Fairdale, IL: Lost/Milwaukee Depot

(Satellite, based on the aerial photo below.)

Andy Zukowski posted
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railway Depot in Fairdale, Illinois. 1909

Pete Zimmermann: If that's the one I'm thinking about that entire town doesn't even exist anymore basically with wiped out by a tornadoes some years back.

Fred Hilgenberg: Pete Zimmermann April 9, 2015 the tornado went from Rochelle to Fairdale. For a while you could see the marks of the storm path in the fields between the towns on Google Maps satellite views. Way back in the early 90's I was interested in buying up the old church there and making it into a home. It was still standing, but so damaged I here they tore it down.

Dennis DeBruler commented on Pete's comment
There is a lot of grass in that town. This is on Main Street, https://maps.app.goo.gl/SbHaMq26ynuuS6V18.

1939 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

Buffalo Lake, MN: Wood Grain Elevator is Rail Served by TCWR

(Satellite)

Note the fall protector.

Street View, Apr 2023

Street View, Apr 2023

Michael Krejci posted
In Minnesota.

Tom Dueringer: There use to be an ethanol plant near this elevator

I wonder if the remnants on the lower-left side of this excerpt was the ethanol plant. I also wonder why the plant did not survive.

Satellite

The railroad used to be the Milwaukee.

1964/65 Buffalo Lake Quad @ 24,000

It is now the TCWR.

tcwr via Dennis DeBruler

Georgetown, CO: 1884 Georgetown Loop/Colorado & Southern

(Satellite, 11,629)

Georgetown also has an electric power generation museum.

Street View, Oct 2012

Richard Crabtree posted

High Atop the Georgetown Loop

William Henry Jackson - Photographing the Loop

He was using Colorado Central No. 4 2-6-0 Mogul Porter Bell and D.S.P & P. Business Car No. 50 as his darkroom.

It just so happen the Local Photographer Alexander Martin caught a similar image on the same day in 1884.

Denver Public Library Digital Collection

Alexander Martin was born in Scotland and was active in Colorado as a photographer from approximately 1874-1901. He operated photography galleries in various Colorado towns, including Boulder, Central City, Georgetown, and Denver.

 

Dana T. Parker commented on Richard's post
Once clear cut, the trees have grown back.

Georgetown Loop Railroad posted

Memorial Day Weekend kicks off the Summer Season! 🚂

If you’re still searching for a quick weekend getaway, we are conveniently located only 45 miles West of Denver! 

1905 Georgetown Quad @ 62,500

It kept on chugging along after this flare up.

YouTubeShort, cropped

Grayslake, IL: Milwaukee Depot

(Satellite)

Andy Zukowski posted

C. M. & St. Paul Railroad Depot in Grays Lake, Illinois. 1918

Photo by C.R.Childs

Street View, Jul 2024

It is always interesting to see what an area was like before urban sprawl.

1960/62 Grayslake Quad @ 24,000

Browns Valley, MN: Wood Grain Elevator

(Satellite)

Street View, Jul 2024

Wesley Peters posted

Grain Elevator Photography Trip 2, North Dakota/South Dakota/Minnesota.

Browns Valley, Traverse County, MN.

Early history unknown.

Photographed on 7/20/2025.

Photo courtesy of Wesley Peters.

The more I looked, the more bins I found.

Satellite

Browns Valley was at the end of a Great Northern branch. BNSF has abandoned that route west of Beardsley.

1953/58 Milbank Quad @ 250,000

Saline C: Eldorado, IL: O'Gara Coal Mine #10

(Satellite)

Larry Joe Jenkel posted

Directory

Eldorado Quad

The L&N and Big Four (Egyptian Line) went through Eldorado and the IC terminated in this town. The tipple was next to the IC route and close to the Big Four. The L&N and Egyptian routes are abandoned, but CN still owns the IC route.

1963/64 Eldorado Quad @ 24,000

1938 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

CN not only owns the IC route, it is maintaining the route. (tie work and some fresh ballast)

Street View, Aug 2023

This fertilizer supply company was the only rail served industry that I could find in town.

Satellite

Jasper, IN: Jasper City Mill and Tourist Train/Southern Depot

Mill: (Satellite)

Depot: (Satellite)

Jasper City Flour Mill

Evan Nichols (Virtual Tours), Jul 2014

Historic Southern Indiana posted two photos with the comment:

Jasper City Mill c.1885 and today.

These are the second and third mills to stand on this site along the Patoka River in Jasper, Indiana. The first mill was constructed in 1817 by Andrew Evans, and in 1820 the Enlow family began operating it. The mill's most famous visitor was young Abraham Lincoln, who came with his father, Thomas, in 1828 to grind the family's grain. 

The second mill, pictured in the top photo, was constructed in 1865 by the Eckert family. In the 1870s, the Eckerts began shipping flatboats full flour from the mill down the Ohio and Mississippi River and ultimately, to New Orleans. The mill produced 150 to 200 barrels of flour a day. This mill stood until 1964, when it was torn down due to flood damage.

The current mill was completed in 2009. It was built using 200-year-old mill stones from France and a 150-year-old waterwheel hub and gears from a historic mill in Virginia. The mill is open to visitors and sells flour produced on site.

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I wonder from where the original water plume used to come from. 

Street View, May 2025

This verifies that they do pump water up into the plume to turn the wheel.

Lisa White, Aug 2019

JasperIndiana
"The Jasper City Mill incorporates features of the two earlier mills, including a water-powered wheel and grindstones. The mill stones are originally from France and are approximately 200 years old. The waterwheel hub and gears were obtained from a mill in Virginia and are between 120 and 150 years old. The wood added to the waterwheel hub weighs approximately 5 tons and creates a functioning waterwheel with an impressive diameter of 25 feet. The workings are easy for visitors to observe."
They grind corn instead of wheat so they sell cornmeal instead of flour.

Tourist Train/Southern Depot

The train is not running in 2026 and may not run in the future. [SpiritOfJasperTrain]

The train cars, as well as the depot, are rented as event spaces. [SpiritOfJasperTrain]

Street View, Aug 2025

The locomotive is a restored 1952 General Electric 80-ton switch engine. [SpiritOfJasperTrain_about]

Street View, Apr 2025

The Southern Railroad had a spur that went North from Huntingburg to the resort town of French Lick. In 1978, Southern gave the track north of Dubois to the museum in French Lick. The Dubois County Railroad now owns the track south of Dubois. The Spirit of Jasper ran from Jasper down to Huntingburg. Norfolk Southern now owns the east/west Southern mainline through Huntingburg.

1958/58 Vincennes Quad @ 250,000

Seattle, WA: Manufactured Gas Plant Remnants

(Satellite)

West Side:

Street View, Oct 2012

East Side:

Street View, Oct 2012

North side:

Street View, Oct 2012

Playground:

Street View, Oct 2012

The building behind the playground in the above view evidently displays some of the machinery.

seattle

seattle, Photo by TIA International Photography

Eleanor Harris posted
@roamingnola on Instagram: “Abandoned Seattle that’s now a park.  Gas Works park contains remnants of the only remaining coal gasification plant in the United States.…”

Industrial Fine Art posted nine photos with the comment: "Gas Works Park, located on the site of a former gasification plant, is truly unique! It's famous for its old industrial structures that have been left standing and incorporated into the park design. Instead of demolishing the plant, they repurposed it into a 19.1-acre public park, which opened in 1975.
Richard Haag, the landscape architect, designed it to celebrate the site's history, not erase it. You can see the rusting remains of the plant, some of which were even painted and turned into a play barn for kids, adding a really interesting, almost post-apocalyptic feel. It’s a fantastic example of industrial archaeology and offers incredible panoramic views of the Seattle skyline, Lake Union, and Mount Rainier.— at Gasworks Park."

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