Afton Junction

The original “town” of Afton Junction was created in 1887 when the new Chicago Great Western Railroad crossed over the top of the Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad tracks.  The C.B.&Q. built a small depot at the Northeast corner of the intersection of the two lines to facilitate the transfer of freight and passengers.  In 1901 the C.B.&Q. built a new elevated road bed with two sets of track and relocated about a half mile north of the original junction.  Because of this change the C.B.&Q.  now crossed over the top of the Chicago Great Western line and was renamed Great Western Crossing.  Although that was the official C.B.&Q. name it was still commonly known as Afton Junction.  The C.B.&Q. built a new depot at the Northwest (upper) corner of the intersection of the two lines and the Great Western later built a depot on the Southwest (lower) corner.   At its peak Afton Junction had a hotel and restaurant and taxi service.  There was also some effort to turn the Junction into a tourist area.  A natural spring was developed into a fountain and fish pond.  A lake was formed for swimming and canoeing.  Several organizations traveled there for afternoon outings.  Although it officially existed until the Great Western ceased operation in the 1960s, Afton Junction had pretty much ceased to exist when passenger service was halted in the 1940s.

All photos below were taken after 1901 – hence the second Afton Junction.