The Cincinnati, Richmond & Muncie Depot (also known as the Wysor Street Depot) is a restored
train station
A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing suc ...
in
Muncie
Muncie ( ) is an incorporated city and the seat of Delaware County, Indiana. Previously known as Buckongahelas Town, named after the legendary Delaware Chief.http://www.delawarecountyhistory.org/history/docs/lenape-villages.pdf It is located in ...
,
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Built in 1901, it was acquired by the
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond t ...
in 1910. The station was used for passenger train service throughout the 20th century and was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1997. It is currently used as a visitor center and office for the adjacent
Cardinal Greenway
The Cardinal Greenway (TGC) is a multi-use recreational network combining a rail trail and an on-street route that together cross and five counties — in east central Indiana. The greenway, which was designated a National Recreation Trail i ...
.
History
The station was built in 1901 by the
Cincinnati, Richmond and Muncie Railroad (CR&M), which was acquired by the
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond t ...
(C&O) in 1910. Into the early 1930s, an unnamed C&O night train from
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, coordinates =
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, subdivision_name ...
to
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
stopped at the station. However, by 1938, that service was shortened to a day train from
Hammond to Cincinnati. For the concluding Hammond - Chicago segment, the C&O arranged with the
Monon Railroad
The Monon Railroad , also known as the Chicago, Indianapolis, and Louisville Railway from 1897 to 1971, was an American railroad that operated almost entirely within the state of Indiana. The Monon was merged into the Louisville and Nashville Ra ...
to accept C&O tickets for that segment of the trip. C&O ceded the responsibility of carrying the sleeping cars from Chicago to Cincinnati to the
New York Central
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...
.
The C&O ended passenger service to Muncie in 1949, but the station was used for freight service until 1950, when the Muncie Gear Works became its new tenant.
In 1973,
Chessie System
Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O), the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), the Western Maryland Railway (WM), and Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad (B&OCT). Trains operated und ...
(which eventually became
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
) restored the station for passenger service so it could be used by
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
on the ''
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley (October 7, 1849 – July 22, 1916) was an American writer, poet, and best-selling author. During his lifetime he was known as the "Hoosier Poet" and "Children's Poet" for his dialect works and his children's poetry. His ...
'' and ''
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
'' routes (which eventually became the ''
Cardinal
Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to:
Animals
* Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae
**''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
''). The station was again removed from passenger service when the ''Cardinal'' was rerouted after April 27, 1986.
[ ] The station was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
on April 14, 1997.
Restoration of the station began in 2003. The restoration was completed and the building reopened to the public on June 5, 2005.
[ ''Note:'' This includes and Accompanying photographs.]
The building is now used as a visitor center and office for the
Cardinal Greenway
The Cardinal Greenway (TGC) is a multi-use recreational network combining a rail trail and an on-street route that together cross and five counties — in east central Indiana. The greenway, which was designated a National Recreation Trail i ...
recreation trail, which uses the former C&O
right-of-way
Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another.
A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
. On display inside are photos and artifacts from the region's railroad history as well as photographs of the surrounding communities. Although the former C&O track has since been removed, a second parallel track, now owned by the
Norfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...
, remains in operation; it is separated from the Cardinal Greenway trail by a safety fence.
See also
*
Muncie Union Station Muncie Union Station was a passenger railroad station in Muncie, Indiana at 630 South High Street. As a union station, in earlier decades it served the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway (the 'Big Four') and the New York, Chicago ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cincinnati, Richmond, and Muncie Depot
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1901
Railway stations closed in 1986
Tourist attractions in Muncie, Indiana
Stations along Chesapeake and Ohio Railway lines
Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Indiana
Former Amtrak stations in Indiana
National Register of Historic Places in Muncie, Indiana
1901 establishments in Indiana
1986 disestablishments in Indiana
Transportation buildings and structures in Delaware County, Indiana