Louis could post pictures.

Happy Railroading. 

Lee

[Flashwave]

There's an Interurban station down the road from us in a neighboring town. Last plan was to use it as a community center with computers and a small library. It would also be a stop on the new wa;lking trail. But after being renovated, neither is happening.

[HarryHotspur]

It's not my town, but one of the nicest conversions I've seen is in Columbia, SC where the old station has been a succesful restaurant for the last 30 years or so. The picture below doesn't do it justice, but inside the grand high ceilings, arches, moldings, etc. have been preserved intact. Unfortunately, it has no railroad atmosphere. Pretty good restaurant, though.

 

[HCW]

I haven't live there for over forty years, but the depot in Canaan CT is being renovated.  It was abandoned and some kids started a fire in one half.

There are people who have managed to get money and help to restore it.

 Here it before the fire and renovation:

 file:///E:/Train%20Pictures/Shortcut%20to%20Canaan%20station.lnk

 Here it is during the renovation:

 file:///E:/Train%20Pictures/Canann%20station/Shortcut%20to%20new%202.lnk

[Flashwave]

Those links won;t work unless We're on your computer

[railroadnut675]

The Union Station in Downtown/Ybor is still used by Amtrack

The real deal station is in nearby Plant City, named for the rail baron H.B. Plant. At that station, even though it is (I think) no longer used, they have a big screen showing the tracks and when the next train will be by. Its so fascinating simply because of the number of CSX NS and Amtrack trains that go by every day  

[CRIP 4376]

My hometown depot is Pella, Iowa.  The track is gone and the depot is used as the Pella Window museum.  Walthers has released a model of this depot in HO and N.

[Johnnny_reb]

In the late 60's early 70's the local depot was being used by a junkman. Not one but the older people even knew it was a depot until about 1979 when the city was going to tear it down because the old fellow passed away. It had been added on to with lean-to's and other additions, it just looked like a shanty town building. But as the demo crew started to remove the add-on's and lean-to's the old depot begin to show her face once again. Someone seen what was underneath all of the junk and the depot was saved. It was sitting out at the county fair grounds the last time I seen her (about 20 years ago). I'll have to make a trip to check up on her.

[D&HRR]

  Our old depot is used as a bar, what a shame. It is tough to take the kids down there to watch trains because of all the idiots yelling profanity inside. I cant believe the local historians didn't attempt to stop this. I guess money talks.

[RedSkin]

Well the little town where I was born (Hobart, OK) had an old Rock Island Depot that went derelict for many years.  I guess a few years ago the Historical Society decided to fix the old Depot up and has made it into a rail/ local area museum.  I haven't had time to visit it yet but one of these days I'm going to.

 

Brad

[oldyardgoat]

The Union Station in Denver, CO is alive and well, and still used for Amtrak's Nos. 3 & 4.  It is also becoming the transportation center of the city.  I spent many a summer's day watching the trains there in the late 1950s.  Two years ago I walked through the great waiting room of the grand old ediface, out onto the platform, and rode out of town behind a steamed-powered passenger train (during the UPHS 2006 convention behind UP 844).  Am I one lucky cuss?!  You bet! 

Ardenastationmaster 

[teen steam fan]

In Elwood, the old depot is gone and the one in nearby Willmington is in an advanced state of disrepaire

[gentletaz]

The old depot here in Holland, MI has been here for many years. AFIK, it was originally built for the Pere Marquette RR, which was eventually absorbed into C & O. I remember as a kid, riding the C&O to Chicago on a school field trip, three cars drawn by what I believe was an E-8.

When Amtrak took over passenger rail, our rail passenger service disappeared and the C&O(later CSX) let the building deteriorate for many years, using the freighthouse portion for storage. Over the years, the city talked to CSX about buying the building, but the price was always too high. In the meantime, Amtrak came to town and erected a tiny "Amshack" for shelter for their "Pere Marquette" passengers. Finally, the city and CSX closed a deal on the building and the city refurbished it  and turned it into a transportation center, hosting a bus line (Indian Trails, I believe), the local "MAX" bus line, a cab company, and Amtrak. The building looks very nice now with the original platform shelter back in place and nice landscaping.

On one trip we made on Amtrak to San Antonio, TX, we boarded the Texas Eagle in Pontiac,IL. The station there is now privately owned, with a restaurant, tanning salon, and retail store. Amtrak has the use of a room at one end of the building and a parking area. The depot has been nicely refurbished and is at least being used and maintained. 

On another trip, we boarded the Southwest Chief in Princeton, IL, where a small group of volunteers has been working on the local depot which now looks quite nice. They also meet all the Amtrak trains to assist passengers. They saved the day for us because, for some reason, the train crew had not been notified that we were scheduled to board there. With the radio provided to the volunteers by Amtrak, they contacted the crew to confirm that we were there which was the first the crew knew of it! The Princeton depot has a new platform made of concrete stamped and colored to look like red brick. The depot itself needed more work, but they are making progress refurbishing the original woodwork.

[Bobster]

  My first train ride, in the mid 1960's, the Peoria Rocket to Chicago....The old Rock Island Station in Peoria, Illinois still stands.  It has been used as the River Station Restaraunt.  I read recently that there had been a fire but only minor damage.  The newer RI station on Morton street was closed and the only thing left of the facilities was a turntable.  Peoria seems to be using the old RI right of way for a riverfront park where Iowa Interstate has a single track along its edge. My hometown of Peoria Heights had no station but was served by RI freights daily to a Pabst brewery, now gone too.  Now there is a bitter rail/trail battle going on there.

  I visited Illinois in 2006 and noted the following: The next RI stop upline at Chillicothe, Illinois was a museum, even though on the forner Rock Island it had a Santa Fe Caboose.  I was there late in the day and it was closed.  I believe BNSF still uses the station in North Chillicothe for crews. The awing up the walkway to the waiting room was gone.  Rode coach on the Super Chief Chillicothe to Chicago with my family and the El Capitan back a couple days later. Probably 1967 or 68.   RI  Bureau  Junction station I think was still there,  The RI DePue Station was boarded up. Quite a ways up line the Utica, Illinois Rock Island station was very badly damaged by a tornado, several years ago. It was in sad shape when I saw it in 2006.   Rock Island's Ottawa Station was being used by CSX.  Rock Island's LaSalle-Peru Station looked like a hardware store.  The old Illinois Traction / Illinois Terminal in Peoria, was still part of the Peoria Police Station.

  My "new" town of Gastonia, NC has a microscopic brick Amtrack station.  There is an abandononed station inside a fence that the Southern Railway probably once used near the west edge of the downtown area.  It was probably made unuseable when the whole line was put into a trench on the north edge of of downtown Gastonia.  There is a tiny station used as a photo shop along the NS spur to South Gastonia. on Garrison Blvd.  I think this was originally Carolina and Western Track.  I believe the next SR station west,  Kings Mountain, NC is  pretty much intact and used for a senior center.   The next station east,  downtown, Belmont, NC was a museum but it went under.  The current owner (?) would like to base a dinner train there, maybe run it on the old Piedmont and Northern.  It is to early to tell but there was a New Haven dining car there two weeks ago.  More details as available.  I have heard that Cherryville, NC has a CSX station used by an HO scale group.

 OK I did a little more than my hometown station.  My apologies, but I enjoyed it.

Thanks,

Bob Lipka 

 

[Musepro]

The Marion Union Station is undergoing restoration. The main waiting/ticket area is a railroad museum.
One of the buildings is a meeting room where the association and model railroad club meet and is available
for rent to other groups. The old baggage building houses The Marion Model Railroad Club, a historic, 58 year
old HO scale model railroad club.

There are about 100 trains daily the pound the 8 diamonds that surround the station.

Visit www.marionmodelrailroadclub.org for more station, club and railfan info and pics!

[n2mopac]

Just got back from a vacation out west and have some new stations and roundhouse pics. First, 3 roundhouses. The first is the old D&RGW roundhouse in Durango, CO. 1/2 is still used as a roundhouse for the steam locos that pull the Durango & Silverton Narrow Guage Railroad excursions to Silverton and back. The other 1/2 is a museum. An employee told me that when they bought the property in 1989 only 2 walls of the roundhouse were left standing, but they have done a beautiful job of rebuilding it to match historical photos. Here is a pic of it, thought not a great one, with K-36 no 486 pulling in after a hard day's work.

Second is the old Cheyenne roundhouse in Cheyenne, WY. It too is still a roundhouse, home to UP's 2 in service steam locomotives, Challenger no. 3986 and Northern no. 844. They keep this place looking pristine as it is quite visible from the old depot and visitor center (pictured below in next post).

Finally, the old Midland Terminal Railroad roundhouse and shops in Colorado Springs, CO is today home to a pottery shop, though the building is for sale. This is a beautiful old stone roundhouse that served several railroads hauling timber, gold, and other ores out of the mountains in the late 19th and early 20th centurys.

Ron

[n2mopac]

Now for the depots. First, the old D&RGW depot in Durango, CO is now the depot and gift shop for the Durango & Silverton. It sits right across the tracks from the roundhouse, pictured above.

Next, the beautiful old stone Cheyenne, WY depot is home to a very nice restaraunt, gift shop, museum, and visitor center. It, too, sits right across the tracks from the old Cheyenne roundhouse above.

Finally, the old depot in Manhattan, KS has been renovated into the home of the local Chamber of Commerce.

I saw many other old depots out west, but was not able to get as many pics of them as I would have liked. For those of you, like me, who love this thread because you love old stations, I hope you enjoy these.

Ron

[Rotorranch]

The old depot in Jonesboro, GA is home for the local welcome center/historical society/Gone With the Wind museum.

Some of you may have seen this station before.

Rotor