Pawtucket Station

What’s the status on the station? CVS built another butt-ugly store next to it. I guess Walgreen’s will now build one on the opposite side.

still in limbo, I haven't heard anything in a long time now about work being done on the station. CVS started to take the parking lot or something, and the city made them stop. If you do a quick google search on Pawtucket station, I'm sure you'll get some answers there

LET'S NOT FORGET THE STATION IN THE PICTURES WAS THE PAWTUCKET-CENTRAL FALLS STATION WHICH WAS BUILT OVER THE BOUNDARY OF THE TWO CITIES. BEFORE THE NEW STATION WAS OPENED IN 1916 EACH CITY HAD ITS OWN STATION WHICH WERE CONSOLIDATED BY THE NEW STATION. THE PAWTUCKET STATION WAS CLOSED IN 1914. FOR MORE INFORMATION SEE --
http://sites.google.com/site/pawtucketcentralfalls

Great topic, I've always been a bit curious about this station. It was in a picture in PTJ maybe 20 years ago, and the picture was from about 1970. It was an absolutley decrepit PC pair of E8's dragging a decrepit passenger train under a totally crumbling station. The picture very clearly illustrated the broken spirit of PC/NH in that era.

Years later, I read a Leon Uris novel featuring a character from P/CF and it reminded me of the depot and the picture. I did a bit of research and found the revitalization plans. Can't say I'm surprised they haven't gone far. That's a huge building, and it needs to see a lot of revenue somehow to pay for a rebuild that will likely go into the $20+m price range. I grew up in South Bend, with a similar big but empty train station. It's hard to make those buildings pay for themselves. You can only have some many weddings in a year to rent out the building. You also have similar situations in many cities served by eastern railroads. Richmond, IN; Buffalo, Detroit... Even Cinci and Indy have semi-viable old stations and they struggle to pay bills.

Pawtucket station also has the disadvantage of being in a very blue-collar neighborhood that is unlikely to attract any upscale development.

It was a ten minute walk to the Pawtucket-Central Falls station when I was growing up in the 1940's and 1950's and when my mother took us to Providence we would often use the frequent train service since the ride was only 8 minutes to the center of Providence, faster than the bus or car and you didn't need to park. Once I even rode in the front seat of the Mack railbus that for a short time ran up to Worcester. Although I was a railfan-steam fan at an early age, I can't say I really appreciated the Pawtucket-Central Falls station, partly because I took stations for granted (there were so many) and partly because the building already showed the signs of neglect and the New Haven's poor financial condition. Moreover, it was not a great place for watching trains -- the stair landing at the footbridge closer to Boston Switch was the place for watching. Nevertheless, I can still remember the ALCO DL-109's sitting at the station with a local -- the view from above the tracks, the odor of the engine, and the sound of the diesel idling were all good. But the view was cramped and not a good spot for photos which is why you seldom see them. On the other hand, the ticket window was open and timtables were available. The flyer that prompted my first fan trip - a steam trip over the Central Vermont - came from the station. I also bought coach and sleeper tickets there for trips to Canada to see plentiful steam including the three 4-4-0's in New Brunswick. The tickets were the long interline type with a coupon for every leg and railroad on the trip. I don't have much hope for a restoration. I actually haven't seen the station in many years since I moved from New England in 1961.

Please take a look at my website which documents the history of the place -- http://sites.google.com/site/pawtucketcentralfalls