Nostalgia & History > Depot Friday: Black & Bluff

Here are a pair of depot images from friends of mine who have passed on. The Texas depot is a cinch. But the Bluff City depot has no state given. I did a quick snoop thru Google Maps and Kansas is a possible match. Even with a 50+ year difference in images. But I can’t be 100% sure. Does anyone recognize this one as being in Kansas? TIA for the help…

1. AT&SF Black depot in Black, TX in January of 1974.
Original slide by the late Lee Berglund, my collection.

2. AT&SF Bluff City depot in Bluff City, KS* on September 11, 1973.
Copy slide from the late Tony Fey collection, photographer is unknown.

Thanks for looking back with a bit of help!
Lance Garrels
santafe199

*Confirming this as Kansas. Thanks Evan… :^)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/03/25 08:00 by santafe199.

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On the ATSF railfan.net site I found this: Anthony District (Anthony - Arkansas City, abandoned)Original Location"Current" LocationCurrent UseDateDescription and CommentsBluff CityBluff City, near original siteelevator storage3/98(e)1-story frame depot http://atsf.railfan.net/depots/thinbow.gifI found Bluff City on a Kansas map also but couldn't tell if this depot actually still exists.
Mark
 

santafe199 Wrote:

> The Texas depot is a cinch.

Black is an odd one, an example of the pre-1910 standard plan for the No.1 depot built after the revised plans were issued.  There were a couple of others like it along the same line.  Black still exists in private hands north of Hereford, TX:

http://atsf.railfan.net/depots/black.html

> But the Bluff City depot has no state
> given. I did a quick snoop thru Google Maps and
> Kansas is a possible match. Even with a 50+ year
> difference in images. But I can’t be 100% sure.

Your eyes don't deceive you.  This is the depot at Bluff City, KS after Santa Fe had lopped off the waiting room, abandoned the branch, and sold what was left of the structure to the nearby grain elevator to use as a scalehouse.  The elevator further modified the bay window to suit their needs:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/54jXT2BhgQ16UUz56

Thanks for finding the picture Evan. Sorry that my post got mangled. It looked great when I sent it. 
Mark
 

Jack Delano photos of the Black, TX depot in 1943:

https://www.loc.gov/resource/fsa.8d26926/
https://www.loc.gov/resource/fsa.8d15490/

I was dating the Bluff City, KS elevator's operator's step daughter in 1969-1970  She was attending college in Emporia.  We made a couple of trips to Bluff City but I wasn't paying any attention to depots at the time.

Mark