St. Louis Division
Flora, IL
B&O Railroad
Milepost: 242.5
Flora Depot 2017
David Cantrell
Clay County
Northeast corner of State St and railroad
Estimated GPS Coordinates: 38.66763602,-88.48839199
Roundhouse Links
History
The first depot in Flora was built by the town and then bought by the railroad around 1872. Flora became a primary crossroads for commerce in the area because of the rails that connected from the Mississippi to Wabash Rivers in one direction and the Illinois and Ohio Rivers in the other. Wayne and Clay counties shipped over 137,500 bushels of apples in one season around 1884 as a result of the railroad connections.
Frank Nichols, a local contractor, began construction of the brick Flora Depot in 1916 and finished in the fall of 1917. The L-shaped building faced the Beardstown to Shawneetown tracks on the west side with the East St. Louis to Vincennes rails located on the south side. The depot building is one of two that still stands along the southerly route to the Ohio River. The other is at New Shawneetown. Flora's building is now a museum and designated a Historic Place in the National Register. The museum is definitely worth a visit for those interested in local railroad history.
The crossing was removed when passenger service on the Beardstown to Shawneetown route was discontinued in the late 1950s. The St. Louis route was the more profitable and and passenger service continued until 1973. According to the CSX Illinois Subdivision blog by Michael Monken, the CSX railroad has suspended service between Flora and East St. Louis. The future of this route is not clear.
There was a eight-stall engine house perpendicular to the yard tracks across from the depot for equipment built around 1899. The railroad moved shop operations from Pana after its construction. It burnt in March, 1951. A second building was built over two of the existing pits placed parallel to the yard rails. According to Bob Dagg, former B & O employee and coworker with my grandpa, the railway turntable was rarely used when he worked there and was removed in the early 1970s and the pit filled.
History of Wayne and Clay Counties Illinois, Globe Publishing Co, 183 Lake Street, Chicago, IL, 1884, p. 343, 368 - 369.
CSX Illinois Subdivision History
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, December 1997
1938 Flora Yard Aerial View
Illinois Historical Aerial Photographs
Flora Map
Flora Yard on Quadrangle Map
Flora, Illinois B and O Depot 1912 Sanborn Map
Flora, Illinois B and O Freight Depot 1912 Sanborn Map
Flora, Illinois 1929 Sanborn Map
Donna Corry
Flora Track Map
CSXGP15T - Casey Sellers
1938 Flora Yard Closeup Aerial
Illinois Historical Aerial Photographs
Flora 1940 Census Map
National Archives
Flora, Illinois First B&O Depot 1903
Ebay
Flora B&O Depot
Flora, Illinois B and O Depot and Freight House 1935
New B&O Depot at Flora
B&O Employees Magazine
Flora B&O Depot
Flora Depot Front Entrance
Courtesy of Duane Carrell and the B & O Historical Society
B&O Flora Depot
Flora Depot 2017
Photo by David Cantrell
Flora Railroad Yard Model at Depot Museum
Photo by David Cantrell
B&O Engine 13 at Flora in 1885
B&O Employees Magazine
9/10/1896, Switch Engine number 13 at Flora
Mat Haga, Robert Taylor, Wm. Maxfield, and W.V. Hettiger
Brandii Engelmeier Newby
You know you are from Flora Illinois
1901 B & O Locomotive
Zachary Walters
Train at Flora Depot Looking South East
Brandii Engelmeier Newby
You know you are from Flora Illinois
Two Locomotives at Flora B&O Depot
Train at Flora B&O Depot
B&O Locomotive Departing Flora
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers at Flora Depot
Brandii Engelmeier Newby
You know you are from Flora Illinois
B&O Engine 1543 at Flora
B&O Employees Magazine
B&O Engine 1539 at Flora
B&O Employees Magazine
B&O Engine at Flora
B&O Employees Magazine
B&O Engine No. 1 at Flora
B&O Employees Magazine
B&O Engine 887 at Flora
B&O Employees Magazine
B&O N Switch Engine 13 at Flora, IL
Flora Centennial, 1854-1954
B&O National Limited at Flora, IL
Flora Centennial, 1854-1954
B&O Flora Yard on Winter Day
B&O Employees Magazine
Flora, Illinois B and O Railroad Yard 1959
Micheal-Kristal Engelmeier
Flora Roundhouse Fire March, 1951
Photo on display at Flora Depot Museum
Flora B and O Yards, C and O Locomotive on Siding
Provided by Pete Thayer, taken by Tom Wilson
B & O 3503 at Flora Engine House
B&O Accounting Office at Flora
B&O Employees Magazine
B&O Superintendents at Flora
B&O Employees Magazine
Railroad Rail 1948, US Steel near Flora Depot
Photo by David Cantrell
Flora Depot Facing East
Photo by David Cantrell
Flora Junction with Shawneetown Branch, all that remains
Photo by David Cantrell
B&O Steam Derrick at Flora
B&O Employees Magazine
Wreck at Flora, 1910
From the Ohio to Mississippi
Robert F. Smith
