Western Railroad Discussion > Wilton, Iowa Question

I believe the old RI depot at Wilton is still standing, is that correct? Some time when I'm trekking down I-80 I'd like to take a bit of a detour and photograph the old depot. What condition is it in? Has it been converted to another use? Is it accessible? Thanks for your help.

street view as of august 2013. dave, out.

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Wilton is in great shape and is easily accessed. It's just south of downtown, where the old Muscatine branch split off.

Also, as long as you're wandering off I-80, you should drop down and photograph the West Liberty depot as well. It's right at the old diamond (though the ex-BCR&N line is long gone) and has also been taken care of over the years by the local historical society.

Shame they couldn't:
A. Get an actual RI caboose, or
B. Paint that MILW caboose correctly.

Brian Ehni

The Wilton Historical Society has a small museum inside the depot, but I don't know what their hours are. The "Rock Island" caboose sits on the alignment of the Muscatine branch.

A fun fact: when the historical society rehabbed the Wilton depot, the West Liberty depot had fallen into disrepair and was essentially abandoned. The WL depot still had its train order signal, so the Wilton folks retrieved it for their own depot. The West Liberty depot has since been nicely restored and hosts the West Liberty Chamber of Commerce.

Erik

twin_star_rocket Wrote:
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> Shame they couldn't:
> A. Get an actual RI caboose, or
> B. Paint that MILW caboose correctly.
>
> Brian Ehni


That being said, you have to admit, that is a tasteful rendition of Rock Island paint on that ribbed sided crummy.

Pump

for me would be is the old soda fountain still open in Wilton?

wc581 Wrote:
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> for me would be is the old soda fountain still
> open in Wilton?

Yes, still open most days.

Wilton is my hometown and the depot museum is usually open on weekends during the spring/summer. If you want to make an appointment though let me know and I can let you in or get someone else to if I'm not around.

Andy

WichitaJct Wrote:
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> I believe the old RI depot at Wilton is still
> standing, is that correct? Some time when I'm
> trekking down I-80 I'd like to take a bit of a
> detour and photograph the old depot. What
> condition is it in? Has it been converted to
> another use? Is it accessible? Thanks for your
> help.


Yeah, here it is in September, 2012. The unfortunate thing about the depot is the GIANT evergreen on the east side of the building, forcing you to either just pretend you can see the depot behind it in pictures, or just crop it out on a telephoto shot as I did.

- Jeff Carlson

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NDHolmes Wrote:
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> Also, as long as you're wandering off I-80, you
> should drop down and photograph the West Liberty
> depot as well. It's right at the old diamond
> (though the ex-BCR&N line is long gone) and has
> also been taken care of over the years by the
> local historical society.


Aww, heck. As long as we're talking West Libery, here's the same train that I shot in Wilton at West Liberty. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that Andy Brown was here with me as well on this trip.

- Jeff Carlson

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