All aboard

This winter marks the 135th anniversary of the Marion Railroad Depot, a historically significant landmark for Eastern Iowa that, at the peak of railroads in the nation, saw nearly 100 trains a day cross along the platform parallel to the tracks that stretched throughout the south end of the uptown business district toward a roundhouse and sprawling complex of repair yards at the east edge of the city. At the turn of the century, it was considered one of the busiest rail centers in the state with passenger and freight trains arriving daily from Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Kansas City, and, later, Omaha.

The Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad was organized as the Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad in 1847. Its first train ran from its namesake city to Waukesha, Wisconsin four years later. In 1872, the Sabula Ackley and Dakota Railroad completed a line of track from Sabula on the Mississippi River, to Marion, and the Milwaukee Line leased use of the tracks for service into east central Iowa. Two years later, with a merger of multiple smaller lines into the Milwaukee’s larger network, the consolidated rail line was reorganized as the Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad.

Servicing the Windy City, Milwaukee, and the Capital City of Minnesota was lucrative, but as America moved west, there was much demand for supplies and personnel beyond the Missouri River. As such, in 1887, the Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul finished laying a line of track to Kansas City. Marion, being central between the Twin Cities, Milwaukee and Kansas City, was designated as Division Headquarters for the line. This meant that a large terminal, switching yard, and repair shops would need to be installed to accommodate the influx in traffic.

The depot would be the centerpiece of its operations. The construction firm of Amos O’Connor was hired by the railroad to build an imposing two story red brick structure with a soaring steep pitched roof, all of which would extend for a half a block immediately south of the Daniels’ Building and Marion’s Masonic Lodge.

Its first floor was to be a ticket office and waiting room for passengers and an area at the east end for receiving and processing freight. The second floor, under a cavernous cathedral ceiling, would provide office space for the division superintendent and the team of dispatchers required to monitor and keep all trains of the line on time.

Construction of the depot, with its distinct veranda, which formed a protective porch that wrapped around the building, started in the Spring of 1888 and finished in November, with full service by December. In its first month of operation, thousands passed though its wide double doors which remained open twenty-four hours a day seven days a week. The massive roundhouse, which sported stalls for fifteen locomotives, along with the separate maintenance shops, were completed a year afterward.

After World War I, the repair facility was moved out of the city. Marion remained a major passenger and freight hub, however, and following a leasing agreement between the Milwaukee Line and Union Pacific in 1955, saw a second heyday of passenger service with direct connections to Chicago and Omaha.

Automobiles of the time were taking over as the dominant form of transportation, and railroads suffered a sharp decline in ridership. By the end of 1971, the last passenger train had made its final stop in Marion, and while the depot remained owned by the Milwaukee Line as it sporadically ran freight trains through the city, the railroad declared bankruptcy in 1980 and the depot sat empty.

In 1983, it was purchased by businessman, James Paulson, who had thought of restoring it, but instead the depot property became part of a larger redevelopment plan to tear down the terminal and the adjoining Daniels Block and replace the entire historic uptown block with a strip mall and parking lot. The author of this column knows this very well. As a young student at Linn-Mar in Marion with a passion for history, I was shocked and enraged when I learned of the plan, and immediately put together the Save Our Station Organization, leading a grassroots effort to block it.

In the effort, it was discovered that the developers had not filed an impact study, which meant that the depot would receive a reprieve and was spared from demolition. This delay of its intended destruction allowed enough time that local insurance agent and fellow railroad enthusiast, Paul Draper, could lead the financial drive to dismantle the building and have it resurrected 100 feet to the west in Marion’s City Square Park, where it stands today.

I am extremely proud of this accomplishment in preserving the only reminder of Marion’s critical railroad history and am pleased that Mr. Draper was able to follow up that success with the depot’s subsequent reconstruction. It shows that the little guy can still make a difference in upholding the sacred heritage of a community.

I encourage all to remember this as they sip a cocoa and enjoy a gingersnap under its roof at the Christmas in the Park and Peppermint Walk Dec. 1 in Marion’s historic Uptown Square.

David V. Wendell is a Marion historian, author and special events coordinator specializing in American history.