Any Volunteer Up Keep of Stations?

[Larry H.]

Hello all,

Just before Christmas I took the Saluki to Chicago for the day. When we arrived at Mattoon I was disturbed by the total mess the platform area was. Overgrown in brush, chunks of concrete and rock strewn about, trash everywhere, huge electrical cables draped thru the tree limbs, almost no lighting. In fact if you hadn't known the town had been there for years you might have thought the station had been abandoned 50 years ago. (maybe is was).

So when I returned I looked up the local paper on the net, and sent a email about the condtiions wondering how the town could so ignore the way passengers were seeing there town. (Actually not much of the town is visable from the train as it is one of those under the street type stops, out of site, out of mind). I didn't know if they printed it or not. But yesterday I got a call from a journalist from the local college paper I believe who wants to interview me about my letter for a story on the station.

What I am wondering since I really don't know much about who and how stations are managed, is what other towns may have done to put on a good face to the traveling public. If I lived there I might be inclined to see if a committee of volunteers might be able to spruce the place up. A few planters, clean up the brush and trash, a few benchs, maybe some decent light fixtures? I know our local stop which is Centralia was shortsided enough to tear ours down and later rebuilt a tiny version of it out of brick, where at least an hour before and after the train come you can wait inside. And up the line from Mattoon, Champaign has a wonder ful thriving new station complete with all kinds of businesses and really looks great. Any thing I can relate to the reporter when I talk to him next week for ideas?

 

[Rafi]

Hello all,
Just before Christmas I took the Saluki to Chicago for the day. When we arrived at Mattoon I was disturbed by the total mess the platform area was. Overgrown in brush, chunks of concrete and rock strewn about, trash everywhere, huge electrical cables draped thru the tree limbs, almost no lighting. In fact if you hadn't known the town had been there for years you might have thought the station had been abandoned 50 years ago. (maybe is was).

So when I returned I looked up the local paper on the net, and sent a email about the condtiions wondering how the town could so ignore the way passengers were seeing there town. (Actually not much of the town is visable from the train as it is one of those under the street type stops, out of site, out of mind). I didn't know if they printed it or not. But yesterday I got a call from a journalist from the local college paper I believe who wants to interview me about my letter for a story on the station.

What I am wondering since I really don't know much about who and how stations are managed, is what other towns may have done to put on a good face to the traveling public. If I lived there I might be inclined to see if a committee of volunteers might be able to spruce the place up. A few planters, clean up the brush and trash, a few benchs, maybe some decent light fixtures? I know our local stop which is Centralia was shortsided enough to tear ours down and later rebuilt a tiny version of it out of brick, where at least an hour before and after the train come you can wait inside. And up the line from Mattoon, Champaign has a wonder ful thriving new station complete with all kinds of businesses and really looks great. Any thing I can relate to the reporter when I talk to him next week for ideas?

A number of small "main street" communities have taken their historic stations, bought them from the railroad, and have revitalized them into community information centers, libraries, event halls, etc. I've seen this happen in both Amtrak and non-Amtrak towns alike. Amtrak, in fact, embraces the idea publicly (obviously), and has recently even created a website devoted to the idea to serve as an extended hand to these communities:

Great American Stations

The site details a number of these stations, and is adding more, as I understand. A good place to do some research, and to possibly find similar stations that have had a facelift is the USA Rail Guide. You'll be able to search nearby towns that may provide some inspiration for Mattoon.

-Rafi

 

[haolerider]

Hello all,
Just before Christmas I took the Saluki to Chicago for the day. When we arrived at Mattoon I was disturbed by the total mess the platform area was. Overgrown in brush, chunks of concrete and rock strewn about, trash everywhere, huge electrical cables draped thru the tree limbs, almost no lighting. In fact if you hadn't known the town had been there for years you might have thought the station had been abandoned 50 years ago. (maybe is was).

So when I returned I looked up the local paper on the net, and sent a email about the condtiions wondering how the town could so ignore the way passengers were seeing there town. (Actually not much of the town is visable from the train as it is one of those under the street type stops, out of site, out of mind). I didn't know if they printed it or not. But yesterday I got a call from a journalist from the local college paper I believe who wants to interview me about my letter for a story on the station.

What I am wondering since I really don't know much about who and how stations are managed, is what other towns may have done to put on a good face to the traveling public. If I lived there I might be inclined to see if a committee of volunteers might be able to spruce the place up. A few planters, clean up the brush and trash, a few benchs, maybe some decent light fixtures? I know our local stop which is Centralia was shortsided enough to tear ours down and later rebuilt a tiny version of it out of brick, where at least an hour before and after the train come you can wait inside. And up the line from Mattoon, Champaign has a wonder ful thriving new station complete with all kinds of businesses and really looks great. Any thing I can relate to the reporter when I talk to him next week for ideas?

You can refer him to the new website developed by Amtrak called - GreatAmericanStations.com, which will at least explain the fact that Amtrak does not own many of the stations they use. Most are owned either by the freight railroads or the cities in which they are located. Many cities that have stations located in the central part of the city have renovated the stations to house Chamber of Commerce, Convention & Visitors Bureau offices, restaurants, etc. and then they lease a small portion to Atmrak for waiting room use. I know some cities that have organized volunteer efforts to help clean up and keep run-down stations clean, so there is an opportunity here for the citizens of Matoon to do some local grassroots work and get the station back to a presentable condition. Good Luck.

 

[jg greenwood]

I'm currently employed by the IC railroad and run through Mattoon on a regular basis. Your assessment of the "depot" is 100% accurate!! I can only hope the interior of the building is in better conditon. Have you ever seen the hovel that passes for the Amtrak depot at Fulton, KY.? What a disgrace!!

 

[Larry H.]

I'm currently employed by the IC railroad and run through Mattoon on a regular basis. Your assessment of the "depot" is 100% accurate!! I can only hope the interior of the building is in better conditon. Have you ever seen the hovel that passes for the Amtrak depot at Fulton, KY.? What a disgrace!!

Next time I drive up that way which I do on ocassion I will make a point to check it out. I have seen it from the street but never actually tried to go into it. I don't know if its open or not?

 

[railfangns]

Fulton KY isnt the only city to have an amshack for a station.Some would make better lawn mower

storage buildings than train stations.On the Sunset Limited last week i stepped off in Bomont Tx there

was no station there at all. Only a concrete platform the conductor told me the city had torn it down.

And in other cities the stations needed some TLC.New paint and repairing the buildings would help

a lot.Our station in GNS is unstaffed but our caretaker keeps it very clean and it was painted several

years ago.I have been in the stations in Meridian and Laurel MS the cities restored them they are

nice.ATL ANA BHM TCL NOL needs some work.I noticed the station in Hattiesburg was under

renovation. Good for them! In NOl the Magnolia room for sleeping car passengers was nice but the

main area needs new entry doors. I noticed several of them was boarded up due to the glass being

broken out of them.Washington union station is the nicest station i have used.I also like Chicago

union station.If they could eliminate the long set of stairs you must climb in ATL that would be great!

perhaps an esclator like in WAS would work.

 

[AmtrakWPK]

The Sanford, Florida (SFD) Depot had fallen into such awful disrepair that it was condemned in the last year or so and that's why Amtrak no longer stops there for passengers, although they do occasionally stop there so the Auto-Train mechanical folks can do some temporary repairs on Silver Service trains on the way through. The Auto-Train Depot is of course still in operation and is in pretty good shape. when the train stops at the Sanford (SFD) regular train location, the Auto-Train Depot is only 50-100 yards away.

 

[jg greenwood]

I'm currently employed by the IC railroad and run through Mattoon on a regular basis. Your assessment of the "depot" is 100% accurate!! I can only hope the interior of the building is in better conditon. Have you ever seen the hovel that passes for the Amtrak depot at Fulton, KY.? What a disgrace!!

Next time I drive up that way which I do on ocassion I will make a point to check it out. I have seen it from the street but never actually tried to go into it. I don't know if its open or not?

If you're talking about the shack at Fulton, it's open. Several months ago my conductor and I dead-headed from Fulton back to Centralia. At that time it was open, even at 0100. The sty actually has the appearance of being a temporary stop-over for the area homeless.

 

[Everydaymatters]

Kingman, Arizona, doesn't have a "depot". It has a delapidated, old, ugly, dirty storefront where passengers have to wait. There's a washroom with a lock that doesn't work. The sink and toilet are disgusting. The furniture is old and falling apart. It's very cold and uncomfortable. Apparently the train crew is next door in another store front. While you're waiting, you're wondering how you're going to know when the train arrives because there's absolutely nothing there to let you know and the tracks are 1/2 block away from this "depot". Then a crew member pops his head in to tell you how late the train is and when it is due to arrive.

Sorry, there's just nothing good to say about it. Apparently the real depot has been closed "for repairs" for a couple of years with no sign of any repair work being done on it. I never saw the real depot, but this is what I've been told.

 

[Save Our Trains Michigan]

Like Haolerider has said most Amtrak stations are leased to Amtrak such as East Lansing MSU owns the Bldg leases it to CATA and CATA leases it to Amtrak for $1 a year also CATA leases it to Greyhound.

Save Our Trains Michigan is tiring to gather support to have this station remodeled or a new one built it is way over capacity it only has seats for 35 passengers Amtrak has around 100 passengers getting on and off each train now everyday.

We are asking for all the help we can get to push the City of East Lansing and MSU and MDOT to look at improvements to this station but we need your help.

Here are some pictures i took over the last 2 weeks of the station.

http://www.putfile.com/bnsf1088/images/73028

 

[Guest]

Hello all,
Just before Christmas I took the Saluki to Chicago for the day. When we arrived at Mattoon I was disturbed by the total mess the platform area was. Overgrown in brush, chunks of concrete and rock strewn about, trash everywhere, huge electrical cables draped thru the tree limbs, almost no lighting. In fact if you hadn't known the town had been there for years you might have thought the station had been abandoned 50 years ago. (maybe is was).

So when I returned I looked up the local paper on the net, and sent a email about the condtiions wondering how the town could so ignore the way passengers were seeing there town. (Actually not much of the town is visable from the train as it is one of those under the street type stops, out of site, out of mind). I didn't know if they printed it or not. But yesterday I got a call from a journalist from the local college paper I believe who wants to interview me about my letter for a story on the station.

What I am wondering since I really don't know much about who and how stations are managed, is what other towns may have done to put on a good face to the traveling public. If I lived there I might be inclined to see if a committee of volunteers might be able to spruce the place up. A few planters, clean up the brush and trash, a few benchs, maybe some decent light fixtures? I know our local stop which is Centralia was shortsided enough to tear ours down and later rebuilt a tiny version of it out of brick, where at least an hour before and after the train come you can wait inside. And up the line from Mattoon, Champaign has a wonder ful thriving new station complete with all kinds of businesses and really looks great. Any thing I can relate to the reporter when I talk to him next week for ideas?

May I suggest consulting with the National Aasociation of Rail Passengers as well? www.narprail.org They are trying to gather advocates for each Amtrak route from among the communities each serves. Perhaps this could serve as a networking base for you?

Joseph

Erie, PA

 

[Anthony]

Kingman, Arizona, doesn't have a "depot". It has a delapidated, old, ugly, dirty storefront where passengers have to wait. There's a washroom with a lock that doesn't work. The sink and toilet are disgusting. The furniture is old and falling apart. It's very cold and uncomfortable. Apparently the train crew is next door in another store front. While you're waiting, you're wondering how you're going to know when the train arrives because there's absolutely nothing there to let you know and the tracks are 1/2 block away from this "depot". Then a crew member pops his head in to tell you how late the train is and when it is due to arrive.
Sorry, there's just nothing good to say about it. Apparently the real depot has been closed "for repairs" for a couple of years with no sign of any repair work being done on it. I never saw the real depot, but this is what I've been told.

The original depot is an ex-ATSF structure that was open to passenger waiting as recently as the late '90s, though the Amtrak agent has been gone since probably 1985. It has been closed for quite some time, though, and I doubt there is any money to restore it.

 

[Anthony]

Kingman, Arizona, doesn't have a "depot". It has a delapidated, old, ugly, dirty storefront where passengers have to wait. There's a washroom with a lock that doesn't work. The sink and toilet are disgusting. The furniture is old and falling apart. It's very cold and uncomfortable. Apparently the train crew is next door in another store front. While you're waiting, you're wondering how you're going to know when the train arrives because there's absolutely nothing there to let you know and the tracks are 1/2 block away from this "depot". Then a crew member pops his head in to tell you how late the train is and when it is due to arrive.
Sorry, there's just nothing good to say about it. Apparently the real depot has been closed "for repairs" for a couple of years with no sign of any repair work being done on it. I never saw the real depot, but this is what I've been told.

Plus, the only reason I can think of to use that waiting area is if you are a Thruway bus passenger. I think the bus contractor runs that storefront. If I were originating in Kingman, I'd stay home and call in to Julie for an ETA.

 

[Mike S.]

Buffalo, NY has two stations. One is in the burbs. Its very typical 1970's, clean and neat, but by no means special. It must be the model 70's station that Amtrak built b/c in a train video of mine one of the stations on the California Surfline looks exactly like the one here.

However, the downtown station is a DUMP. Its completely embarasing. The inside is fine..albiet small, but fine. Its like the size of an old small depot. However, the outside looks so neglected. There is just tons of garbage in the tracks, the platflorm blacktop is crakced and heaving, the overhead cover (what do you call this...it looks a V shaped roof) is just rusting to hell. Best of all..there is no color anywhere. Its brick and blacktop and thats it. I wish our downtown station....even if kept small, was just a nice gateway to the cool city Buffalo is becoming.

Mike S.

 

[haolerider]

Buffalo, NY has two stations. One is in the burbs. Its very typical 1970's, clean and neat, but by no means special. It must be the model 70's station that Amtrak built b/c in a train video of mine one of the stations on the California Surfline looks exactly like the one here.
However, the downtown station is a DUMP. Its completely embarasing. The inside is fine..albiet small, but fine. Its like the size of an old small depot. However, the outside looks so neglected. There is just tons of garbage in the tracks, the platflorm blacktop is crakced and heaving, the overhead cover (what do you call this...it looks a V shaped roof) is just rusting to hell. Best of all..there is no color anywhere. Its brick and blacktop and thats it. I wish our downtown station....even if kept small, was just a nice gateway to the cool city Buffalo is becoming.

Mike S.

Why don't you see if you can find out who owns the station and see if you can organize some volunteers to help do a general clean-up?

 

[Guest]

Buffalo, NY has two stations. One is in the burbs. Its very typical 1970's, clean and neat, but by no means special. It must be the model 70's station that Amtrak built b/c in a train video of mine one of the stations on the California Surfline looks exactly like the one here.

However, the downtown station is a DUMP. Its completely embarasing. The inside is fine..albiet small, but fine. Its like the size of an old small depot. However, the outside looks so neglected. There is just tons of garbage in the tracks, the platflorm blacktop is crakced and heaving, the overhead cover (what do you call this...it looks a V shaped roof) is just rusting to hell. Best of all..there is no color anywhere. Its brick and blacktop and thats it. I wish our downtown station....even if kept small, was just a nice gateway to the cool city Buffalo is becoming.

Mike S.

Why don't you see if you can find out who owns the station and see if you can organize some volunteers to help do a general clean-up?

According to this piece on the City of Buffalo website

http://www.ci.buffalo.ny.us/Home/NewsCalen...xecutiveSummary

there is some talk about a new intermodal center. It mentions that the City owns the present station. Check it out-quite an interesting proposal you could maybe help champion there.

Guess there is little to no hope of Buffalo Central Terminal ever serving as an Amtrak station again?

http://www.trainweb.org/rshs/GRS%20Buffalo%201.htm

I was in Buffalo in December at Shea's Theater for Prarie Home Companion. Really enjoyed the downtown...some beautiful architecture there, real monuments to the vision and wealth of their builders.

Joseph

Erie, PA

 

[Larry H.]

It turns out the Matoon Jornal Gazette - Times- courier ran my editorial and on Jan. 9, 07 ran there own editorial entittled : Our View: Amtrak passengers judging city at depot platform. In that they say the city needs to do something as they have collected monies to rehab the building, which evidently hasn't been done. But when it comes to the platform area the city attorney says that the Canadian National owns the platform and right a way and is the one that controls the trash and upkeep. Sounds like passing the buck, which over a few days other readers elude to.

http://www.jg-tc.com/articles/2007/01/10/o...ditorial001.txt

Hopefully this will link to the actual article.

Larry

 

[haolerider]

It turns out the Matoon Jornal Gazette - Times- courier ran my editorial and on Jan. 9, 07 ran there own editorial entittled : Our View: Amtrak passengers judging city at depot platform. In that they say the city needs to do something as they have collected monies to rehab the building, which evidently hasn't been done. But when it comes to the platform area the city attorney says that the Canadian National owns the platform and right a way and is the one that controls the trash and upkeep. Sounds like passing the buck, which over a few days other readers elude to.
http://www.jg-tc.com/articles/2007/01/10/o...ditorial001.txt

Hopefully this will link to the actual article.

Larry

Congratulations Larry, It look as though you got something started and maybe Matoon will have a clean and presentable station in the near future. It just goes to show that taking action of almost any kind can result in positive reactions.

 

[AlanB]

Guess there is little to no hope of Buffalo Central Terminal ever serving as an Amtrak station again?http://www.trainweb.org/rshs/GRS%20Buffalo%201.htm

I think most railfan's are hoping that someone can even find enough money to keep it from falling down, much less actually see it used as intended.

 

[Guest]

Guess there is little to no hope of Buffalo Central Terminal ever serving as an Amtrak station again?

http://www.trainweb.org/rshs/GRS%20Buffalo%201.htm

I think most railfan's are hoping that someone can even find enough money to keep it from falling down, much less actually see it used as intended.

I was thinking of some kind of mixed-use like the station in Pittsburgh where I grew up. That thing was a hole when I started riding Amtrak in the mid-70s. I remember walking around the dark exterior with exposed bare lightbulbs and weeds. Dark and shadowy. I remember my folks being nervous about it.

In my teen years it was transformed into condos and office space with a small Amtrak waiting/ticketing area. But the majesty of the place was at least preserved. Again, a monument to a past when public spaces had interesting, awe-inspiring designs...

In Erie our Amtrak station is a minute portion of the grand old Union Station, a mixed-use restaurant/"Brew-Erie" and offices...but it's still here!

Joseph

Erie, PA

 

[Mike S.]

Buffalo, NY has two stations. One is in the burbs. Its very typical 1970's, clean and neat, but by no means special. It must be the model 70's station that Amtrak built b/c in a train video of mine one of the stations on the California Surfline looks exactly like the one here.

However, the downtown station is a DUMP. Its completely embarasing. The inside is fine..albiet small, but fine. Its like the size of an old small depot. However, the outside looks so neglected. There is just tons of garbage in the tracks, the platflorm blacktop is crakced and heaving, the overhead cover (what do you call this...it looks a V shaped roof) is just rusting to hell. Best of all..there is no color anywhere. Its brick and blacktop and thats it. I wish our downtown station....even if kept small, was just a nice gateway to the cool city Buffalo is becoming.

Mike S.

Why don't you see if you can find out who owns the station and see if you can organize some volunteers to help do a general clean-up?

According to this piece on the City of Buffalo website

http://www.ci.buffalo.ny.us/Home/NewsCalen...xecutiveSummary

there is some talk about a new intermodal center. It mentions that the City owns the present station. Check it out-quite an interesting proposal you could maybe help champion there.

Guess there is little to no hope of Buffalo Central Terminal ever serving as an Amtrak station again?

http://www.trainweb.org/rshs/GRS%20Buffalo%201.htm

I was in Buffalo in December at Shea's Theater for Prarie Home Companion. Really enjoyed the downtown...some beautiful architecture there, real monuments to the vision and wealth of their builders.

Joseph

Erie, PA

Two things:

1. The transporation intermodal center is dead for the time being. I've been happy that there are discussions of it and I'm embarassed to say I didn't even know about that posting on the City's webpage. However, I was well aware of the idea of it. However, building this ceter was riding on them building a Bass Pro store in the old Buffalo Sabres Aud. BUT...that plan is dead and it looks like they are building a new build down on the waterfront instead. They really want to tear down the aud now so no real chance of an intermodal station there. It would make sense though to tie in greyhoud buses, amtrak, and Metro Rail all in one place.

2. The central terminal would not really work as a train station anymore. Its in a bad part of town and too close to the Depew (suburb) Amtrak Station. The old central terminal is about halfway between downtown and the depew station. So...rehabing it for a train station doesn't make sense. It won't serve downtown and it will be too close to Depew. Plus, since the neighborhood is sketchy....people will be afraid to use it. There is hope though that the building will be rehabed as a mixed use building staying close to its roots, but non-train related. They are making progress at a grass roots level.

http://www.buffalocentralterminal.org/

 

[Railbender]

That's a shame, Mike. I just read something last week about the DeLand, FL station... Somebody got their Eagle Scout for painting there. I use this station annually to escape the "Lake Effect" for a week and it needed paint. (It also had about $400,000.00 worth of renovations as well). So, I DO think concerned groups or individuals might be welcome to adopt their community's station...

Here's a link to the Orlando Sentinel article referncing the Scout project:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/...adlines-volusia

Here's another link to an IN paper that cites the Amtrak "Champion of the Rails" Award presented to high school students for maintaining their community's station...

http://www.thepaper24-7.com/main.asp?Secti...amp;TM=65753.07

Good stuff.

 

[jg greenwood]

That's a shame, Mike. I just read something last week about the DeLand, FL station... Somebody got their Eagle Scout for painting there. I use this station annually to escape the "Lake Effect" for a week and it needed paint. (It also had about $400,000.00 worth of renovations as well). So, I DO think concerned groups or individuals might be welcome to adopt their community's station...
Here's a link to the Orlando Sentinel article referncing the Scout project:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/...adlines-volusia

Here's another link to an IN paper that cites the Amtrak "Champion of the Rails" Award presented to high school students for maintaining their community's station...

http://www.thepaper24-7.com/main.asp?Secti...amp;TM=65753.07

Good stuff.

 

[Sam Damon]

I was thinking of some kind of mixed-use like the station in Pittsburgh where I grew up. That thing was a hole when I started riding Amtrak in the mid-70s. I remember walking around the dark exterior with exposed bare lightbulbs and weeds. Dark and shadowy. I remember my folks being nervous about it.
In my teen years it was transformed into condos and office space with a small Amtrak waiting/ticketing area. But the majesty of the place was at least preserved. Again, a monument to a past when public spaces had interesting, awe-inspiring designs...

Renovations to Penn Station in Pittsburgh around 1959 had helped put the PRR in financial trouble, IIRC. Pittsburgh's Penn Station underwent some hard times during the 1970's, as did a number of other major metropolitan train stations during that era. Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh, where the station was located, during that time frame was Pittsburgh's "red light district", complete with X-rated movie theaters and sex shops.

Around 1978 or 1979 I talked my dad into taking me "dahntahn" to visit the Amtrak ticket agent there, where I collected a timetable. Conrail still had many offices in the building. The main waiting room was still open. It did suffer from a horrid dropped ceiling, though, and I can recall thinking, "What a neat room this must have been", and how grand it must have been to catch the Broadway Limited there, even if it was at 1:30 in the morning. I also remember the trackside area frozen in a time warp from the 1950's. I think we might have seen a freight train pass through, and then we left.

The really bad things did not happen to it, though, until the mid-1980's. After the National Limited was discontinued, Conrail pulled up the Panhandle line, and sold off the building for renovation into condos. That old waiting room disappeared, but at least the building was still intact, and Pittsburgh's leaders began to chase away the sex shop merchants with changes in the zoning code. Amtrak moved into a steel building plopped down somehow in the middle of the track area, but PAT began building the East Busway along part of the RoW, eating up space on the side of the station farthest away from the river.

After the predictable political squabbling over who would pay how much for what, Amtrak finally got the cash to tear down the pole barn in the middle of the station, and replace it with a much smaller station in what once was some PRR-freight related facility in the basement of the station. The disadvantage to this current station is the number of steps one must climb to reach trackside. Long-term parking is also a dreary situation, until the bus terminal across the street is finished. On the plus side, that part of town is safer than it has been in some time.

 

[rtabern]

I know sometimes Amtrak will pay folks to "caretake" for a station.

I've chatted with the 2 people who look after the station in Princeton, IL that the CA Zephyr, Southwest Chief, Carl Sandberg, etc. stop at.

I guess they get paid a little to be there for arrivals/departures and they clean up the bathrooms.

They live right across from the PCT station, so it's not a big deal for them to come over there... even when 4 and 6 are running super late.

The PCT is really beautiful... and has old photos from the Burlington Northern days of passenger train service.