The baggage room is where passenger baggage, express parcels, and any valuable commodity to be shipped was stored.  It was a secure room and always locked when valuable contents were inside.  As originally constructed, the only entrances to the room were two freight doors - one to the outside (on the right in the top photo) and the other to the hallway leading to the freight room (shown in the bottom photo).  At some later date, a door (shown at the left edge of the top photo) was added.  

The large pigeon-holed cabinet was for storing small (and usually fragile) parcels.  It is one of only three pieces of furniture original to the depot that were still here when I bought the building.  Situated on top of this cabinet is a cast iron counter-top scale, marked Am. Ry. Ex. (American Railway Express), and used to weigh small parcels.
 

Above is a baggage cart, which would not have been used inside this room but is too fragile of an artifact to leave outside.  The cart is branded Am. Ry. Ex. and dates to as early as July, 1918.  It would have been used to haul baggage and express parcels between the depot and the baggage cars on the train.

 

The freight door shown above leads to the hallway between the East Waiting Room and the Freight Room.

The ladder shown at left is a place-holder for the original built-in ladder located near that spot, which will be reconstructed.  The ladder allowed access to the loft for retrieving baggage.  The Wells Fargo sign represents the express company which served Eagle Lake.  The Wells Fargo agency was transferred to the Santa Fe depot in October of 1911, and the image at right is of the wax sealer that was used here.  The station agent for the depot was also the express agent, but was required to give railroad business top priority.

In July 1918, the express portions of Wells Fargo, American Express, and other express companies were merged together to form the American Railway Express Company.  The financial portions of the Wells Fargo and American Express companies were not affected, and survive today as large financial institutions.  As did the railroads during World War I, American Railway Express came under the oversight of the Unites States Railroad Administration, under Director General William H. McAdoo, which lasted until March 1, 1920. In 1929, the railroads purchased American Railway Express and on March 1, 1929 they renamed the new company Railway Express Agency (REA).  While REA lasted until 1975, express business at the Eagle Lake Santa Fe depot did not.  Express service was no longer offered at the Santa Fe depot after 1925 - the agency most likely transferred back to the Southern Pacific depot.

The strong box was used to transport cash, gold, and other valuables.  It weighs over 100 pounds, and takes two strong people to carry it any reasonable distance. When not in the depot, it rode in the express car under lock and key, and was sometimes accompanied by an armed guard.  The strongbox itself has a built-in lock, and usually only the agents at the point of origin and the destination(s) had a key, to prevent unauthorized access while in transit.