Galion, OH: 1900 CSX/Big Four Depot

(Satellite; Street View, street side; Street View, track side)

Galion had four spokes. The north, west, and south spokes were Big Four. The east spoke was Erie, and Erie shared the west spoke to Marion, OH with the Big Four. CSX now owns the Big Four spokes and the east spoke has been abandoned.

Ron Amore posted
Big Four Railroad Depot-1906 or 1908 Galion, Ohio

Scott Love posted
Galion's New York Central Depot, pictured here I believe in the 1960's. Thanks to Jack Harpst for pointing out one of the vehicles as a 1964 Ford Falcon. Thankfully this wonderful building still stands. Members of the Galion Model Railroad group have been given an assignment to make a 4X8 layout for the Depot. That model layout will hopefully be displayed and operational in May at a Depot Open House.

𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻: 𝗣𝗲𝗻𝗻𝘀𝘆𝗹𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗮 and Ohio posted
Galion, Ohio. Depot • 1910! 

Stu Nicholson posted

Big Four Depot at Galion, Ohio. Galion is a small city, but the New York Central Railroad made it a Division Office, hence the upper floors and a long platform and freight house.

The community has invested heavily to restore the depot and that work continues. Currently, CSX train roll past the depot on what is still a busy mainline between Indianapolis and Cleveland.

Seneca County Historical Society posted

Then and Now – Today’s photos are views of the train depot in Galion, Ohio.  Please excuse us if this isn’t a subject from Seneca County, Ohio, but with all of the excitement of the Big Boy #4014 train coming our way in June, we needed to see a vintage train photo, sooner than later.  Ironically, we traveled through Galion not long ago, and then a few days later came across this wonderful depot photo.  This is such a great vintage real photo postcard, as it shows a locomotive pulling into the station and there are people milling around under the covered walkway.  The postcard is labeled Big Four Depot –Galion, Ohio.  The bottom photo is how this view looks today. 

There’s an Ohio Historical Marker near the depot with the following information:  “This Depot, dedicated on December 27, 1900, served as division headquarters for the Cleveland, Chicago, Cincinnati, and St. Louis railroad, commonly called the Big Four. Peak passenger usage occurred during and after World War I when 32 trains stopped here daily. Railway Express serviced as many as 20 trains a day into the 1950s, and Galion became a “whistle stop” for presidential campaigns with speeches from the train platform from such candidates as Al Smith in 1928, Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932, and Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon in 1952. In 1929 the New York Central acquired the Big Four, which moved the division headquarters west to Bellefontaine in Logan County. The ticket office remained opened until 1964, but all railroad offices closed in 1969. The Depot was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.”

According to info on Wikipedia: “Station preservationists held an event in 2021, an event, 'Depot Day,' that would include citing of goals in Amtrak's plans for expansion of passenger train service in Ohio. Exterior structural improvements have been performed, through private contractors, in recent years.”  It’s so great to see this wonderful train depot being cared for and providing a community meeting place for events.

Mike Hocker: Update: just yesterday [May 9, 2026] our Friends of the Galion Big Four Depot held our annual Depot Day in response to National Train Day. The depot is very close to opening again as a two-year renovation inside and thanks to a major grant has allowed this great building to be repurposed.

Historic Ayrlawn Dairy Farm - Bethesda, MoCo, MD shared with the comment: "GALION, OH, ca 1900."

I.e. Xam posted
Galion OH-CCC&StL,1900

Roger Smith posted three photos with the comment: "1900 'Big Four' depot in Galion, OH."

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Ron Amore posted
1958 aerial view of the Big 4 Depot in Galion, Ohio.

I was going to pass up this photo because it looked like just yet another railfan photo of a train. And then I read the comments and took a closer load. It looks like it is full of transformers!

Ron Amore posted
Southbound Conrail thru Galion,OH by the Big 4 Depot. 1980`s or so.
John Penca Road men’s night mare !!!!Thomas Priebe HIGH & WIDE, NO PASSING TRAINS ,SIDINGS WITH CARS !John Penca Generally a grueling 12 hoursBud Ramkey Got a lot of them. But never had a bad trip with one on the B4. Get it at Marion or Galion, make it to Wellington and nose into the siding, let one get by and then run for Rockpit. We had some GREAT dispatchers on third trick that made it all happen for us.Michael Cogdill That's back when they wanted to run trains.Bud Ramkey Shippers even wish Conrail was still alive. A lot of comments have been made after the NS took over. I am sure on the CSX side too.

Ron Amore posted
Big 4 Depot in Galion, OH. 1950's photo.

Ron Amore posted
South bound past the Big 4 Depot in Galion, Ohio

Ron Amore posted
Old postcard of the Big 4 Depot in Galion, OH

Ron Amore posted
Big 4 Depot in Galion, OH

Ron Amore posted
1908 postcard of the Galion, OH Big 4 Depot

Ron Amore posted
1915, the Big 4 Depot in Galion, OH
Brian Carson Wow, that platform was really long then!

Ronnie Amore posted two images with the comment: "A 1915 photo looking at the Big 4 RR Depot in Galion, OH. You can see the Interurban tracks going north on Washington St., and current view."

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Ron Amore posted
Northbound thru Galion, OH past the Big 4 Depot
Dennis Smith I rode these trains when Rock Island RR had them ,Boy they were rough riders.
Charlie Easton Are you sure it wasn't the track and not the train? Using the words "Rock" and "Island" in the same sentence kind of gives that away! Haha
Stuart Pearson Charlie Easton those of us who rode them on the Rock Island called them "Old Shake~Rattle & Roll! It had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with Track Conditions.
Charlie Easton We know they rode rough but so did the Rock.

May 2025:

Bill Edrington posted six photos with the comment: "Brief stop this morning at the Big Four depot in Galion, Ohio, where interior renovation work is progressing."

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Dennis Born posted seven photos with the comment: "Was all over today finally got a chance to visit Galion Oh. look what I found... very glad to see it,s under restoration, so much history here, can't wait till it,s finished.  👀👍❤️— at Big Four Depot."

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