Perhaps the end of the Ellsworth depot's story
The Callanan/Ellsworth depot is finally in today's
location.

Some repairs have been made since the move.
Here new windows are being added. Some old barn boards perhaps as
old as the depot itself were used to fill in for lumber that was needed.
The railroad tracks from Jewell through Ellsworth were
removed in 2006
according to Union Pacific's master plan.
(Click image for different view.)
The railroad bridge at the east end of Jewell allows
the railroad to cross
the dredge ditch coming from the north. This
image may be from the 1940s.
(four photos courtesy of Hank Zaletel)
This 2000 image shows the railway between Jewell and
Ellsworth, along Highway 175.
From UNION PACIFIC - There was a decision to abandon the Ellsworth
Industrial Lead, a 3.2-mile line of railroad, between milepost 0.0, near
Jewell, and milepost 3.2, at Ellsworth in Hamilton County, Iowa, to be
effective on April 28, 2006. (STB Docket No. AB-33 (Sub-No.
175X), decided March 17, served March 29, 2006) |
That report meant that the railroad track (both the
rails and the ties) were scheduled to be removed from between Jewell and
Ellsworth. And they were, indeed, removed. The
tracks west of Jewell and Stanope and east of Ellsworth and Radcliffe were
also removed. No more east-west tracks. Only the north-south
track survived.
When you see the photos at the bottom of this page, you will know
that portions of that track still exist today.
Crossing the Skunk River bridge - The Ellsworth Elevator
is seen.
Skunk River bridge detail

You may notice something in the
tall grass at the right (south) side of the depot in Ellsworth. The
grass covers a bit of railroad track from the Ellsworth line. A few
years after the depot was hauled to it's new location, the railroad line
was removed from between Stanhope, Jewell and Ellsworth, and Radcliffe.
Of course, no more trains would ever again come though Ellsworth, because
there are no tracks.

When the tracks were removed
from the Ellsworth area, the removal crew was asked if they could please
save
a piece of track to accompany the community Depot instead of "recycling"
all of it. The crew was tired and didn't make any promises,
but at the end of their long day, they brought two 35 foot rails and many
ties. They constructed this set of tracks beside the Callanan/Ellsworth
Depot, and it remains there, today.

The tracks are placed running east and west, just like
the original tracks had run through Ellsworth. Because the Depot
at this location was turned 90 degrees from how it originally had been
located, the ticket window no longer faces the tracks as it did when this
building was a proper Ellsworth railroad station for one hundred years.
No trains today!
(or tomorrow either, of course)
The Callanan/Ellsworth depot is in today's (and the
last?) location.
How is the Callanan/Ellsworth Depot used today?
Because the Callanan/Ellsworth Depot still survives
today, it is used as a storage facility.
Besides storing motorcycles and a 1919 Model T truck,
it also holds some Ellsworth history.
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