The C. & S. RR was never completed beyond Marion while in their possession. In 1887, the Chicago, St. Louis and Paducah railway company under lease to the St. Louis, Alton and Terre Haute Railroad Company bought it and started construction of a Marion to Paducah line. Service on the extended line between Marion and Brookport was begun January 1, 1889.
When the line was being constructed from Marion to Creal Springs difficulties arose in obtaining right of ways. Charles H. Denison offered a strip of land one mile long through a farm he owned, on what is now Route 166. When a railroad station was installed at the location it became known as New Denison.
The Illinois Central leased the line in 1895 and received title to the line on February 17, 1904. It became a branch of a greater system and an important feeder to its coal and general passenger and freight traffic. Branches were later extended from Carterville and Herrin.
By 1904 with the addition of the Illinois Central running East and West and the now existing C & E I rails running North and South, Marion became the leading market point in the county. It was for a while, through this time, the greatest market in Southern Illinois in regards to mules, horses and livestock production.
In June 1914, plans were drawn to build the Illinois Central Depot that we know on N. Market St. today. It was constructed over the winter of that year and finished in 1915. It originally housed a ticket office, waiting rooms and a freight depot. There was already an existing depot before it that likely was built for the C & S RR in 1872 when the railroad was completed to Carbondale.
Through the 1920’s, the I.C. Depot was running six passenger trains a day and through time even housed engineers involved in local RR construction projects.
At one point in the 1950’s a small grocery store occupied the central portion of the depot.
With the success of the automobile, passenger service on this line eventually declined and it became a freight only line. This continued through to 1976 when the Illinois Central system no longer felt it economically prudent to maintain the leg of track from Carbondale to Marion.
In 1977, the City of Marion in conjunction with the Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railroad purchased the I.C Depot and 8.5 miles of track from Marion to the Crab Orchard Wildlife Refuge for $500,000. The rest of the tracks into Carbondale were abandoned by the Illinois Central.
On July 14, 1977, while in the possession of the Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railroad, a fire did serious damage to the depot and two passenger cars parked on the tracks adjacent to the depot. It was partially restored by the CO & E to make it functional.
In December 2012, the line and depot came under new ownership by a Minnesota company called Progressive Rail. The new company is planning on increasing rail traffic and has an eye to possible depot restoration and perhaps even another steam locomotive tour train.
(Data from 1905 Souvenir History, WCHS; Data and photos from Crab Orchard and Egyptian Archives; Edward Bridges Collection; Pioneer Folks and Places by Barbara Barr Hubbs; Compiled by Sam Lattuca on 02/11/2013)