These are notes I am writing to help me learn our industrial history. They are my best understanding, but that does not mean they are a correct understanding.
Here is the Batavia IL CB&Q depot which is believed to be the oldest surviving depot from that line 1854. Moved across the river restored and displayed with a CB&Q wooden caboose.
The line is the first segment built for the CB&Q in 1850, the Aurora Branch, and it is still active as BNSF. CB&Q originally was a railroad that connected Aurora to C&NW to access Chicago. The Q built its own route to from Aurora to Chicago in the 1860s. And this branch no longer connects to the C&NW, it is now an industrial branch. General Mills in West Chicago is on this route. Unfortunately, it is closing.
My grandfather and uncle used to operate a dairy farm and I can remember these being put in the water in the coolers. I've been on a look out for a milkcan so that I could take a photo of one. I think they hold 10 gallons.
Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad Depot. Built 1854, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
This two-story vernacular Gothic Revival wood frame structure was the flagship depot for what would become the Chicago Burlington & Quincy (CB&Q) Railroad. The 1840s and 50s were times of massive speculation on transportation. Railroad companies incorporated, dissolved, and reincorporated at a dizzying pace as investors tried to capitalize on new steam engines and stake their claim to the profitable routes. The CB&Q first began as the Aurora Branch Railroad in 1849.
The railroad began in 1850 with a twelve mile rail line connecting Aurora, Batavia, and West Chicago (then called Turner's Junction). The rail was built of second hand strap iron spiked to wooden rails and the company had no engines or rolling stock for its initial run from Batavia to West Chicago. From these humble beginnings eventually grew the Burlington Line, one of the powerhouse rail lines of the American West.
The original CB&Q rail line is still in use in Batavia, but the depot was relocated to its present location through community effort in 1973. Tune in tomorrow for more about that story.
Today the depot is home to US! The Batavia Park District owns and operates the facility in partnership with the Batavia Historical Society.
Jimmy Fiedler: This station was actually constructed by the Chicago & Aurora RR. The CB&Q didn't exist until 1856 Batavia Depot Museum: Jimmy Fiedler Fair point, though today most folks recognize it by its other name. You're probably one of the few folks in Batavia who knows the difference! [The comments include some additional photos.]
Batavia Depot Museum posted two photos with the comment:
Wayback Wednesday. Traffic stopped, people took off work, and school students made their way downtown in Batavia fifty years ago as the old CB&Q depot slowly made its way to its new home at 155 Houston Street. The move was the culmination of years of planning, fundraising, and community spirit to save the building and create a home for Batavia history for generations to come.
We are proud to be continuing the work of those citizens committees, and executing the vision of community museum where we can share what makes Batavia a unique, inspiring place to visit and live.
Stephen Andrzejewski: J.B. Nelson emptied the entire school to watch!
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Batavia Depot Museum posted four photos with the comment: "Happy 50 years! On October 10th, 1973 the Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad Depot was relocated from its first home at the corner of Van Buren and Webster to 155 Houston Street, where it has now stood for the last fifty years. Massive stabilization, restoration, exhibit development, and two years later the museum opened to the public. Thanks for joining us on this incredible effort to build a community museum, Batavia!"
Jimmy Fiedler: This depot was identified as a JM Berrien depot by a 1943 report by AW Newton for the CB&Q. Berrien replaced Wm. Whittle who was Chief Engineer for the CMT RR that merged with the Aurora Branch. A contender for the oldest CB&Q depot in Illinois is the Q freight house in Bushnell, Illinois. Bushnell’s depot was a Northern Cross Railroad depot which pre-dated the Q. When a newer depot was constructed by the Q after the turn of the last century, Bushnell’s old depot was moved to the center of town, elevated with a loading ramp after the operators bay was removed, and became the Q Bushnell freight house. To add to all of this, another John Berrien depot still exists in Bristol Illinois outside of Aurora. That depot was moved away from the Q mainline and converted to a residence. As late as 1975, the signal bracket was still visible from its facing gable.
So, there are two Berrien depots still existing from the same time period both predated by Northern Cross/CB&Q Bushnell depot
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Jimmy Fiedler commented on the above post JM Berrian chief mechanical officer of the Chicago & Aurora RR came up with its standard design. Probably made prefab in a shop or factory in Chicago somewhere then assembled on site in Batavia in 1854. A few examples of this design still exist closet one is in Bristol (Yorkville) which is a home. I think Leland illinios has one but was modernized thru the years. Pictured below is the one in Bristol.
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