Pontiac, IL

Posted on December 26, 2022 by rockontrains

Featured Gulf, Mobile & Ohio depots this month are those in Alabama & Illinois:

GM&O Depot – Wadley, AL

Wadley, AL – The Wadley Railroad Depot is a historic train station in Wadley, Alabama. The depot was built in 1907 along the Atlanta, Birmingham, and Atlantic Railroad line as part of an expansion from West Point, Georgia, to Talladega, Alabama. The station closed to passenger traffic in 1964, and the line eventually came under the control of CSX Transportation.^[2] The depot is one of only four surviving Mission Revival train stations in Alabama (the others being the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Passenger Terminal in Mobile; the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Depot in Cullman; and the Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railroad Depot in the Bridgeport Historic District in Bridgeport).^[3] The depot was named to the Alabama Historical Commission‘s Places in Peril list in 2009, which led to a community effort to preserve the building.^[4] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.^[1]

GM&O Depot – Mobile, AL

Mobile, AL – From historical research by GM&O employee (retired) Jim Sweatt –
The station was constructed in 1905-1906 by the Mobile & Ohio Railroad and was designed by architect P. Thorton Mayre; the total cost was $575,000. The style is most likely Mission Revival Style. The Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad (successor company to the Mobile & Ohio Railroad) vacated the building in 1986. After standing vacant for a number of years, the building was purchased by the City of Mobile and rehabilitated. Today the building is the headquarters office for the Metro Transit Authority, the local bus company. The original location of the tracks and platforms behind the building is now a parking lot and bus station. The building accommodates a number of businesses and is a good example of adaptive reuse.

GM&O Depot – W. Alton, IL – 9/13/90

W. Alton, IL – Alton is a station in Alton, Illinois, that is served by Amtrak‘s Lincoln Service and the Texas Eagle. This was also a stop for the Ann Rutledge until April 2007. The former Alton Railroad station, later used by the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad is built of brick, and is staffed. It is one of 3 Amtrak stations in the St. Louis metropolitan area; the other two are the Gateway Multimodal Transportation Center located in downtown St. Louis, and the Amtrak station in Kirkwood, Missouri. The depot was razed in 2017.

GM&O Depot – Dwight, IL – 1975

Dwight, IL – Dwight is a historic railroad depot and adjacent 2016 train station in Dwight, Illinois, United States, served by Amtrak, the national passenger railroad system. The historic depot, in use from 1891 until 2016, served Amtrak passenger traffic between Chicago and St. Louis, via the Lincoln Service train. Passenger service moved from the former depot south to a new station in October 2016. Built by the Chicago and Alton Railroad in 1891, the historic structure, designed by Henry Ives Cobb in the Richardson Romanesque style of rusticated masonry, has been on the National Register of Historic Places since December 27, 1982.^[2] The foundation is of Joliet stone and the walls above are of Bedford blue stone from Indiana composed almost entirely of fossil shells.^[3] In 1999, the village of Dwight offered the use of the depot to the Dwight Historical Society. The society moved its museum into the north end of the building; the south end holds both a meeting room for the society and the present office of the Dwight Chamber of Commerce.^[3]

GM&O Depot – Pontiac, IL

Pontiac, IL – Pontiac is an Amtrak train station in Pontiac, Illinois, United States, served by the Lincoln Service and the Texas Eagle. This was also a stop for the Ann Rutledge until April 2007.

All photos courtesy of Google; historical data courtesy of Wikipedia and Waymarking.

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