In which location do the protagonists of "Super 8" first come upon alien technology?

In “Super 8,” the protagonists first come upon alien technology at a train depot, where they witness a catastrophic train derailment.

Joe Lamb and his friends are filming a zombie movie at the Lillian train station in the summer of 1979. Their teacher, Dr. Woodward, deliberately drives a pickup truck into an approaching train, causing a spectacular crash that destroys much of the depot.

As the children investigate the wreckage, they discover strange white cubes scattered among the debris. These objects are pieces of the alien’s spacecraft and represent the first tangible evidence that something extraterrestrial is involved. Joe picks up one of the cubes, helping connect the crash to the later disturbances in town.

A common mix-up is saying they first discover the alien itself at the depot. The creature escapes from the train, but the depot is where the group first encounters its unusual technology.