Vienna, IL: Forman Depot Tourism Center and Old Standard Gas Station

Museum: (Satellite, in March, 2016 it was not a diner, it was a visitor center)

Gas Station: (Satellite)

I don't know where this building came from, but it is not the town's Big Four Depot.

20160404 2036

The building's display implies that this was a depot at the junction of two railroads. But this topo map shows that the only railroad in the area was east of here. The real depot for this town was the Big Four Depot.

1966/67 Vienna Quad @ 24,000

Since I visited in 2016, they called the town the Bicycling Capital of Illinois, Home of the Big Bike.

Someplace I saw "the hundred mile race on the Tunnel Hill Trail," but now I can't find that information. So I Googled it.

It seems to be running instead of biking. The races in 2026 are on Nov 14. [RunSummitLine]

Jon Lorenz, May 2022

The bushes around the bike have been removed.

R̷A̷C̷H̷I̷D̷.̷T̷, Nov 2024

Since the above photos were taken, the big sign has been taken down. I wonder why.

Street View, Apr 2025

Old Standard Gas Station

Street View, Apr 2025

James Leighton posted
Vienna Illinois

Some photos I took of the museum in 2016

Greenville, IL: Office/Pennsy/Vandalia Depot

(Satellite)

Andy Zukowski posted
Vandalia Railroad Depot in Greenville, Illinois. 1917

Larry Candilas: MP 190.3

Street View, Jun 2026

L Grabb, Mar 2026

It looks like Shank Real is no longer using it and had a hard time selling it.

Street View, Sep 2013

It is good that it still exists because I would have guessed it was next to 4th Street instead of 3rd Street.

1938 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

Higgins, VA: Diggs Filler UP/Tidewater Oil/Esso

(Satellite)

Street View, Aug 2016

There Are Places - the Photography of Michael Wade posted two photos with the comment:

Diggs Filler Up station - formerly Tidewater Oil Company / Esso station. The station was restored by Bobby Diggs and is like an indoor and outdoor museum, and features vintage Esso and Standard Oil gas pumps. It's design is a "house and canopy" architectural style, which was very popular with the early filling stations. Note that - filling station, not gas station. That's because "these early roadside stops literally "filled" multiple fluid reservoirs and containers, rather than just pumping gasoline into a car’s built-in fuel tank."

"Early automobiles were mechanically unreliable and consumed fluids at a high rate. When a driver pulled into a station, the attendant didn't just provide fuel; their primary job was to fill up all the vital liquids required to keep the vehicle running. This included:

Motor Oil: Early engines burned through oil rapidly and needed constant topping off.

Water: Early cooling systems frequently boiled over, requiring attendants to fill the radiator.

Kerosene: Used to fill the vehicle's side lamps and tail lamps before electric lighting became standard."

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Emory Minnick Flickr, cropped
A Blast from the Past!! Restored Standard Oil Filling Station owned by Bobby Diggs. It is truly a museum inside and outside.

Fairfax, MN: C&NW/Minneapolis & St. Louis (M&StL) Depot and Wood Grain Elevators

Depot: (Satellite)

East Wood Grain Elevator: (Satellite)

West Wood Grain Elevator: (Satellite)

See Franklin, MN, for information about the railroad.

Museum/Minneapolis & St. Louis (M&StL) Depot

János Mc, Aug 2019

The west wood grain elevator is in the left background.

Mashell Aponi (Princess Athia) posted

East Wood Grain Elevator

The right background looks like the fertilizer supply facility for the co-op. This grain elevator has grown considerably from its start with a significantly large wood elevator.

Street View, Oct 2023

The fertilizer supply facility must get rail service because it has an industrial siding from the mainline and has a hopper unloading conveyor. But I don't see a fall protector in the above view for the elevator to get rail service.

Satellite

West Wood Grain Elevator

No street view driver went into town. We can tell from the satellite image that it hasn't grown much since it was built.

Street View, Oct 2023

Both Wood Grain Elevators

Wesley Peters posted five photos with the comment:

Grain Elevator Photography Trip 2, North Dakota/South Dakota/Minnesota.

Fairfax, Renville County, MN.

East Complex- Fairfax Grain & Supply Co-op. False-front drive-thru headhouse built in 1976, Hogenson Construction Co. 200,000-bushel capacity.

One of six surviving drive-thru headhouses by Hogenson Construction Co. in Minnesota.

West Complex- Great Western Elevator Co. Built in 1895. Bushel capacity unknown. The previous elevator on the site was destroyed by arson, along with two other elevators along the siding, on July 8, 1895. Incendiaries were used to set all three elevators ablaze. 5,000-bushels of wheat were destroyed.

Last (confirmed) surviving elevator built for the Great Western Elevator Co. in the Midwest.

Photographed on 7/20/2025.

Photos courtesy of Wesley Peters.

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West Trenton, NJ: Commuter/Reading "Trent" Tower and Office/Reading Depot

Tower: (Satellite)

Depot: (Satellite)

Street View, Jul 2026

Street View, Aug 2017

Darren Reynolds posted four images with the comment:

Readings "Trent" tower (Trenton Jct) West Trenton, New Jersey

This tower is still Standing

Tim Shanahan shared

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"Trent" tower was an interesting looking tower..looks like 1/2 Was built in the late 20s and the 2nd half was built at a different time..

Photo by: Robert Staples 1974

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"Trent" tower with a SEPTA train passing by on February 3,1991

Photo by: Unknown

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In this view you can see the station on the right..The 1st

"Trent" tower and the 1st floor of the 2nd tower on May 1930

Photo by: Henry Wilhelm

Doug Hunt commented on the above photo
This image originally posted is reversed. This is how it should look. The view is looking south toward the Delaware River. The Baltimore and Ohio train is northbound/eastbound toward Jersey City. Trent tower is on the west side of the tracks, and the station is on the east side of the tracks. Railroad Ave is on the right side of the flipped image behind Trent tower. The branch trackage that heads toward Trenton is on the left, opposite Trent tower.

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A Conrail track and interlocking diagram for "Trent" tower

Corbin T, Sep 2022

John Marquette, Jul 2017

I noticed that this station is at the end of the line. That explains the wye and small railyard just north of the depot.

Satellite

Confirmation that it is at the end of line.

Fred Dohkraf, May 2024

Franklin, MN: Wood Grain Elevator and Minnesota Prairie Line/C&NW/M&StL Railroad

(Satellite)

Street View, Dec 2023

Wesley Peters posted

Grain Elevator Photography Trip 2, North Dakota/South Dakota/Minnesota.

Franklin, Renville County, MN.

Caven Elevator Co. Built in 1940, Hogenson Construction Co. 25,000-bushel capacity.

Photographed on 7/20/2025.

Photo courtesy of Wesley Peters.

This is another town where supplying the farmers with chemicals is a bigger business than storing grain. 

Satellite (Jul 2015)

The above image must be old because it doesn't show the bins on the north side of the supply company that are present in the street view above. So I fired up Google Earth. The above image is from Jul 2015.  By 2020 they had built those bins.

Google Earth, Sep 2020

The satellite photos show that the supply company gets railroad service. The 2020 photo implies a variety of products because the six railcars look different. And the following view caught some tank cars.

Street View, Dec 2023

The railroad was the Minneapolis & St. Louis, which became C&NW.

1952/54 Moroon Quad @ 62,500

To verify that UP is not providing carload rail service, I checked the current ownership. Sure enough, it is a shortline: Minnesota Prairie Line (MPL).

rail.guide

The route was abandoned in 1982 by C&NW. The Minnesota Valley Regional Rail Authority bought it. MPL operations started in 2002. [UP]

tcwr