Many archival railroad items have been donated and are on display, both in and outside of the depot.
Brass Train Engine Bell
The bell is placed in a strategic location inside near the depot’s main entrance immediately below a photo on a wall. The photo includes an image of a train engine with such a bell. In the photo, the engine is on the turntable that was located in the block north of the current depot.
Vertical Switch Stand, Frog, Mile Marker, & Pivot Stone
Donated by the Jim Machacek family from Jim’s private, two-foot gauge railroad, the “Northfield and Cannon Valley Railroad” (formerly located on the west side of Northfield) include a vertical switch stand, “frog” on ground, vertical mile marker, and pivot stone (left to right in the photo below).
Milwaukee Road Order Board
A 1896 photo shows an order board mounted on the exterior of the station master bay that was used by the station master to communicate with an engineer of an approaching train. A volunteer restored a donated Milwaukee Road order board using parts donated by a Midwest District contact for the Milwaukee Road Historical Association. Volunteers then installed the order board onto the station master overhang.
Baggage Cart
The donated baggage cart is similar to those that appear in archival photos that show such carts parked on the north (see 1896 photo below) and south sides of the depot.
Great Western Depot Depot Bench
A donated bench originally from the Northfield’s Great Western Depot was repainted and placed on the pavers next to the depot. Note the Northwestern logo on the bench frame.
