Nostalgia & History > WAG Wednesday: Let's go down to the depot!

Here are a neat & tidy half-dozen Bill Gibson shots of Santa Fe depots from around the land of OZ. Enjoy!

1. Nickerson, KS on April 28, 1962.

2. Frontenac, KS on October 13, 1966. (depot closing hearing)

3. Eudora, KS on October 10, 1967 with the Topeka-Argentine local(?).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/18/22 20:28 by santafe199.

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4. Rose Hill, KS on February 28, 1967. (depot closing hearing)

5. Peabody, KS on August 17, 1971.

6. Lebo, KS on August 17, 1977 in Bi-centennial glory.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/18/22 20:30 by santafe199.

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Just one more:

7. AT&SF 935 rolling westbound past the gang at the Rose Hill depot. (Bill was having a spot o’ trouble with his shutter. This slide was apparently a near throw-away…)
(all photos taken by William A. Gibson Sr.)

Thanks for looking back!
Lance Garrels (santafe199)
Art Gibson (wag216)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/18/22 20:32 by santafe199.

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atsffan Wrote:

> I'd sure like to hear the story about how Lebo managed to receive...

I believe Mr. Mike Haverty had the say-so about this depot getting the bi-centennial paint. He was Eastern Division Supt. in the 70's. I don't know all the details; I'm just grateful (as ALL of us railfans & historians should be) for his efforts here, and later with the Super Fleet R&S resurrection, and even later with his work at Kansas City Union Station. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Haverty in Topeka a few weeks ago and I gave him a personal word of thanks for his efforts in these areas. He accepted my words in a sort of humble manner, and I hope I spoke well for all of us railfans.

Lance



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/18/13 09:49 by santafe199.

These are great! And not a one of them has the agent's car parked on the platform. Used to be my pet peeve when depot hunting.

Its too bad the Peabody wasn't saved as its one a handful of depots that had a carriage canopy on its north side. Many depots had their canopy's torn down before the depot itself was torn down. However, Peabody retained its canopy until the end. My slide is like Bill's taken from the track side and I wish I had taken one from the north side.

santafe199 Wrote:

> Here are a neat & tidy half-dozen Bill Gibson
> shots of Santa Fe depots from around the land of
> OZ. Enjoy!

Thanks much!

> 2. Frontenac, KS on October 13, 1966. (depot
> closing hearing)

Interesting variation from the standard window placement on that one. I suspect there was more than one waiting room, but it's hard to tell if it was for gender or racial separation. The depot was originally 89' long, and from the looks of it they lopped off about 30 feet of freight room, moved the baggage room door to the right, and turned some of the baggage room into additional office space. A 1906 county map shows an absolute maze of tracks around Frontenac and Pittsburg with Santa Fe, KCS, Frisco, and Mopac lines going off in all directions to various coal mines. The Joplin & Pittsburg electric lines don't appear to be included:

http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/61049/Crawford+County+Outline+Map/

> 4. Rose Hill, KS on February 28, 1967.

This was an example of one of the smaller Santa Fe standard plans - a dinky little 16x32 that popped up at various minor locations in Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico. I notice the train order boards are already missing from the depots that are the subject of the hearings - did Santa Fe typically abolish the "operator" role at a station before going to the public utilities authorities to get permission to abolish the "agent?"

atsffan wrote:

> I'd sure like to hear the story about how Lebo managed to receive that 100% non-standard repaint. That has always amazed me,
> that it somehow was given the green light.

Not sure there was such a thing as a "standard" depot paint job on Santa Fe by the mid-70's. The railroad had stopped supplying depot paint from central stores, and paint gangs reportedly bought it locally and cheaply, leading to some wild and gaudy variations. Lebo is a standout, but the pea-green and white depots west of Great Bend were pretty wince-inducing, too.

mopacrr wrote:

> Its too bad the Peabody wasn't saved as its one a handful of depots that had a carriage canopy on its north side.
> Many depots had their canopy's torn down before the depot itself was torn down.

Garden City's similar depot lost its "carriage porch" at some point, but was re-equipped with a reasonable facsimile during a recent restoration.

http://goo.gl/maps/13Mlw

Other Santa Fe depots of a similar style that still have their porches include:

Sterling, KS: http://goo.gl/maps/N7KLB
Baldwin City, KS: http://goo.gl/maps/VGPTT
Florence, KS: http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,2928019
Las Animas, CO: http://goo.gl/maps/z1CEa

The future of the first two is pretty secure, the last two not so much...

Lebo was painted r/w/b when Mike Haverty was supt at Emporia during the Bi-Cenyennial ctaze.