I enjoy historic depot photos, and came across this on a FB page (Dayton History Books Online) dedicated to historic photos of Dayton and environs. I thought the architecture was interesting. Many streetcar and interurban stations had similar covered architecture, and this depot reminds me of those. This was built in the mid-1850's and was replaced by the Dayton Union Station in 1900.
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The drive-through train-shed style of station seems to have been an 1800's phenomena (when trains were generally shorter), and maybe stayed around longer in European countries. I saw this reconstructed station on the Wilderness Railway in Queenstown Tasmania in 2009 - a smaller version of the same idea.
I graduated from the University of Dayton in 1992, I used to ride my bike over to the old DP and L plant and watch Grand Trunk and Conrail trains come by. Dayton Union Station was still there and the white tiles still said "Dayton Union Station". When I was a freshman, the track that ran through the campus was being torn up, I would love to have seen train coming through. The GM Moraine plant was so busy then and I loved watching all the trains being assembled.
Cincytrains posted:I graduated from the University of Dayton in 1992, I used to ride my bike over to the old DP and L plant and watch Grand Trunk and Conrail trains come by. Dayton Union Station was still there and the white tiles still said "Dayton Union Station". When I was a freshman, the track that ran through the campus was being torn up, I would love to have seen train coming through. The GM Moraine plant was so busy then and I loved watching all the trains being assembled.
I graduated from UD in 1971 (prehistoric times) and remember the track adjacent to Stonemill Road in use serving the National Cash Register plant, which was a behemoth at the time. I remember SWs and NWs shoving long cuts of cars in and out of the plant, but I can't remember if those were PRR, NYC or B&O units. This was during my "little interest in trains" period. I wish I had taken photos....Dayton was quite a railroad town in those days.
Ok, my father graduated from UD in 1964 and he has a picture from NCR and there was a 0-6-0 switcher running around letter for NCR. But it was served by the PRR. That track continued to the old Ford Plant out on Wilmington Pike and Gentile Air Station as well. Up until last year there was a stone bridge that crossed Patterson BLVD right by Stewart St that had Pennsy Keystones in it. My father used to take the Spirit of St. Louis from Penn Sta. To Dayton for school.
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