{"id":3933,"date":"2024-10-13T12:16:39","date_gmt":"2024-10-13T17:16:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lacentralrr.com\/Blog\/?p=3933"},"modified":"2024-10-13T12:16:39","modified_gmt":"2024-10-13T17:16:39","slug":"i-c-depot-in-ponchatoula-la","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lacentralrr.com\/Blog\/2024\/10\/13\/i-c-depot-in-ponchatoula-la\/","title":{"rendered":"I.C. Depot in Ponchatoula, LA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As a kid, I spent a fair amount of time in the small city of Ponchatoula, Louisiana back in the 50s and 60s. My maternal grandparents lived in that community, and their home was in viewing distance of the Illinois Central’s double track mainline. The north-south railroad divides the city in half, with streets having West and East prefixes. At the center of town is the train station, located between NW Railroad Avenue and NE Railroad Avenue, and bordered on the south by East Pine Street (West Pine Street after crossing the tracks).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This initial view of the depot was photographed ca.1940. Most of the Illinois Central passenger trains stopped here (depending on the “class” of the train).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ponchatoula,<\/a>
The Illinois Central passenger depot in Ponchatoula, Louisiana. Small express and package freight was handled on the north end of the building. Note the double mainline, evidence of a busy railroad. Photo from the collection of the Illinois Central Historical Society, courtesy of Tom Davidson.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And here is another view of the depot recorded in September of 1979. We’re in the Amtrak era now, and the “new” City of New Orleans<\/em> doesn’t stop in Ponchatoula, with the city of Hammond receiving that honor just a few miles north of here. The structure now serves as the “Country Market”. And it’s still in pretty good shape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ponchatoula,<\/a>
No longer serving train passengers, the depot is still hard at work as the Country Market, purveyors of many household decor and clothing items, much of it locally produced. Note the former Illinois Central combination RPO and baggage car just behind the building. It also serves as a retail outlet. Image by Michael M. Palmieri.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The depot is still there today, and still serves this same purpose. Indeed, it still looks essentially like this view some 45 years later!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a kid, I spent a fair amount of time in the small city of Ponchatoula, Louisiana back in the 50s and 60s. My maternal grandparents lived in that community, and their home was in viewing distance of the Illinois … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-photos-i-like","category-railfanning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lacentralrr.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lacentralrr.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lacentralrr.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lacentralrr.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lacentralrr.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3933"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.lacentralrr.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3941,"href":"https:\/\/www.lacentralrr.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3933\/revisions\/3941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lacentralrr.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lacentralrr.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lacentralrr.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}