Passenger Trains > Oldest depot currently used by Amtrak

Which depot is the oldest one currently used by Amtrak? The Jackson Michigan depot has been used
continuously by Michigan Central, its successors and Amtrak since early in 1873. However the
Greenfield depot in Michigan was built in 1859 in Smith's Creek Michigan by the Grand Trunk when
they built a line from Port Huron to Detroit. It was later purchased by Henry Ford and moved to
Greenfield Village. I realize that Greenfield is not a regular stop for Amtrak's Michigan Central
service but it is a scheduled stop. I have used that depot for Amtrak service. Is there any
older depot in current use by Amtrak? Dearborn, along with Philadelphia and Boston, is one of
the few cities with more than one Amtrak depot. Are there other cities with more than one
Amtrak depot. I think that Pomona and Galesburg once had multiple Amtrak depots.

Martinsburg, W. Va., since 1848.

Elko, Nevada and Stockton, California both have two different depots served by Amtrak.

Charlotesville, VA, Southern and C&O(Amtrak) for a short while after SRR joined Amtrak, then just C&O.

renf Wrote:
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Dearborn,
> along with Philadelphia and Boston, is one of
> the few cities with more than one Amtrak depot.
> Are there other cities with more than one
> Amtrak depot.

Boston has three - the only city I can think of off hand that can make that claim.

Dave

Buffalo NY, Richmond VA, San Diego CA, and Stockton CA all have two Amtrak stations.

That's two TRAIN stations. If you open it up to "stations served by Amtrak" you then include many
cities with both a train station and an Amtrak Thruway Bus stop, including some such as Monterey and
San Francisco CA, with several Thruway Bus stops but no Amtrak train stations.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/20/11 21:33 by GenePoon.

renf Wrote:
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> Are there other cities with more than one Amtrak depot?


Well, if you phrase it as 'Amtrak-operated stations' and go back only a few years, Boston would have been beat by San Francisco: 4th & King, 22nd Street, Paul Avenue, and Bayshore.

Oakland, CA now has two separate Amtrak stations -- Jack London Square and Coliseum.

Ted in OR

Lewistown, Pa. station was opened in 1849 and still sees stops by the Pennyslvanian.....

Art House
Gettysburg, Pa.

DavidP Wrote:
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> renf Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> Dearborn,
> > along with Philadelphia and Boston, is one of
> > the few cities with more than one Amtrak depot.
>
> > Are there other cities with more than one
> > Amtrak depot.
>
> Boston has three - the only city I can think of
> off hand that can make that claim.

Amtrak had three stations in Philadelphia until 1988, when it dropped Harrisburg service at Suburban Station. Actually, for a while in the 1970's it also stopped a couple of trains at Overbrook just inside the city limits on the Main Line, which made four stations.

RuleG Wrote:
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> Elko, Nevada and Stockton, California both have
> two different depots served by Amtrak.


To call the Amshacks in Elko "depots" is a gross overstatement. In any case, they are across from each other, one on the westbound track and one on the eastbound (I know, it used to be SP and WP, but now it's UP both ways). The reason for having two Amshacks, and two parking lots, instead of one of each is simply to allow boarding the train without having to protect the track in the other direction and without having to install a platform between the tracks.

abyler Wrote:
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> (snip)
>
> Amtrak had three stations in Philadelphia until
> 1988, when it dropped Harrisburg service at
> Suburban Station. Actually, for a while in the
> 1970's it also stopped a couple of trains at
> Overbrook just inside the city limits on the Main
> Line, which made four stations.

I wonder if it would make sense to originate several Keystone trains at Suburban Station again? Or, originate them at the Philly airport. But, that would require a change of direction...

aehouse Wrote:
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> Lewistown, Pa. station was opened in 1849 and
> still sees stops by the Pennyslvanian.....

Is the current building that old?

This is an interesting discussion. Even if you confine it to trains and leave out the Thruway busses, you still need to distinguish between a "station" or a "depot" and a "stop." For instance, San Diego Old Town is actually a commuter stop for the trolley and Coaster. The only building there is not really a station or a depot, it is a store with bathrooms.

There are a number of other Amtrak stops that use commuter facilities which would hardly qualify as a station or a depot. The San Joaquin has some stops that are not much more than a fancy covered bus bench.

Still I am enjoying the history part of this thread.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> abyler Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > (snip)
> >
> > Amtrak had three stations in Philadelphia until
> > 1988, when it dropped Harrisburg service at
> > Suburban Station. Actually, for a while in the
> > 1970's it also stopped a couple of trains at
> > Overbrook just inside the city limits on the
> Main
> > Line, which made four stations.
>
> I wonder if it would make sense to originate
> several Keystone trains at Suburban Station again?
> Or, originate them at the Philly airport. But,
> that would require a change of direction...

If I ran the railroad, its certainly something I would have them do. They already pull into 30th Street and change direction with a short layover. They could do that just as easily on Tracks 7 and 8 of Suburban Station.

The Airport line has infrastructure issues ever since the additional loading platforms were built adjacent to baggage claim. This pretty much limits all outbound service to needing to be on Track 2 at the Airport. Since there is no interlocking at Terminal E, this makes Track 1 useless at the Airport and is now the limiting item for headway.

In the pre-Amtrak days, each of the railroads serving Los Angeles (UP,SP, ATSF) had a suburban station (East LA, Alhambra, Pasadena, respectively) that were always heavily used. Alas, none of these exist today as Amtrak stations. Union Pacific had an extensive bus service to most areas of Southern California not served by the trains and it was not unusual for as many passengers to board UP trains at East LA as at LAUS. Glendale was the SP suburban station for northbound trains.

Not sure if the East LA station was actually in Los Angeles or not. I think all three lines also stopped in Pomona, though at three different stations, I think.