Thursday, May 7, 2009

Dave's Depots - Carbondale, Illinois




Today's installment takes us to Carbondale, Illinois. Carbondale, better known to some as being the home of Southern Illinois University, hasn't been the same since Nick Kallas graduated and left town. Carbondale is also located on the old Illinois Central's "main stem." Back in the day, Carbondale saw a lot of passenger and freight activity. Today, the town sees Amtrak in the form of a Chicago-Carbondale "Illinois Service" trains, and a healthy amount of freight from the Canadian National.

The depot is located in the heart of downtown. It is of brick construction, and of a good size. The depot is currently used by a local community development agency for office space. Amtrak passengers have to use the "Amshack" down the street. On display in front of the depot is an IC "Paducah Rebuild" Geep, and a caboose.

Local citizens also erected a statue honoring Carbondale's railroad past. Also of interest, is the war memorial plaque the IC placed on the depot.

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