Last week I was out of town for several days visiting in-laws in central Illinois. But I had a chance to visit an historic depot in a nearby small town, which was actually quite interesting in several ways.
This depot was built in 1870 for a predecessor of the Pennsy, on its line from Terre Haute to St. Louis. Since then, they said, it has been moved three times and is now in the center of town.
The interior is stuffed with pictures, artifacts, and model trains.
Currently the active workforce consists of two retired men, who spend much of their time working on the model railroad display in the baggage area. They often host school groups. The layout is arranged with successive areas that depict different eras in railroad history, and show the railroads' effect on the development of America.
Here, for instance, is the Great Locomotive Chase:
And here the tour guide talks about the role of railroads in the Civil War, etc.
Of course, there's a display on Casey Jones, who was born not too far away:
And finally, we get around to the 1950's and 60's:
This is a two-story structure, and the stationmaster would have lived on the second floor with his family. They have tried to recreate what the living quarters would have looked like, much like house museums everywhere:
Finally, though, here's a tragic tale:
Several years ago they acquired an ex-Pennsy business car that had been converted to MoW service, and which was stored on a siding some distance away. It was probably in about the same condition as most such cars. They had built this section of track in front of the depot, and hired a mover to move the car to Greenup for restoration. But the body fell over and hit the ground while making a sharp turn, and was too badly damaged to repair. So it was scrapped on the spot.
But these two men continue to work with what they have, and were very helpful and informative. Thanks!
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