According to information provided by Clarence Ritz, he acquired
the CB&Q depot from the railroad in 1964 for use as his
office for his feed and fertilizer business which he had just
started. Ritz moved into the depot in 1964 with the railroad's
blessing. He did some fertilizer shipping via the Burlington
at that time.Ritz had his office situated in the former agent's
office until he constructed a new office facility adjacent
to the U.P. tracks. Ritz moved to the new office in 1971.
After that, the depot was used for a time by another party
for seed corn storage, then later by Ritz for excess fertilizer
storage. But as of November 1978, the depot was only being
used to store "odds and ends" according to Mrs.
Ritz
As of November 1978, the depot still wore the old CB&Q
white paint scheme. Mrs. Ritz said that, as other parties
had their eyes on it, the Ritzes decided to take up the brick
depot platform during the summer 1978, so as to save the brick
for themselves. The bricks were found to have come from three
different brick companies, she said. The ST. PAUL station
lettering was covered over with a "Ritz Mobile Feed"
sign.
Ironically, in 1976, Ritz owned two former Sargent Branch
Line depots.
According to CB&Q records for 1926, the St. Paul depot
was built in 1901 to dimensions of 24X66 feet. The waiting
room was 20X23 feet while the freight room was 23X30.3 feet.