Palmer business: Railroad Depot. Palmer had two train depots. The location of this first depot was south a ways from where county road 22 crosses the tracks. It was hard for people to utilize this depot because it was not right next to the road. Springtime was the worst because of the soft ground making it difficult for the horses and buggies to get to there. Later, a new depot would be built next to the road. As you can see in the photo, there were two tracks. The second track or (siding) track was needed because if a steam locomotive was hauling a large load from the north, it sometimes could not pull up the grade of the land. The train would then have to unhook part of its load and park it on the side track, then go back and get the other cars and re-hook up. In October 1899 the M. & St. Louis Railroad completed an extension of its side track there. A crew of men with eight teams worked about a week to complete the project. Several neighbors were employed with teams and received $3.50 per day for their work. After the side track was completed, it was over a half mile long. The side track would also be utilized for the stockyard and the elevator. Information provided by Robert Hagen.
