Aberdeen had two depots. The freight depot was downtown and the passenger depot was on the main line to Pensacola. The freight depot is the one that this thread is making references to. Aberdeen was originally the end of the line. When the Columbus Subdivision was extended towards Pensacola the railroad elected to build southeast on the east side of the Tombigbee River leaving Aberdeen on the west side of the river. Thus the passenger depot is on the mainline. When passenger service was discontinued there was no need for that depot. Jerome
I didn't know there was a freight depot in Aberdeen proper until now. I found an interesting page on abandoned rails about East Aberdeen. http://www.abandonedrails.com/East_Aberdeen_to_Aberdeen When the Tennessee-Tom Bigbee Waterway was built (1972-1984), the Amory-Columbus line, from a point near the Monroe County Airport down to a point just south of the old Hwy 8 / old Hwy 45 intersection, was relocated to the east, abandoning East Aberdeen. The spur into Aberdeen had to be relocated with a new bridge. There is a mostly abandoned industrial park area on the north side of Aberdeen along Meridian St. between downtown and Short St. / Hamilton St. where the M&O, I.C., & the KCM&B/SLSF all interchanged. The M&O came into Aberdeen from the Southwest via Mobile St., Northeast to Railroad St. before curving Southeast to the SLSF & IC interchanges near Clinton, Dr. and N Maple St. I have been to that area on a few occasions to hunt for old rails still in the pavement. The M&O operated in Aberdeen from 1870 until the merger that formed the GM&O in 1940. http://acmeme.com/gmo/chapter_xxiii.htm http://www.msrailroads.com/Towns/Aberdeen.htm The CA&N, operated as a subsidiary of I.C., came to Aberdeen in 1888. http://www.msrailroads.com/CA&N.htm The KCM&B (later SLSF) came to nearby Amory in 1887. http://www.amoryrealty.com/history-of-amory-ms/ When did the KCM&B reach Aberdeen, MS on its route from Amory, MS to Columbus, MS? What was the address, at least a rough idea, of the Aberdeen freight depot? Brandon
Brandon, Another interesting tidbit is that the IC's isolated Winfield to Brilliant branch was originally constructed to tie in with the Aberdeen to Durant, Mississippi line. The branch served coal mines around the Brilliant area and supplied IC with coal for its steam engines. IC had trackage rights from Aberdeen to Winfield, but I am not sure if they were ever used. The Frisco freight depot was in the area where the IC & Frisco interchange was. Jerome
Brandon, I don't know if you have seen msrailroads.com, by Tony Howe. If not you might want to take a look at it. He has lots of good information available on railroads in Mississippi. Jerome