HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Mazon, IL. When I think about my favorite places to railfan, I have to put the small town of Mazon, IL right at the top of my list. I discovered Mazon in June of 2000 when I made a trek west from Chicago to Ft. Madison, IA following the BNSF mainline all the way. As far as small towns go, it is REALLY small. Its literally sitting in a sea of corn and soybean fields on the former Santa Fe Transcon west of Joliet. Theres a main street, a few stores, and a bunch of quaint little houses. Theres also an abandoned grain elevator, fertilizer coop, and a strange little company that claims to be a locomotive rebuilder, although the GE switchers located in its yard have been there forever. What keeps Mazon at the top of my favorites list is that BNSF trains blast through here at 70 mph like the town isnt even there. Engineers lay on their horns as they pass over a multitude of grade crossings as they come in one side and go out the other side of town. The mainline is straight for miles on either side of town and you can see approaching trains way off in the distance. Since this is the Transcon, train counts are high, but be advised, this is part of the intermodal conveyor belt to the west and stack trains dominate! Coming into town from the north on the state highway the first time, I almost missed the small depot located here. Its the last wood-framed depot on the Chillicothe Subdivision and is similar in design to many other small depots that were once located along the line. The first photo shows the original Mazon depot that had an attached interlocking tower. In looking at this photo, which dates to the early 1900s, you can see by the depots size how important Mazon once was on the Santa Fe. Records indicate that this depot was built in 1898. In later years, when the Train Control System TCS was installed on the division, the interlocking tower was removed. Around 1953, the large depot was cut down to the size you see in the second photo taken in Oct. 2009. Looking a little worse for wear and now covered in asbestos siding, the depot which saw its last passengers many decades earlier, became offices for the signal department. Blueprints indicate that at one time their was a double handcar garage located on the west end of the building, and if you look closely at the picture you can see on the left where one garage door was removed and a regular door was installed. I was really quite surprised every year when I returned to Mazon and found it still standing. I truly believed its days were numbered considering the poor state of repair it was in. I half expected to see a couple of 40 containers sitting in its place each time I returned, but year after year it stood the test of time. Last week, I made my annual pilgrimage to Mazon and got a shock when I turned off the highway! Not only was the depot still there, but it had been completely remodeled. It has new windows, doors, and siding. The chimney was removed and a new roof was added. The area surrounding the depot was even cleaned up a bit and some of the junk hauled away. It now looks like a brand new building...although we know whats underneath the exterior shell. I for one am glad it has a new lease on life, but I lament the loss of the Santa Fe character it once had. Gone are the distinctive Santa Fe logos above the stations name. They have been replaced by a generic looking BNSF sign with font so small you have to be within twenty feet to even read what it says, but in this day and age where railroad structure literally disappear overnight, Ill not complain too loudly.
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 07:29:03 +0000
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