Unit 5:

Aberdeen Railroad Depot

Jobs of the Railroad:

CONDUCTOR

The Conductor is the leader of the train crew. He takes tickets from the passengers and maintains order on the train. He has the final say in decisions about operating the train.

FIREMAN

The Fireman’s job is to keep a steady fire going so the water in the boiler will get hot enough to create steam to power the engine. His job is very hard—he shovels up to 200 pounds of coal.

BRAKEMAN

The brakeman operates the brakes on the train. On the old trains, he ran along the top of the train and turned a wheel on the top of each car to engage the brakes.

SWITCHMAN

The Switchman is responsible for hooking the train cars together. This is a very dangerous job and many men were killed or seriously injured doing this job.

ENGINEER

The Engineer drives the train and is responsible for keeping the train running on time and making decisions about the safety of the train and its passengers.

Centers for Activity

Railroads and their depots were a very important part of Aberdeen. In the days before semi-trucks and cars, almost everything including people was transported from place to place by the railroad. Aberdeen had four different railroad companies that ran trains into town every day. Each of these companies built a depot, or headquarters, where the train stopped. Trains could then drop off or pick up freight, mail, livestock, and people. These four depots still remain today.

The Milwaukee Depot (now Burlington Northern) on North Main Street was built in 1911. It was the fourth and largest depot built by this company in Aberdeen. The first two were torn down and replaced by larger ones, and the third one burned down. During World War II, a canteen was opened at this depot for the soldiers traveling through Aberdeen to the east or west coast. The canteen was run by the Red Cross and the USO and served food, including pheasant sandwiches, to the soldiers. They also had birthday cakes in case it was someone’s birthday and a small gift for each soldier at Christmas time. The canteen was opened in August of 1943 and closed in March of 1946. Soldiers always remembered Aberdeen because of the pheasant sandwiches.

The Chicago Northwestern Depot is located on Dakota Street and was built in 1910 to replace its first depot built in 1883. When the circus came to town in those days, it arrived by train at this depot. The animals were unloaded and paraded down Main Street. Two United States presidents that visited Aberdeen arrived at this depot. President Taft came in 1911 and President Franklin Roosevelt came in 1936.

The Great Northern Depot was built in 1907 on Court Street. One of Aberdeen’s first hotels, the Park Place, was removed so this depot could be constructed on the same site.

The Minneapolis and St. Louis Railroad built its depot on South Main Street in 1907.

The railroad had many different types of cars to handle the different types of cargo. Passenger cars had seats, tables, and even beds. Boxcars were just what their name says “boxes” on wheels. They carried all kinds of freight including grain, food, and furniture. Cattle cars held livestock and had slatted sides to allow air to circulate to the animals so they could breathe. Flat cars had no walls or roof so they could haul very large items like machinery and lumber. Tanker cars hauled water, oil, and milk.

There even was a mail car which was a post office on wheels where men sorted mail for delivery along the route. They would also pick up mail at each stop the train made. The very last car on the train was the caboose. It was an office for the trainmen and a place for them to eat and sleep. Trains with all these types of cars came to each of Aberdeen’s depots.

Many people worked at these depots to take care of the trains, the passengers, the freight. The yards around the depot are where the trains were fixed and fueled. You will learn about some of these jobs later in this lesson.

To help you understand how active the railroads were in Aberdeen, consider these numbers. At the peak of the Milwaukee’s activity in

Aberdeen, 26 passenger trains arrived EACH DAY. During WW II, overONE HALF MILLION soldiers were served at the Canteen. During holiday seasons over 700 BAGS of mail were processed by over 30 postal employees. And in a typical year over 10,000 cars of livestock came to Aberdeen. Railroads were indeed important to Aberdeen history.

Each of these depots remains standing today but are no longer used by the railroads. One serves as an office for a group of lawyers. Try to find the four depots as you drive through Aberdeen and imagine them full trains and the people working and traveling there.