Colfax, WI: Museum/Soo Depot

(Satellite, 89 photos)

Street  View, Oct 2015

I wonder where their outside caboose went.

Street View, Oct 2021

Raymond Storey posted

Where the rain can't get to it to wash it off, the depot shows what the coal smoke from locomotives used to do to buildings.

Gary Roehm, Jul 2021

I saw several photos of dinnerware displays and other displays inside the museum, but I find this display to be interesting.

Robert Stephenson, Jun 2017

The big fence on the trackside is a bit of an eyesore, but it is worth it to make the railroad happy about it being used by the public.

Street View, Oct 2021

David Nelson posted 15 photos with the comment:

Colfax Wisconsin is up there not far from  Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire and other vacation spots.  It is on the former Wisconsin Central/Soo Line trackage, now of course CN.  Its first depot (1884) burned and was replaced by a wood depot in 1898.  In 1914 a new depot of cut sandstone was built on the foundation of the 1898 depot, which in turn was moved across the tracks.

Even though it is somewhat smaller than when built in 1914 (due to tornado damage some years back), that 1914 stone depot is surprisingly substantial looking, and is now a railroad museum with a varied collection of stuff indoors (and in one of the rail cars on the property), and an interesting collection of locomotives, rolling stock, and other railroad related items outside.   Only some of the stuff outside is under cover so some of the items are in rough shape.  The collection is mixed and it is not all WC/Soo related.  It is worth going to if you are in the area.  Fun fact: it's located on "Railroad Avenue."   There was a time when many towns of this size had a "railroad avenue" or a "depot street" or a street named after the railroad.  In Illinois for example, Chillicothe and Toluca both have "Santa Fe Street" named for the railroad that goes through town.

Interestingly the 1898 wood depot still exists (it too is surprisingly large) and has been well maintained.  I think it was still a personal residence when I first visited but is now owned by the museum which uses it to store its paper collection and archives.

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