Lake Forest, IL: Lost/Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee and Metra/C&NW Depots

CNS&M: (Satellite)

Metra: (Satellite)

Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee Depot

Nick Renkosik posted
On display at The Lantern in Lake Forest, IL.
Joseph Obrien shared

Metra (UP-N)/Chicago & North Western Depot

Street View, Aug 2024

Metra

Both

I knew C&NW had a route close to the lake that helped create the North Shore suburbs and then a later route further inland that they built for freight trains. What I did not know is that CNS&M had routes parallel to both C&NW routes.

1960/ Weukegan [sic] and 1951 Highland Park Quads @ 24,000

1939 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

Virgil, IL: Lost/CGW Depot

(Satellite, I think this is the remnants of the platform.)

Andy Zukowski posted
Chicago Great Western Railroad Depot in Virgil, Illinois. 1958
Richard Fiedler shared

Note the short white line west of Meredith Road and just north of the long white line. I think the long white line was the CGW right-of-way, and the short white line was the platform. As in Andy's photo, the depot is just north of the platform.

1939 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

I think this is the building to the right of the depot in Andy's photo.

Street View, Sep 2022

Fortunately, the building has been restored.

Street View, Aug 2025

Rowlesburg, WV: Museum/B&O Depot and Caboose

(Satellite)

Street View

Street View

Don O'Brien posted 13 photos with the comment:

Rowelsburg, WV

Met some great guys in town today and got to check out the caboose and slightly moved station.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

1960/61 Rowlesburg Quad @ 24,000

It is just west of M&K Jct. near the center of this excerpt.

rumsey

Jerseyville, IL: Lost/Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis Depot

(Satellite)

Lawrence Thomas posted three photos with the comment: "For a  while, before World War II, another railroad in Jerseyville was the Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis - a meandering line from Alton to Springfield that hit Jerseyville, Medora, Fidelity before finally reaching its destination. It was a financial disaster suffering through several bankruptcies before a judge ordered the entire line abandoned. In Jerseyville there was a CP&StL Park and one of the nicest stations on the route. The depot was just north of the present Gorman Ready Mix. The canon is now in front of the county courthouse. (All photos from H H Bregstone)"

Richard Fiedler shared

1

2

3

1941 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

I expect land used to change, but it always amazes me how much the roads sometimes change. "Just north of Gorman Ready Mix" would put it south of Dorothy Street. But that roof line doesn't look correct. I'm going with the black blobs that were north of Dorothy Street that has some park like area to the east and south.

Digitally Zoomed

Hammond, IL: Lost B&O and Wabash Depots

B&O: (Satellite, south of the B&O tracks and just west of Don Ryan Street.)

Wabash: (Satellite, east of the Wabash and just south of the B&O Depot.)

According to the 2005 SPV Map, CSX still owns the B&O branch to Decatur, and the Wabash route was abandoned by Wabash. In other words, the Wabash route was abandoned before N&W took control.

Richard Fiedler posted two photos with the comment: "Hammond Illinois depots."

Richard Fiedler shared

1
Wabash depot Hammond Illinois. This is an original Chicago and Paducah depot.

2
B&O depot Hammond Illinois.

The B&O route went east/west and the Wabash went north/southish.

1955/73 Bement Quad @ 62,500

Photo 2 above shows that the B&O depot was at the junction. And I think the bright white lines in the southeast quadrant of the crossing are the platforms and show that the Wabash depot was just south of the B&O depot.

1940 Aerial Photo from IHLAP

Gascozark, MO: 1931 Abandoned D-X Gas Station on US-66 and Gasconade Hills Resort

Gas and Cafe: (Satellite)

Resort: (Satellite)

US-66 Overview

Route 66 Postcards posted two photos with the comment:

Here is a "then & now" of the Gascozark Service Station & Cafe, Gascozark, Missouri, on old Route 66. Frank Jones settled here in 1931, on Route 66, and opened this cafe and service station, which he gradually expanded. He hired a stonemason to give them a uniform appearance, and that is how this giraffe-rock structure, also called slab-rock, was created. He later sold it in 1935 to the Shuermanns. It was also known as the "Spinning Wheel café". The pumps to the east of the building once sold D-X-branded gasoline. The building has a neat curved parapet giving it a peculiar appearance.

   Here is a complete history:  https://www.oldstagecoachstop.org/webgeezer/Gazette07/Gascozark.pdf

   The 'now' photo is courtesy of Google in August 2023.

Get Your Pics on Route 66 - A Route 66 Promoter: I made this video 10 years ago. I later found out many of the things that I stated were incorrect. So, maybe don’t pay attention to the audio but at least you can see what the interior look like 10 years ago.

https://youtu.be/QfCZ3HLbzBc?si=iEkCLrLvGcGIW_u0 [I didn't watch. I don't care for "urban exploration."]

1

2

Robert Rothbauer posted, cropped
Old “Giraffe Rock “Cafe west of Waynesville Missouri
[The sign clearly says Gascozark Cafe.]

Scott Redden commented on Robert's post

Scott Redden commented on Robert's post

Kathy Black commented on Robert's post
It looked so nice when I was there.

Scott Redden commented on Kathy's comment

They have not restored the station for the 100th anniversary of Route 66. I'm surprised that the glass globes on the corner posts are still intact.

Street View, Feb 2026

Across the road is an antique store.

Street View, Feb 2026

Jeff Thisted, Oct 2023

There is the MO-133 exit off I-44 just a block away.

Satellite

OldStageCoashStop

Before motels were developed, roadside lodging used several little cabins. The Gascozark Resort is now a RV park.

OldStageCoashStop
The area had already been established as an area for resorts. People from St. Louis would ride the Frisco Railroad to the resorts. Route 66 made it even more convenient for city folk to escape to the countryside. 

Rutherford, NJ: Erie Bergen Junction (BJ) Tower

(Satellite)

Street View, Oct 2021

Patrick O'Connor posted two photos with the comment: "Bergen Junction tower in Rutherford, which controlled the junction between the Erie Main Line and Bergen County Line. Lasted used in 1963 when the tracks through Downtown Passaic were ripped out. Now used by MOW."

1

2

The northern boundary of Rutherford, NJ, is along the abandoned Erie route.

1955/58 Weehawken Quad @ 24,000