Monday, October 6, 2025

Buffalo, NY: Larkin Factory and Office Buildings

Office: (Satellite, the 1904 Frank Lloyd Wright designed administration building was torn down in 1950.)
Factories: (Satellite, between Seneca & Exchange Streets and the tracks and Hydraulic Street.)

These are some of the factory buildings.
Street View, Sep 2017

Scott Porter posted
1924 aerial view of the Larkin Co Inc factory, Buffalo, NY.

Larkin started by making soap products. Their marking approach of selling directly to the consumer was successful, and Larkin expanded their product line "into selling toiletries, furniture, lamps, home products and a myriad of other items. As the quantity and variety of the products produced by the company increased, the size and scale of the production factory also grew." As was tradition, the clerical workers were housed in the factories next to the production lines. Since the clerical workers were female, they decided that a better work environment would make it easier to attract and retain clerks. So, in 1904 they hired Frank Lloyd Wright to design an administration building, and it was completed in 1906. "By 1925 the company manufactured a majority of the over nine-hundred catalog items in its expansive factory complex which covered over sixteen-and-a-half acres on Seneca Street in the Hydraulics. In addition to their own soaps, cleansers, cosmetics, perfume, pharmaceuticals and food, they offered consumers everything from clothing and furniture to utensils and radios." [buffaloah_larkin]

This was Wright's design. Looking at the above aerial photo, it appears that the building had two courthouses to provide plenty of daylight to the offices.
buffaloah_admin

The retaining wall that we see on the left side of the above diagram still exists.
Street View, Jun 2025

This parking lot was the location of the admin building. In addition to the white largest factory building, the powerhouse has been repurposed.
Street View, Jun 2025

Sparks, NV: Lost/Southern Pacific Roundhouse, Backshop and Railyard

Roundhouse: (Satellite, I-80 reused the land)
Backshop: (Satellite)

The railyard is now an intermodal yard.

Rick Shilling commented on the following post
Sparks, Nevada Southern Pacific Railroad Roundhouse. The Western Nevada Historical Photo Collection.

Tim Starr posted
For some reason in my database, I had the Sparks, NV roundhouse measuring 425 feet. But in checking this 1912 map again, it was actually 450 feet in diameter (if the scale is accurate). This would indeed have made it the largest roundhouse west of the Mississippi River in the year it was built, 1904, as the Southern Pacific claimed (100-foot stalls, 100-foot turntable, 75 feet between TT and RH). It was even enlarged afterwards, with nine stalls lengthened to 150 feet. Demolished in 1959.
Richard Shulby: And the adjoining 1904 shop building (with later addition) was just razed in February of this year [2025].

1950 Reno Quad @ 62,500 and 1957 Vista Quad @ 24,000

This shows how I-80 goes over the roundhouse land.
60% 1982 Reno Quad @ 24,000 and 40% 1950 Reno Quad @ 62,500

The former backshop.
Street View, May 2014

The two tanks on the left side of the above view are part of a couple of tank farms. I added the label "energyOil" because of these facilities.
Satellite

Sunday, October 5, 2025

Dubuque, IA: Lost/CGW Depot

(Satellite, as is rather typical, the depot's land got used by a highway. It looks like the Milwaukee tracks have also been moved in this area.)

Marty Bernard posted
Chicago Great Western Dubuque, IA Station, Walt Dunlap Collection
Scanned from a print.  No other information.

Photo via oocities, image courtesy of James A. Hess

Photo provided by Randylyon via EncylclopediaDubuqueLicense: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA)
"The Chicago Great Western Railroad depot was located at the foot of East 8th Street at Elm. This building served the needs of Dubuque for over 70 years. Photo courtesy: Bob Reding
"


The CGW shared the bridge over the Mississippi River with Illinois Central. But on the Iowa side, IC went south and CGW went north.
1955 Dubuque South and 1956 Dubuque North Quads @ 24,000

Digitally Zoomed

I used the courthouse to correlate the 1950s map with today's satellite image. Was today's Mississippi Mud Studios a CGW freight house or someone's industrial building?
Street View, Aug 2018

Jun 15, 1954 @ 17,000; AR1VBI000040034

Elmira, NY: Lost/Pennsy Southport Yard and Kendall Tower

Railyard: (Satellite, the land west of Clemens Center Pkwy. The road repurposed railroad property.)
Roundhouse: (Satellite, Kinyon Street was connected to the parkway after the roundhouse was removed.)
Tower: (Satellite, again, Clemens Center Pkwy has been built on the railroad property.)

Center for Railroad Photography & Art posted
A classic Jim Shaughnessy night scene for #WorkerWednesday: The Pennsylvania Railroad operator at Kendall Tower—at the southern end of Southport Yard in Elmira, New York—hands up orders to the crew of I1-class 2-10-0 locomotive 4587 in 1957. (Shaughnessy-N-PRR-0147)
Bob Hinkle: Hands up orders? The hoop is empty , yet the tower guy is still holding it. Great picture in any event.

Ethan Williams commented on Bob's comment
Orders are clamped to the hoop compared to being strung across in the Y-shaped hoops.
[I gather from some comments on other posts that the crew would remove the orders from the hoop and then throw the hoop out the window. Later, the tower operator would have to walk along the track to retrieve the hoop. I'm sure operators preferred the Y-shaped hoops.]

1953/55 Elmira Quad @ 24,000

This wasn't a good photo, so...
May 29, 1944 @ 16,300; AR1AW0000140105

...I got this one. The roundhouse on the north end is obvious. The tower on the south side is not obvious. I'm guessing it was near a tree in the northeast quadrant of the tracks and Caton Ave. That is consistent with the photo.
Apr 19, 1948 @ 16,400; AR1FP0000050052

Wernersville, PA: Repurposed/Reading Depot and Freight House

Depot: (Satellite)
Freight: (Satellite)

The museum on the left was the depot, and the pizza place on the right was the freight hosue.
Street View, Apr 2025

Susan Holly Nichols posted two photos with the comment: "Wernersville PA. Drove by in June and did a U-turn to get photos of this beautiful depot. I don't know if it's used or not. Seemed rather lonely."
Brandon Bartolotta: Not for trains anymore, but it is home to the historical society. This was a stop on the Reading Company's Lebanon Valley Branch from Reading to Harrisburg. Now run by Norfolk Southern for freight only.
Steve Van Splinter: to add the pizza place is alive and well in the old freight depot next door , the depot is older than the station as this is the second station on that site.
1

2

Gregory D. Pawelski commented on Susan's post
During a visit inside the former Reading Company Wernersville, Pa. Station on July 20, 2024. (Gregory D. Pawelski Photo)

Gregory D. Pawelski commented on Susan's post
The original Wernersville Station in the 1890's. (Ted Xaras Collection)

Melinda Blessing, Jul 2022

Saturday, October 4, 2025

East Deerfield, MA: B&M Roundhouse, Backshop and Railyard

Remaining Turntable: (Satellite)

Larry Smith posted two images with the comment: "east deerfield ma. part of the B&M line. the rough of the round house was blown off by a storm in 2020 and the turntable is still in use today."
1

2

Mike Janeiro commented on Larry's post
Used to be 2 turntables there

Mike Janeiro commented on Larry's post
Look close and you can see the ring of the other pit to the right a bit
Also, I forget where I saved these pics from, otherwise I would give the people credit

Howard James Holub commented on Larry's post
There are still some signs where the second one existed.

1954/57 Greenfield Quad @ 24,000

 Francis Lippolis, Jun 2025

Google Maps labels it as a Berkshire & Eastern Railyard.
PanAmSouthern

Fredonia, NY: Lost/NYC Depot and Retail/NYC Freight House

Depot: (Satellite)
Freight: (Satellite)

Robert Daly posted
Postcard of the Dunkirk Allegheny Valley & Pittsburgh (NYC) passenger and freight stations in Fredonia NY, and my 1965 photo of the passenger station. As I recall, the passenger station survived as late as 2019.  Current Google Maps doesn't show the passenger station but the freight station still exists and is in use as a thrift store.
Jim Poland: Passenger service was discontinued in 1938 or so. The passenger depot was used as a office for freight. I remember stopping there with my Dad to check on a shipment of Kitchen cabinets from St Louis in the late 50’s I think. Shortly after that freight was limited to carloads only.
We remodeled the Depot into the depot play house . The interior was all wainscot vertical boards on the walls set off by a chairrail. The ceiling was all wainscoting and was coffered. What did the building in was no effort was made to repair or replace the slate roof.

Toby Newcastle commented on Robert's post

Dennis DeBruler commented on Robert's post
Using Google Earth, the depot existed in Apr 2004, but was gone by Nov 2006. https://maps.app.goo.gl/jTU9MPYH8vr8mWnE9
Jim Poland: Dennis DeBruler the depot was the small brown building , the freight house is down further. The large building is the old Fredonia Seed building.

Dennis DeBruler commented on Jim's comment
Indeed. This is the Nov 2006 image with the depot missing.

Freight House:
Street View, Jul 2013

I'm glad I found the depot on Google Earth because I first thought it was the large rectangle rather than the small square that was just south of the rectangle.
1954/56 Dunkirk Quad @ 24,000