Towns and Nature: October 2025

Thursday, October 2, 2025

Gratiot, WI: Extant/Milwaukee Depot

(Satellite)

Trent Briggs posted nine photos with the comment: "Graitiot."

Milwaukee had a north/south and east/west route through Gratiot. That is why we see tracks on both sides of the depot in some of the photos.

1902/2 Mineral Point @ 125,000

By 1961, only the north and east "spokes" still existed.

1961/61 Dubuque Quad @ 250,000

That route still appears on a 1976 map, but it is gone in 1981.

1981/82 Dubuque Quad @ 250,000

WIHAP

Lyndonville, VT: Lost/B&M Roundhouse, Backshops and Railyard

Roundhouse: (Satellite)

Tim Starr posted
Photo of a neat enclosed roundhouse from the Library of America. Unfortunately the caption says "unknown place, unknown railroad, unknown year, unknown photographer." All that's known is it's from the W.H. Fletcher collection. (Edit: Brad Buck figured it out - Lyndonville, VT. Mystery solved!)

Brad J Buck: Lyndonville vt connetcicut and Passumpsic

Richard Shulby commented on Brad's comment
Agreed- the surrounding buildings also match the location per attached George W Hastings stereocard image c1870s.

Tim Starr commented on Brad's comment
Holy smokes, you found it! Very nice. I'll send an email to the Library of America.

Scott Whitney commented on Brad's comment
Agreed. It is early Lyndonville, VT. Recognized it immediately, because I used to operate through there! Look carefully at the main brick shop building in the middle of the post image and compare it to one shown here toward the lower right.

Scott Whitney commented on Tim's post
Absolutely Lyndonville, VT. I used to run trains through there. Looks like 1880s or so. Shop complex looked like this up until Canadian Pacific leased it long term from Boston & Maine. The empty area to the right of the shops is where the enclosed roundhouse was. A new one (off map) was more to the right.

The roundhouse was even with Charland Street.

1951 Burke and Lyndonville Quads @ 62,500

Wednesday, October 1, 2025

Wheeling, MO: Lost/CB&Q Depot

(Satellite, I'm guessing it was in the southwest quadrant of this crossing.)

Carl-char Hirst posted
Wheeling, MO. CB&Q depot in 1970 and the Wyaconda, MO.
Cliff Kierstead shared

1947/47 Chula Quad @ 62,500

A couple of towns west of La Clede.

1902

The town has a decent sized grain elevator.

Street View, Jun 2023

Derby, MI: Extant/Michigan Central Depot

(Satellite)

Street View, Sep 2023

Durand Union Station-Michigan Railroad History Museum posted two photos with the comment:

Today’s featured depot is the Michigan Central Depot in Derby 🚂
Derby, located in Berrien County, was located on Michigan Central’s branch line from St. Joseph south through Gallen to South Bend, Indiana. The town was located approximately eight miles south of St. Joseph.
This depot served as a passenger and freight station. It was also an express agency, joint with the American Railway Express Company for a period of time.
The depot closed for good in 1954. It was used as a retail space for different businesses periodically over the following decades, but it does not look to be in use now. An image of the depot was last captured on Google Maps in 2023, but it appeared in poor shape.
___________________
Sources:
Knapp, Carol. “New businesses breathe life into rural Derby”. The Herald-Palladium. 25 July 1994. www.newspapers.com/image/366328251/?match=1&terms=derby%20depot.
“Station: Derby, MI”. Michigan Railroad History. http://www.michiganrailroads.com/.../75.../528-derby-mi. Accessed 23 September 2025.
Photo credit in the photo and in the caption of the image.

Google Maps doesn't know about Derby, MI. I found the depot using these two topo maps. The first one showed me the railroad. The second one showed me the Lakeshore High School and the power line that now uses the MC RoW.