Vandalia, MI: 1871 Lost/Michigan Central Depot

(Satellite, my guess based on the topo map.)

Durand Union Station-Michigan Railroad History Museum posted three images with the comment:

Today’s featured depot is the Michigan Central station in Vandalia 🚂

Vandalia, located in Cass County, began to develop around 1849 after a grist mill was established in the area. The Michigan Central’s Air Line Division came through Vandalia in 1871 and thus a station was established. This line was built by the Michigan Air Line Railroad with the hopes of becoming a cross state route from Ontario to Chicago. Unfortunately, this never came to fruition due to the line being split between the Michigan Central and Grand Trunk.

The station had a water standpipe between the tracks in front of the depot. This was used to fill steam locomotive tenders as they sat in wait outside of the station. 

The Vandalia MC depot served as a passenger and freight station and express agency.

Sadly, this depot no longer remains. 

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Citations:

Ingles, J David. “The Michigan Air Line”. Classic Trains. 13 April 2025. https://www.trains.com/.../fallen.../the-michigan-air-line/. 

“Station: Vandalia, MI”. Michigan Railroad History. https://www.michiganrailroads.com/.../78.../599-vandalia-mi. Accessed 01 May 2025. 

Sources for images are in the caption of each photo.

Tim Shanahan shared

1

Source:

"The MC depot at Vandalia" (photo). Circa 1919. Michigan Railroad History. 

https://www.michiganrailroads.com/.../78.../599-vandalia-mi. Accessed 01 May 2025.

2

Source:

"Vandalia depot with standpipe in front" (photo). Michigan Railroad History. https://www.michiganrailroads.com/.../78.../599-vandalia-mi. Accessed 01 May 2025.

3

Source:

"Michigan Air Line Map circa 1962" [digital map]. 1962. Classic Trains. https://www.trains.com/.../fallen.../the-michigan-air-line/. Accessed 01 May 2025.

MichiganRailroads

The oldest topo map I can find is 1948, and the railroad is already gone. Neither it, nor a satellite image, shows a curve in the tracks that we see in some of the photos. So, I'm confused.

1948/48 Vandalia Quad @ 62,500