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

[Jack_S]

 The nearest one to my house is the Mission-style Santa Fe depot at Fullerton, CA.  It was restored a few years ago and is on the National Register of Historic Places.  It is used for its original function as a railroad depot.  On a weekday 54 to 56 passenger trains stop there.  Metrolink, Surfliners, and Amtrak.

 And all the freights that BNSF sends over its Transcon rumble past.  Except for the ones that hold at the station for clearance.  They sometimes pick up a couple of coffees at the station cafe while waiting.  If you time it right, you may also see a local freight complete with caboose.

Jack

[WSOR 3801]

 Here is the former CNW depot in Watertown, WI.  Now in use as a flower shop.

At least tracks still go by it, used by one train a day.

 

[Ulrich]

Still being used as a depot...

[spokyone]

Trailryder

I have been traveling all over Illinois, Iowa & Wisconsin to see the surviving railroad depots.
I have a little photo gallery with over 50 shots of Depots in there current state of repair, some have been restored to museums, some are nicely modernized into new businesses, and some sadly are in terrible shape and waiting for the wrecking ball to fini***hem.
I invite you to visit the site and see my collection.

http://www.pbase.com/trailryder/railroad_depots

The 2 depots that once graced the roads of my home town (Dixon Illinois) have been torn down to make way for modern progress, there is a city garage on the site of the Illinois central depot and on the site of the CNW depot on sits a gravel parking lot. Now that’s progress.

Later Bill

Thanks for including Aledo IL on your website. Our depot was purchased by a local business man when CB&Q pulled up their tracks. He used it for storage for many years. It is now refurbished and may be rented out for parties, showers & reunions. He did a great job. As an added touch, he purchased a switcher & a caboose. The caboose will be available for kids birthday parties. At present he also has a steam locomotive in pieces, waiting for a cosmetic restoration.

[tatans]

The huge depot in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan was refurbished into the largest liquor store in Canada and it's owned by the Government of Saskatchewan, aahhh - - socialism at it's finest eh?

[spokyone]

In 1975 this depot in Plains was used by their #1 citizen for campaign headquarters.

[Modelcar]

Yes....We've been in that building some years ago....Had an elderly townsmen tell us all about how the campaign started right there and watched a video inside too.....A quaint little town.  Stopped by his church too.   And....Got to say hello as Pres. Carter rode by on his bicycle near his home with a Secret Service SUV in tow.....

[Anonymous]

While it's certainly not my old depot (I never lived nearby), the old CNW depot in Dike, Iowa still stands on their former line from Belle Plaine.  It's terribly weather-worn, all boarded-up and used (as best I could tell by peeking in) to store somebody's household junk.  Even the guys who operate the grain elevator there didn't know who owned the structure when I snooped it out.  Its' doors are locked but through the cracks I could see an awful lot of what might've been in Grandma Gerdie's attic.  The old roadbed remains in that area, easily visible from Hwy. 20.