Old Photo of Saline, MO Railroad Station

this was in the December 10, 2014 edition of The Mercer County Mirror. It interests me because my Shafer great grandparents (& other relatives) lived near Saline and I'm sure they were at this depot from time to time. and this woman and children could be a relative, or a neighbor of friend of a relative, or a friend of a relative....I love her hat! don't see a pile of luggage, so assume they are not traveling. sometimes I wish these old pictures had a movie reel with them...

David Beavers, a long time employee of railroad companies, collects old photographs of railroad related material. The one above is pretty interesting because of the of the people, as well as the look of an old time railroad station. In those days, a lot of the mail and shipping was done via railroad, as well as travel. I assume that the lady and the two children are waiting to ride the train to some location. I think the men on the left are railroad employees. This photograph would've probably been taken before the main line we are now familiar with in Mercer County was built.