Amtrak Standard Stations

[gokeefe]

One interesting technique for "exploring" Amtrak's stations for the purposes of this discussion has been to use the "Quick Facts" section of the wiki entries and click on the stations listed as preceding or succeeding in the route cards.

An interesting discovery ... Not a single station on the Sunset Limited, to include suspended stations east of NOL has a "Standard Station". Furthermore, Omaha is the only Standard Station on the California Zephyr.

Although I shouldn't have been, I was very surprised by the wide diversity of architecture and local character of each individual station.

[gokeefe]

The current list of unmodified Standard Stations with Amtrak service

Hammond-Whiting, IN; (HMI): Wolverine

Grand Forks, ND; (GFK): Empire Builder

Omaha, NE; (OMA): California Zephyr

Carbondale, IL; (CDL): City of New Orleans, Illini, Saluki.[/quote]

Added Buffalo-Depew (BUF)

Buffalo-Depew, NY (BUF): Lake Shore Limited, Maple Leaf, Empire Service

[gokeefe]

The current list of unmodified Standard Stations with Amtrak service

Hammond-Whiting, IN; (HMI): Wolverine

Grand Forks, ND; (GFK): Empire Builder

Omaha, NE; (OMA): California Zephyr

Carbondale, IL; (CDL): City of New Orleans, Illini, Saluki

Buffalo-Depew, NY (BUF): Lake Shore Limited, Maple Leaf, Empire Service

Added Huntington, WV (HUN)

Huntington, WV; (HUN): Cardinal

[gokeefe]

The current list of unmodified Standard Stations with Amtrak service

Hammond-Whiting, IN; (HMI): Wolverine

Grand Forks, ND; (GFK): Empire Builder

Omaha, NE; (OMA): California Zephyr

Carbondale, IL; (CDL): City of New Orleans, Illini, Saluki

Buffalo-Depew, NY (BUF): Lake Shore Limited, Maple Leaf, Empire Service

Huntington, WV; (HUN): Cardinal

Added Cumberland, MD (CUM). This "Standard Station" appears to utilize the smallest floor plan from the Standard Stations Program.

Cumberland, MD; (CUM): Capitol Limited

[gokeefe]

The current list of unmodified Standard Stations with Amtrak service

Hammond-Whiting, IN; (HMI): Wolverine

Grand Forks, ND; (GFK): Empire Builder

Omaha, NE; (OMA): California Zephyr

Carbondale, IL; (CDL): City of New Orleans, Illini, Saluki

Buffalo-Depew, NY (BUF): Lake Shore Limited, Maple Leaf, Empire Service

Huntington, WV; (HUN): Cardinal

Cumberland, MD; (CUM): Capitol Limited

Added Tacoma, WA. This station has updated signage but unlike Miami everything else appears to be original.

Tacoma, WA; (TAC): Coast Starlight, Cascades

[gokeefe]

The current list of unmodified Standard Stations with Amtrak service

Hammond-Whiting, IN; (HMI): Wolverine

Grand Forks, ND; (GFK): Empire Builder

Omaha, NE; (OMA): California Zephyr

Carbondale, IL; (CDL): City of New Orleans, Illini, Saluki

Buffalo-Depew, NY (BUF): Lake Shore Limited, Maple Leaf, Empire Service

Huntington, WV; (HUN): Cardinal

Cumberland, MD; (CUM): Capitol Limited

Tacoma, WA; (TAC): Coast Starlight, Cascades

Modified "Standard Stations":

Miami, FL; (MIA)

Du Quoin, IL; (DQN): The building resembles a "Standard Station" but was built by IDOT and may have merely been designed to "mimic" Amtrak's designs.

[wigwagfan]

I know of nobody wanting to save the Tacoma station (it's a good thing the demo crews haven't already moved in on it). From what it appears, it is on land owned by BNSF, but I'm not sure what they would do with the property as most of their facilities are on the north side of the yard.

[ExCon90]

True--the Tacoma station worth saving was in fact saved and is being "adaptively re-used" as a museum. Seems safe.

[Ridgefielder]

Lest we forget

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation is not the first railroad to have standard station structures.

I give you the Southern Pacific:

See also Central Railroad of New Jersey: Red Bank, Matawan, Branchport Stations.

And the New York, New Haven & Hartford: Cos Cob, Old Greenwich, Noroton Heights, Darien, Westport, Southport, Stratford, Milford.

I think that back in the day every major road had a "standard" design or portfolio of designs for stations that imposed a common system-wide image. The NH, for instance, put up distinctive butterfly platform sheds (the best-preserved example I know of is at New Canaan https://goo.gl/maps/kSqr7iTkuC72) everywhere from Westchester County NY to Cape Cod. I've never seen those anywhere else.

[Roadgeek Adam]

Many railroads did.

The Erie and the Lackawanna had their own categories in their ICC Valuation reports as to what was considered what. You can tell, particularly in Erie architecture, the similarities.

[wigwagfan]

True--the Tacoma station worth saving was in fact saved and is being "adaptively re-used" as a museum. Seems safe.

It's not a museum - it's the United States Federal Courthouse for the Western District of Washington.

http://www.wawd.uscourts.gov/visitors/tacoma-courthouse" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That said, it is possible to rent the rotunda/lobby for private events.

http://unionstationrotunda.org/dev/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You might be thinking of the adjacent Washington State History Museum, which is a beautiful museum with a nice railroad exhibit (and a model railroad), but that is in a brand new building.

[ExCon90]

That's what it is--I saw both at the same time and got them mixed up.