620 F Street
Address: 620 F Street
Legal Description:
Building:
1872 Unplatted, not in the city limits
1885 A special election was held to vote $4,500 in bonds for the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad. The vote was 112 to 4 in favor of the bond. The railroad name was changed as a result of mergers before the line was completed in Geneva.
1885 John Fitzgerald was given the contract to build the Burlington line from Fairmont to Geneva. Surveyors laid out the route.
1886 The Burlington depot grounds were laid out at Geneva. The depot was to be 40 x 100, two stories. It was the largest depot west of Lincoln on the Burlington. The railroad hands rented the skating rink and used it for a boarding house. Telegraph service came to Geneva along with the railroad.
1886 The Burlington Railroad was the first railroad to serve Geneva. The first train arrived at the Geneva depot on June 7 from Fairmont.
1899 The C B & Q began painting its cars olive green instead of light yellow, which had been so common.
1899 A telephone was installed in the depot.
1900 Iron rails on the Burlington between Geneva and Strang were being replaced with 50-pound steel rails.
1903 Burlington agent Weed sold 160 tickets from Geneva to the state fair in Lincoln.
1910 Burlington carpenters were remodeling the depot. The office was being made larger. M. U. Hadsell was the ticket agent.
1912 Electric lights were installed in the depot.
1916 Special trains on both the Burlington and the Northwestern lines were lined up to bring people to Geneva to see the movie, “The Birth of a Nation” at the auditorium.
1930 The telephone directory listed the railroad as C B & Q, but it continued to be referred to as the Burlington. Mr. Borland was the station agent and the family lived on the second floor.
1930 Sometime after 1930 the second story was removed.
1934 The new Burlington Zephyr visited Geneva and a large crowd inspected the train. About ten Geneva businessmen were guests of the railroad on a trip to Fairmont.
1942 The Burlington depot was again remodeled, about 50’ being taken off the north side. This had been an addition made 45 years previously to take care of the large shipments made by Youngers and Company Nurseries. For example, Youngers & Co. shipped 350,000 shade and ornamental trees to a Denver land company for the improvement of a new addition.
1943 During World War II, the Burlington ran two trains a day through Geneva, one northbound and the other southbound.
1951 The Burlington stockyards were being removed.
1952 New diesel engines were put in service.
1953 The Burlington laid a new track between Geneva and Fairmont.
1955 It was announced that a spur siding north of Geneva would be called Kaneb, NE
1970 The C B & Q was not listed in the telephone directory.
10980’s Sometime in the early 80’s the Burlington Depot was sold. It was removed and taken to a location in Kansas.
1990’s The Burlington Northern Railroad filed notice of intent to abandon track in Fillmore County. This included the line from Fairmont to Bruning, through Geneva and Strang. After approval from the Railway Commission, the line was sold to a firm from Omaha.
1990’s The firm stated their intent to run the line as a Short Line railroad, name the Fillmore Western Railroad. After about two years, the company filed a request for permission to abandon the line and when this was approved, sold the rolling stock, salvaged the rails, ties, and ballast and sold them also. The right-of-way was sold. The rails ended at Road I, just west of the Wynne Transport building, about four miles north of Geneva.
2007 No train service in Geneva
This was ongoing as of the last posting.