History of the depot in Cisco, Illinois
In 1867 the original property was purchased for the "Champaign-Monticello-Decatur Railroad". Construction was started on the railroad and was completed in 1873. In November 1873 the first regular trains were primarily freight with one passenger car. As rider ship grew, a passenger train was added and nicknamed "Old Barney" after Cisco Resident "Barney Malloy" an employee of the railroad. In 1874 depots were built in Cisco, Argenta and Oreana along with the completion of a telegraph line. 1886 saw the "Illinois Central" entering into an agreement with E. H. Harriman who was buying up railroads at bargain prices. Harriman was looking forward to acquiring the "Peanut Line" named by James Clark, president of the "Illinois Central". The men who worked on this branch called it "The Hack Line" among other names such as "The Puddle Jumper" and "Old Barney". Passenger service ended in 1939 but the tracks are still in use to this day. The tracks are now owned by Topflight Grain Co-Operative of Bement, Illinois. The Decatur Junction Railway Company provides the co-op with transportation of its grain and Randy Bennett of Cisco, Illinois is the engineer .
As of may 16, 2002 the Trust of the Depot at Cisco, Illinois, was officially turned over to C.A.E.D. (Cisco Area Economic Development) better known as The Cisco Center. The Depot was built in 1874 and was electrified in 2003, structural improvements in 2004 and a new roof in 2005. The Cisco Junction Railroad Group was established to promote the Depot and preserve its heritage by the encouragement of model railroading, railroad artifacts, railroad memorabilia, a permanent model railroad layout, and to advance the interest in model railroading to our youth and the community.