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William J. Manon Jr. | all galleries >> Galleries >> Surviving Railroad Depots of America > Illinois Central, Amtrak station, (out of service) Rockford, Illinois.jpg
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October 9, 2005 William J. Manon Jr.

Illinois Central, Amtrak station, (out of service) Rockford, Illinois.jpg

Rockford, Illinois

This Depot was by far the ugliest of them all. With the chain link, bad shadows, weed covered parking lot and the overhead canopy that block the depot. I actually considered leaving this photo out of the gallery. But for the sake of proper history, I present to you here the now abandoned Amtrak Depot on the Illinois Central RR in Rockford, Illinois.

This Depot was on the route of Amtrak's Black Hawk from Chicago to Rockford and Dubuque. The "Black Hawk" was introduced February 14, 1974 and discontinued on October 1, 1981

Many people would like to see Passenger service return to this depot, as recently as June 2006 meetings were in progress to try to persuade Amtrak to bring their trains back down this line.

As of spring 2007 the talks are still in progress and look promising for Amtrak service to return to this line.



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John Connell 06-Apr-2012 17:05
Demolished in May of 2011.
I worked there in '66 & '67 as Baggage Man and Janitor before being drafted. A lot of memories of the place but I wasn't that sad to see it go. To me, the building was a perfect example of the worst period of American architecture. My heart was broken, though, when the old freight depot to the north burned down.
Todd 22-Jan-2012 03:35
The depot was far from ugly. It was an excellent example of 50's moderne architecture. This style of architecture was clean, modern and efficient. It reflected a railroad that wanted to present a modern image to the public. I appreciate this style and the loss of this structure is rather sad.
Rick 04-Aug-2011 21:13
This station was demolished in April of 2011, as reported in the May 11, 2011 edition of the Rock River Times.
Mike Schafer 28-Mar-2011 13:03
This is not an Amtrak depot, as it has belonged to the Illinois Central Railroad, then the Illinois Central Gulf, then the Chicago, Central & Pacific, then the IC again, then Canadian National, and it is currently owned by the City of Rockford. Amtrak used this depot as a station but only leased the space from 1974 to 1981. I remember the station being built (in 1954) and it was considered quite a modern, attractive, functional depot for the period; I used it on numerous occasions. The city plans to build a new depot/residential/commercial complex here if the state and Amtrak can revive service between Chicago and Dubuque.
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