St. James, MO depot. Is not this beauty still standing? My photograph dated October 1988. Doug Hughes
Here are contemporary views of the Saint James, MO depot. Photographed on August 28, 2007. Photographs by Rich Lawler.
That is looking Northeast from my old boyhood home side of the tracks. There is Cardetti's store in the background. My parents were friends with Leo Cardetti. Great photographs. Kelly
When our son Kurt was a boy, we used to always take a fishing trip or two in the Ozarks each summer. We usually went to or around Meramec Springs between St. James, MO and Steelville, MO because it is such a pretty spot. Kurt would try for trout. I would be happy just playing with the crazy bluegill and sunfish. We would usually then spend a night in Rolla, MO. We had to have a pizza dinner at Pryors. It is still there, still open, still good! We would always take in some Frisco train watching each evening. You could usually hear an eastbound start up Rolla Hill from Newburg, MO, so it was easy to run down to the Rolla depot, or to the wood bridge, or up to 4-8-2 SLSF 1501, or to some other favorite local spot to watch the train reach the summit and roll through Rolla. Then the trick was to get in the car, buckle up, and drive swiftly up to St. James, MO to catch the same train at the St. James depot. We probably did that at least ten-twelve times through the years we took those trips. Every once in a while it would not work because the train apparently went into the hole at Dillon, MO but if we were patient, we then caught the westbound at St. James instead. Kurt still has a penny a Frisco SD45-F9B-SD45 set mashed for us at the St. James depot. Good memories! Ken
Please see the following link for a trackside view of the St. James, MO depot. http://www.depotmaps.com/Images/DepotMO/StJames[SLSF]MO.jpg (southwest corner) http://www.flickr.com/photos/84263554@N00/4131434206/sizes/l/ (southeast corner) http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=685710 (southeast corner, 10/20/2006) The depot's agent / operator bay faces south southeast. Railroad west is to the left. The depot address is 211 Meramec Street (aka 152 West Springfield Street). Hope this helps. Thanks! Mark
Here are the latest pictures of the St. James depot. Apparently the depot is undergoing restoration to a more original look. Also they are in the process of removing and will re-lay the depot platform bricks according to a local. Photographs were taken on 3/12/2010.
Nice to see a very tasteful restoration job being done. The colors probably are not original, but I certainly will not hold that against them. Noticed from Ken's photographs that it looks as if an asbestos shingle siding salesman got to it at one time. Our remolded house in Waldo, AR had those. The shingles did not take too kindly to my fouled baseballs.
I have taken a few photographs of the depot, a few years after the restoration. Sadly, could not get any of the inside, due to a party being held in there. It looks quite nice, though!
Looks like maybe they have put in the brick pavers on the depot platform since Keith's pictures. It is a nice touch. I am a little amazed that it was not razed, post-1980. Best Regards,
Anyone have building foot print dimensions, window, door size? I would like to scratch build this depot since I have St. James on the layout.
There is a *.pdf file of the floor plan for "MO. St James" in a folder on my hard drive called "MO Depot Plans from R Napper and Frisco org." That means it is on here somewhere. If I recall, these floor plan files were organized by state. Someone else may be able to help you find front, rear and side elevations.
Sure looks much better with the board and batten siding in place of the asbestos shingles. It would be neat if they could find an order board to go in front. Good job!
