The Illinois-Iowa Railfan

I'm sure you all have noticed that over the past few years (more than in previous years) old depots have been torn down to make way for new buildings. One such example is in a town near where I live, it was the old Michigan and Indiana Railroad depot that was built in the 1860's when the railroad connected to the town. Well, last summer a company that bought the lot next to the depot decided they did not like the look of the rustic train depot and it was torn down! Now a new "modern" building stands in it's place, again, we have lost another piece of history!

In Clinton, IA.(as with many other towns in the US) still has an old depot, the Clinton depot was built around 1910 and still stands today, but is now abandon except for the former freight house that now houses a photo-gallery style shop. The rest of the building is just a junk drop-off for whoever owns it. While railfanning there this past summer I thought: "Wow, whoever owns this building could really turn this place into a railfan hot spot, by restoring the depot building and making a place for railfans to sit and watch trains on the Union Pacifc and Iowa, Chicago and Eastern".

I doubt that will ever happen, but it is a neat idea!

I am sure the rest of you also have seen this happening and have felt the same way, please feel free to share!

The same could be said for the former CXB&Q station in Omaha Nebraska It sits just across friom the Western Heritage Museam former Union Station As a kid i remember the walkway that ran over the top of the trackage There is a platform on the cb7q side where the the walkway use to be I have often thought that It would be an excellent spot to photogragh the action on the UP BNSF and Amtrak as they come across the bridge Along with CN/IC south Omaha switch runs Like you said its just a Thought Larry