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Thursday, February 29, 2024

The Train Station was constructed in 1907 as a combination passenger and freight depot. Passenger service was available 5 days per week with stops at 6am, 7:30am, noon and 6pm. Freight and mail service was available twice daily. The ticket booth is in the center of the building with men's and women's passenger waiting areas on either side. In the waiting room to the left of the ticket booth is an old floor-integrated Fairbanks platform scale. The express mail room is through the next door past the scale on the far end of the building. Across from the scale, stairs lead down to a basement made of stone and brick and an earth floor running the length of the building.

The increased ownership of automobiles in the United States, which was most notable from the 1950's through the 1970's, correlated to an 80% decline in the use of commuter trains across the country. Passenger service at this rural location was subsequently discontinued in April 1967. Freight service was terminated shortly thereafter and with it, this depot's 60 years of service came to an end. The building was later briefly used as a residence but it has otherwise been abandoned and mostly unchanged since it closed back in 1967. This means that for the ~120 years of its existence thus far, this station has now been sitting empty for nearly the same amount of time that it was operational. The tracks that run right past its doors, however, have kept humming all this time. And so, at the same regular daily intervals to which it has long been accusomed, the old bones of this depot still shake to the scheduled rhythm of passing trains which rumble and hiss and stir up ghosts in their wake to dance among the cobwebs and the shadows until the last locomotive disappears down the tracks as quickly as it arrived and the dust settles once more where riders no longer disembark and from where no travelers depart.

Note: This post is #2 in a series of 4 loosely related upcoming blog posts which will culminate with the juiciest location/post ever*. Stay tuned..

*This claim has not been verified.

The Train Station copyright 2024 sublunar
The Train Station by sublunar

The Train Station copyright 2024 sublunar
The Train Station by sublunar

The Train Station copyright 2024 sublunar
The Train Station by sublunar

The Train Station copyright 2024 sublunar
The Train Station by sublunar

The Train Station copyright 2024 sublunar
The Train Station by sublunar

The Train Station copyright 2024 sublunar
The Train Station by sublunar

The Train Station copyright 2024 sublunar
The Train Station by sublunar

The Train Station copyright 2024 sublunar
The Train Station by sublunar

The Train Station copyright 2024 sublunar
The Train Station by sublunar

The Train Station copyright 2024 sublunar
The Train Station by sublunar

The Train Station copyright 2024 sublunar
The Train Station by sublunar

The Train Station copyright 2024 sublunar
The Train Station by sublunar

The Train Station copyright 2024 sublunar
The Train Station by sublunar

The Train Station copyright 2024 sublunar
The Train Station by sublunar

The Train Station copyright 2024 sublunar
The Train Station by sublunar