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North Manchester
Historical Society
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Source: NMHS Newsletter May 1994
The Big Four Depot Fire
by Ferne Baldwin
The Big Four Railroad depot burned February 26, 1904.
There was all kinds of trouble fighting the fire. The
engineer at the water works had gone home for the night
and had to be awakened to get up steam and start the
pumps. Marshall John Lockwood had to be aroused to close
the valves at the standpipe so direct pressure in the
mains could be used.
Once the standpipe was shut off and the pumps were in
operation it did not take long to control the fire. Of
course, by that time most of the depot was burned.
After the fire there was a real attempt to get a union
depot built to serve both the Big Four and the
Pennsylvania but that never came about and there
continued to be two depots. The hack drivers were most
disgusted about that since it required a frantic rush
when a train arrived at each depot about the same time. |
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