Symerton, IL: Wabash Depot

The depot was moved to Lockport in 1979 and the track was removed in 1993. [Comments on a Facebook post.]

Bill Molony posted
The Wabash depot at Symerton, Illinois - April 1977.
Photographer unknown.
From the Blackhawk collection.
Dirk Craig: I was the very last Station Agent at Symerton before they closed it... The Norfolk and Western then.
Bill Molony shared
Bill Edrington: I’m surprised it was still an open train order office that late in the game. Was there a particular reason for that?
Robert Fiedler: Bill Edrington I believe it was open to serve shipments from the Joliet Arsenal, which was still operating at that time.
Bill Edrington: Robert Fiedler - Thanks; I didn’t think of that. You’re undoubtedly right. The N&W kept some small stations open farther downstate where local business levels justified it (Mt. Olive comes to mind), but most had been closed and the buildings torn down by the mid-‘70s. The sight of that old depot with an intact lower-quadrant order board as late as 1977 made me do a double-take.
Dirk Craig: Eric Skretteberg i lived 75 miles south of Symerton and would sleep in the depot all week... after its closing.
Bill Molony shared

Richard Fiedler posted eight photos with the comment:

Wabash depot Symerton Illinois. This depot survives and us restored to it's turn if the century appearance in Lockport Illinois. Photo credit is listed by photo by caption. Photos c/o E bay,Bill Molony, and Will County Historical Society. The line was abandoned here 1990. The reason the depot survived so long was that it did all the billing for traffic from the Joliet Arsenal.

1, E bay photo Symerton turn of the century.
Richard Fiedler also commented on another posting
Wabash depot at Symerton about 1895. Note not a tree in sight just fields. The gingerbread under the eves disappeared over the decades but otherwise the structure is intact and is again in its tri-color paint.

2, Symerton circa 1970. Collection of Bill Molony.

3, Symerton about 1978. Photo Bill Molony

4, Photo Bill Molony. Restored Symerton Depot

5, Will Co Historical Society

6, Symerton Will Co Historical Society

7, Symerton Will Co Historical Society

8, Symerton c/o Will Co Historical Society.

Bill Molony posted
This bird's eye view photograph of Symerton is dated 1910.
The roof of the Wabash station can be seen in the lower right, so I assume that the photograph was taken from the roof of the grain elevator across the tracks from the station.

I put a red rectangle around the depot.

1939 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

Bill Molony shared
The former Wabash depot from Symerton is now located in the Will County Historical Society's Heritage Village - 249 W. 2nd Street in Lockport, Illinois.

I will have the depot open for visitors and photographers on Friday, September 6th from 1:00 PM until 3:30 PM, on Saturday, September 7th from 12:00 Noon until 4:00 PM, and on Sunday, September 8th from 12:00 Noon until 4:00 PM.

Free parking and free admission - donations are welcome!
Bill Molony The Norfolk & Western donated the Symerton depot to the Will County Historical Society in 1979, and it was moved to Lockport at that time. The N&W merged with the Southern Railway in 1982 to form the Norfolk Southern. The NS abandoned the former Wabash line from Manhattan through Symerton to Gibson City in 1991.

It was here. Because of tree cover, I can't find its current satellite location. But the important thing is the trailhead parking lot. The depot is a short walk to the south.
A 2014 photo of the preserved depot.

20140614 0225

I made another trip in 2017 to get pictures with the authentic 1800s paint scheme.

I took this picture to provide the context that the depot has now been moved to be part of a collection of old buildings in Lockport.

20170607 9013

The passenger waiting room would be on the left because it has the small door, and the baggage and express package handling would be on the right because of the big door. Remember, in the 1800s, everybody in town got about everything they own from the local depot. That is why mail order houses like Sears and Montgomery Ward were so important. Today the pendulum has swung back to delivery instead of "going to the store," but the orders are from the web instead of mail and the items are delivered by truck instead of rail and horse&wagon.

I went to the other corner so that both sides would be in the sun, but I think the gable's shadow makes it look worse.

So I tried everything in the shadow. Note the freight door on the other side for a farmer's horse&wagon to pull up to get loaded with their freight. Some of the "packages" were probably non-trivial such as a cast-iron coal-burning stove.

 Electrons are cheap.

Update: during Lockport Canal Days, the Blackhawk Historical Society hosts an open house. Here is Bill Molony, the president of the society, dressed up as an agent ready to hoop-up train orders. David Daruszka, a retired engineer and the current program director of the society, dresses up as an engineer.

David Daruszka posted
I guess the southbound Flyer is running late.

They reenact several duties of the station agent.

The Blackhawk Railway Historical Society posted
With some of the local farmer's product ready for delivery, the Symerton station agent gets ready for the next "milk run."

Update:
(new window)


Bill Molony shared an album that includes several interior, as well as exterior, shots.

A history of the depot and its restoration.

The depot was moved twice in Lockport (see comments).