May THL Question 473

[David Longest]

The response to question #473 has one error that probably all NA fans would catch.  The New Albany Depot, built 1849, was not a run-through.  It was a terminal depot, open on the north end only.

David Longest

[Ron Marquardt]

David, technically you may be partly correct, but in railroad parlance we ordinarily referred to a depot as being a "run through" if we could go inside with an engine or cars.  / Ron

PS, where does the term "terminal depot" come from?  I've not heard that term before.  Is that a depot you can only enter from one end? 

[David Longest]

Ron,

The Monon original New Albany depot at Oak/Pearl is referred to as a terminus meaning beginning or ending rail station.
I have always used the phrase terminal depot to distinguish  it from "run through" depots, (ie: Gosport, Orleans) simply because it could not have been RUN THROUGH.  You and most know this, but this would clarify how the NA depot was built to a person never having seen the structure.

DL

[Tim T Swan]

I beleive if you re-read the orignal question, David, you will find that the writer defined "run-through depot" as one with a track or tracks inside it.  No error!   

[David Longest]

Would the Cincinnati Union Terminal Station therefore also have been a run-through? 

 I do see your point, but I recall reading somewhere that the NA depot was referred to as a terminal depot.

Thanks, for the clarification.

David

[Ron Marquardt]

Only if the engineer stopped in time David, only if the engineer stopped in time.  LOL,  / Ron

PS, I still am uncomfortable with your definition.  It depends on the meaning of terminal.  There were terminals at Lafayette and Bloomington, but they both had run-thru depots.

[David Longest]

This discussion has brought me to a new curiosity.  New Albany was considered a "terminus" of the Monon.  And by this definition it is confusing as NA was the source, not ending point. 

Was the depot at Michigan City given a similar moniker?  MC should have been a terminus of the Monon.

ter·mi·nus (tûrm-ns)
n. pl. ter·mi·nus·es or ter·mi·ni (-n)
1. The final point; the end.
2. An end point on a transportation line or the town in which it is located.

Ron,  Referring to the NA depot as a terminus depot does make more sense than a "terminal" depot. 

They say one of the most depressing things for the elderly about flying is reading words like: Departing; Terminal, etc.

[Mark Johnson]

And when you are about to arrive somewhere on an airplane, you are on "final" approach.

Mark J