Mazon, IL depot

According to Frank Ellington's Santa Fe Depots of the Plains, the Mazon, IL depot was built in 1898 as a 21x76 foot structure with four rooms. A 1953 floorplan diagram in the book shows how that structure was reduced to the 21x39 foot, asbestos clad depot shown here. Many Santa Fe depots in Illinois and Missouri were rebuilt with asbestos siding in the 1950's. In the 1990's, most of the survivors were rebuilt again with metal siding, but somehow Mazon escaped with its asbestos intact. It continues to serve the BNSF today as a tool shed for maintenance of way forces.