McPHERSON, KANSAS

McPherson Passenger Service 1942
3:20pm No. 57 Westbound Doodlebug to Ellinwood from Florence
9:32am No. 58 Eastbound Doodlebug to Florence from Ellinwood
McPherson was the home to not only the Santa Fe but also the Rock Island and Union Pacific. The Rock Island Crossed a half mile east of the depot. The U.P. diamond is located 1/10th of a mile west of the depot. For those of you who are wondering the towerlike structure at the elevator in town is not a railroad tower. It is a scale house. The Rock Island depot was destroyed in 1995 or 1996.


This section of the depot shows the remodled "passenger" end.
This is the unmodified freight section. See the outline of a Santa Fe mission cross just above the freight room.

For some strange reason this brick depot has been shortened and extensively modified. The passenger waiting area has been removed leaving a concrete slab for parking. Although it can not be proven there is a possiblity that this depot was of a similar design to that in Lyons but there were major differences. Page 9 of Trains of America by Donald J. Heimburger shows a photo of the destroyed section of the depot, however not enough to betray its former configuration. If anyone has a good overall shot of this depot before remodeling pleas let me know.The Central Kansas was still using this depot when photographed in 1995 or 1996 but recent abandonments in this area do not bode well for this depot.