March 19, 2024
Local News

Viewing platform being built at Oregon Depot

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By Chris Johnson

cxjohnson@oglecounty

news.com

The first pieces of a viewing platform were installed along the Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks at the Oregon Depot on July 15.

Dale Beesing directed the fork lift driver as the steel framework was raised into the air and moved into position with each piece being assembled like a jigsaw puzzle.

Assembling the frame was just one of the steps in completing the viewing platform.

The concrete pad for visitors to stand on still needs to be completed before the viewing stand will be open, said Depot board member Roger Cain.

A fence separating the depot from the active train lines is also planned.

“This viewing platform will combine biking in Ogle County and be a viewing stand for railroad enthusiasts,” said Cain.

A bicycle work station will be installed that will allow for tires to be inflated and tools will be tethered to the station for basic maintenance to be performed.

“Terry Schuster and I created Bike Ogle,” said Scott Stephens. “That will bring people to the depot with bike routes. Each route starts at the depot.”

Nine separate bike routes have been created and maps and GPS data for each route are available at www.bikeogle.org.

Stephens said each route is between 20 and 50 miles and goes to each community in the county.

The featured route is the bison route to the Nachusa Grasslands.

Getting the viewing platform realized has taken more than a year.

“We had to get approval from the railroad for the project,” said Cain. “They worked with us.”

Several costs related to the project were donated from local businesses.

Cain said if the project was contracted out it would have been more than $100,000.

“Thanks so much for your work on this project,” Oregon Mayor Ken Williams said to Cain.

The depot would not have been in existence if it were not for the quick thinking of Oregon Commissioner Jim Barnes.

He was the mayor in the 1980s when he learned that the railroad was looking at demolishing the building.

“I did not want to see the depot torn down,” said Barnes. “The railroad was going to tear it down in the middle of the night. We saved it.”

Local business partners joined in to help with the project including F.N. Smith, E.D. Etnyre Co., Exelon Generation, Beesing Welding, and Fastenal.

The Oregon Depot, now owned by the City of Oregon, was built by the Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy Railroad in 1913 and fell into disuse and neglect after passenger rail service to Oregon stopped in 1971.

A group of dedicated volunteers began an ambitious restoration in 2001, and today the result is the Depot Museum, which is open every Saturday morning from 9 a.m. to noon.

Depot board members are Cain, Otto Dick, Bonnie Hendrickson, Skip Johnson, David Head, and Rich Rhoads, who also gave their time, along with many others, to help with the restoration efforts.

Depot Dates

• 1872 the original Oregon train depot is constructed.

• 1893 the train depot is completely destroyed by a fire.

• 1894 a replacement depot is erected.

• 1909 fire again strikes the depot, but most of the building is saved.

• 1913-1914 the depot that stands today is built by the Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railway.

• 1971 all passenger rail service to Oregon is discontinued and the depot is used as a freight office.

• 1985 the dilemma over preservation of the depot starts in September when the Burlington Northern Railroad Company files a petition with the Illinois Commerce Commission to discontinue its freight agency in Oregon and dispose of the depot building.

• November 1986, former Oregon mayor Jim Barnes testifies at an ICC hearing that the depot should be preserved because of its historical significance to Oregon. The railroad offers to sell the depot to the city with the condition that it be moved away from the railroad tracks due to potential liability issues. The city offers to buy the depot, but does not want to move the building because of the cost.

• 1989 the City of Oregon acquires the depot from the BNR for one dollar. The tracks nearest to the building are removed.

• 1997 the depot is placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

• 2001 the Oregon City Council establishes the Oregon Depot Museum Board. A group of Oregon High School alumni return to Oregon from all over the United States for several years to help restore the structure.