Lowell Depots

[Tom Kepshire]

The two depots of Lowell, Indiana. The original wooden depot was totally destroyed in the May 22, 1952 train wreck. Derailed freight cars flattened the depot and fire from the leaking alcohol tank cars completed the job. The brick depot was opened in 1953. It still stands today and is used by CSX for their Signal Dept.

[Tom Kepshire]

Here is one of my favorite photos of the present Lowell depot. Taken from the Union Township Fire Department Aerial Ladder, Labor Day 2003. Spent a whole lot of time around that building in the 60's.

[Tom Kepshire]

The ticket office in the Lowell Depot, now Signal Dept Building for CSX. The windows with the blinds are for the outcropping. Passenger waiting room was to the right and the freight room to the left.

[Don Kuhlman]

Nice pics!  Those will come in handy

[George Lortz]

Couple of Lowell depot photos:

Lowell-03e - Depot; Lowell, IN; 1900; G. Jancosek collection
Lowell-04e - Depot; Lowell, IN; 1886; G. Jancosek collection

George L.

[Ron Marquardt]

George, I believe your photo is a crop of this photo.  Since the line to Rensselaer was standard gauged in 1881, this would have been a standard gauge train.  / Ron

[George Lortz]

Ron,

It sure is a crop of the larger photo.  Interesting that when I found it on the Internet, it was already cropped.  Again, the date is useful.

George L.

[David Longest]

Is the current Lowell Depot the 2nd or 3rd Lowell depot or was the first depot enlarged/altered?  I have been researching
Lake Cty. and it would seen possible that Lowell, like Creston and Shelby may have had depots around 1881 or 1882.

David

[Tom Kepshire]

David

I believe there have only been two depots in Lowell. The original wooden depot was expanded with additional area in the freight section, but I honestly have no idea when that addition was done. This wooded depot was demolished by the wreck , May of 1952. It was first flattened, then burnt to ashes in the fire. The brick depot that remains is #2. That was built in 1952-53 and dedicated in 1953. Technically, if you count the temporary depot in 1952, there were three. Me, I don't count ex-RPO or passenger cars used as temporary structures.