Newbern Depot facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Newbern Depot
Location	108 Jefferson Street Newbern, Tennessee United States
Coordinates	36°06′45″N 89°15′45″W / 36.1125°N 89.2625°W / 36.1125; -89.2625
Line(s)	Illinois Central (CN)
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	1
Other information
Status	Flag stop; unstaffed
Station code	Amtrak: NBN
Traffic
Passengers (FY2019)	3,208 (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station Memphis toward New Orleans City of New Orleans Fulton toward Chicago
Former services Preceding station Illinois Central Railroad Following station Dyersburg toward New Orleans Main Line Templeton toward Chicago Dyersburg toward Memphis Memphis – Louisville Trimble toward Louisville
Newbern Illinois Central Depot
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	Jct. of Main and Jefferson Sts., Newbern, Tennessee
Area	1.5 acres (0.6 ha)
Built	1920
Built by	Illinois Central Railroad
Architectural style	Combination Depot, American Craftsman
NRHP reference No.	93000213
Added to NRHP	March 25, 1993

The Newbern Depot is a cool train station and museum in Newbern, Tennessee. It's also called the Newbern Illinois Central Depot. This station is a stop for the City of New Orleans train, run by Amtrak. It's a special kind of stop called a flag stop. This means the train only stops if someone has a ticket to get on or off there. The Illinois Central Railroad built this station way back in 1920. It became a special historic place in 1993.

History of the Newbern Depot

The Newbern Depot was built in 1920. It was built by the Illinois Central Railroad company. This was actually the third train station in Newbern. The one before it was made of wood and burned down in 1918.

The new station was made of brick. It was a "combination depot." This means it handled both people (passengers) and goods (freight) in one building. It also had an office for the railroad company. The building had a simple design. But its windows and roof edges (eaves) showed a style called Craftsman.

Right next to the station, there was a special platform. This platform was for loading cotton. Farmers would bring bales of cotton on wagons. Then, the cotton was moved onto train cars. Newbern was a big center for processing and shipping cotton back then.

From Train Station to Museum

The Illinois Central Railroad stopped passenger train service here in 1965. After that, the building was used for storage. But in 1990, the city of Newbern bought the depot. They wanted to turn it into the Newbern Depot and Railroad Museum.

To help pay for fixing up the old building, the town started an event. It was called "Depot Days." This event became a yearly celebration in Newbern. The station was fixed up to look like its original design. On March 25, 1993, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. This is a list of important historic places in the United States.

In 1992, Amtrak started using the Newbern Depot. Before that, Amtrak stopped in nearby Dyersburg. Moving the stop to Newbern helped serve both towns. That's why it's sometimes called the Newbern-Dyersburg station. Amtrak's City of New Orleans train passes through twice a day. Remember, it's a flag stop. This means there are no people working at the station to sell tickets or handle luggage.

In May 2024, Amtrak finished a big project. They spent $3.5 million to make the station easier to use for everyone. This included building a new platform that is about 350 feet long.

Newbern Depot Museum

The Newbern Depot is now also a museum. Inside, you can see many interesting things. There are old photos of the railroad. You can also see tools that railroad workers used. There are old uniforms and train schedules. The museum has model trains too. Plus, there's artwork that shows Newbern's history with trains. It's a great place to learn about how trains helped the town grow!