That's JD Phillips' Porsche parked at the depot in the first shot. IIRC, it was a 912. He was an old head when I worked there in the late 80s. Nice guy, and a great regular crew on the day Paramount. They had a nicely kept caboose back then too.

JD used to brings gallon jugs of used motor oil in and one of the rituals was to toss them up on the caboose and oil whatever switches we stopped at. The switches around there were well lubed and easy to line thanks to the attention he gave them. Especially in contrast to East Yard where switches were never maintained and were often a bear to line.

I loved working Paramount, although it was rare to catch it off the extra board. The smell of grain being unloaded at the Western Consumers feed mill across Jackson Street from the depot provided a nice, rustic scent to the air most days. It was a busy place then. I remember there was still a footing opposite the depot next to the rails from the old train order signal. I posted quite a few shots of the action around there from the early 1980s on trainorders for anyone who is a member.

[www.trainorders.com]

[www.trainorders.com]

The last time I was there a few years ago, the depot was still there. It's still showing on Google Maps too although I don't know how old the image is.

[goo.gl]