Limon Railroad Depot

Limon
Former Rock Island Line and Union Pacific station
The Depot in 1909.
Location	897 First Street Limon, Colorado
Coordinates	39°15′37″N 103°41′14″W / 39.26028°N 103.68722°W / 39.26028; -103.68722
Owned by	Limon Historical Society
Tracks	1
Construction
Structure type	at-grade
History
Opened	1889
Rebuilt	1904, 1910
Services
Former services   Preceding station   Rock Island Line   Following station Denver Terminus Main Line Bovina toward Chicago (LaSalle Street Station) Mattison toward Colorado Springs
Limon Railroad Depot
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Location	897 First St., Limon, Colorado
Coordinates	39°15′37″N 103°41′14″W / 39.26028°N 103.68722°W / 39.26028; -103.68722Coordinates: 39°15′37″N 103°41′14″W / 39.26028°N 103.68722°W / 39.26028; -103.68722
Area	Less than 1 acre (0.4 ha)
Architect	Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific RR
Architectural style	Late 19th And Early 20th Century American Movements
MPS	Railroads in Colorado, 1858-1948 MPS
NRHP Reference #	03000038
Added to NRHP	February 20, 2003

Limon Railroad Depot (also known as Limon Station) was a major Union Pacific and Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad station in Limon, Colorado. It has been on the National Register of Historical Places since 2003. The now museum is one of seven still standing Rock Island Line stations in Colorado, and the only one restored.

In 1870, the Kansas Pacific railroad, now Union Pacific, was the first railroad to pass where the town of Limon is today. The town was not incorporated (and didn't have a station) yet so trains passed by without stopping on their way to Denver.

In 1888, the Rock Island Line constructed a camp for workers building the main line to Colorado Springs. The track intersected the Union Pacific track where the depot is now. The town was named after the construction supervisor for the railroad, John Limon. The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific (Rock Island Line) then decided that Denver would be a better western terminus for their trains. In 1889, the two railroads reached an agreement to allow "The Rock" to use Union Pacific's Limon Subdivision line on trackage rights. Before that, trains went to Colorado Springs and used Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad track north to Denver. Limon became a major junction for the two railroads, since it was where trains such as the Rocky Mountain Rocket split to Denver or Colorado Springs, respectively.

In the 1980s, approximately 70 miles of former Rock Island and Cadillac and Lake City Railway track between Limon and Colorado Springs was removed. Evidence of the former right-of-way can still be easily seen along the route. In Colorado Springs, a 5.8 mile part of the right-of-way has been turned into a rail trail known as the Rock Island Trail. Northeast of Colorado Springs, the track closely followed U.S. Highway 24 and included a large trestle over Big Sandy Creek.