Eldon Rock Island Depot Torn Down

The former Rock Island train depot in Eldon is gone.

Photos shared on Facebook show it was totally demolished.

The depot had been abandoned since the line became inactive in the 1980s and was the 2^nd depot constructed for the line.

According to a post on Facebook, the Eldon Chamber of Commerce recently agreed to a lease agreement on the depot with the City earlier this month.

They have plans to turn it into a new welcome center and chamber office.

Officials say they wanted to save the original structure, but last year’s tornado caused too much damage.

https://www.facebook.com/EldonChamber/posts/3176644269094405

Here’s a look at a rendering of what the new depot would look like.

Here’s a look at the depot during the 1970s.

This is what the first depot looked like during the hayday of the line.

Eldon once had two Depot’s, the Bagnell Branch of the Missouri Pacific Lines also went through the city of Eldon and cross the Rock Island near the center of town.

Those tracks were removed several years ago when the city of Bagnell stop producing railroad ties, shortly after the Dam was finished.

The Rock Island tracks were recently removed in preparation for a statewide trail, which would allow bikers to ride from Kansas City to near the city of Union.

Part of the old railway currently connects bikers on the Katy Trail to Kansas City by a connection in the town of Windsor, north of Clinton and just outside Truman Lake.

Here’s a look at the history of the railway in Miller county from the Miller county museum, who provided a few of the photos in this article.