Amtrak Station Experience

[Westernstar1]

I know some have characterized a few Amtrak long distance routes as "experiential". I'm starting to think the real experiences are not along a LD route, but at an Amtrak station. And it's not a good experience.

I'm am really getting turned off by all too many Amtrak stations where the homeless, druggies, and otherwise indigent folk are making the station environmentally unacceptable. These squalid stations seem to be the rule, rather than the exception.

Before Covid 19 hit I was planning on a flight from Northern California to Portland, then a trip on the Empire Builder to Whitefish, Montana. However, until the virus dissipates, there's no way I'm going to get on an airplane. However, I also have a problem with Union Station, in Portland. Portland has a huge homeless population and I understand it's especially a major problem around Portland Union. Just not an environment I wish to enter.

I know there are major problems with homeless, druggies, and indigent folks in and around many Amtrak stations. Some of these stations aren't necessarily in large metropolitan areas. For example, Santa Barbara Calif. has had a homeless problem, at their Amtrak station, for years. Of course, a big problem for Penn Central Stn and Union Stn in Washington, DC . A few years ago, there was a homeless guy living in a tent atop the Amtrak station in Antioch, Calif.
Two years ago, I took the Coast Starlight from Martinez, Calif. to Oregon. The Martinez station had a few homeless, but what I really noticed, sitting on a bench ouutside the station, was the number of cockroaches all over the place, You couldn't walk anywhere without stepping on a few.

In other words, I think too many Amtrak stations are not "family friendly". I'm wondering if I will ever take another Amtrak train. The worsening conditions and food, aboard the train, is a definite problem. But the station experience may be worse.

Next summer, I was thinking of flying to Seattle then taking the Builder to Whitefish. However, considering what's going on up in Seattle, no way do I wish to get near King St. Station.

What is the Amtrak station in Vancouver, WA like? If it's acceptable, I could fly to Portland, OR then take a cab or Uber to the Vancouver, WA station before boarding the Builder.

Richard

[west point]

Vancouver, Wa ? You fly to Portland, Or. not Seattle.

[Westernstar1]

Thanks for correcting my error, Mr. West Point. I made the correction. A flight to Portland then a cab or Uber to the Amtrak station in Vancouver, WA. I believe the Amtrak station, in Vancouver, WA, is about a 20-30 minute drive from Portland International Airport.

Richard

[wigwagfan]

I agree with you re: Portland Union Station. The station from a distance looks beautiful, but the inside of it is functionally obsolete (and in today's 91 degree weather? Absolutely abysmal with no air conditioning and no ventilation!) The surrounding area has never been great but thanks to the new homeless resource center across the street with the heroin clinic, the closed Greyhound station now a nice place to sleep, and the sidewalk underneath the Broadway Bridge, it's getting to be a downright inhospitable part of town.

Vancouver's Amtrak station is quite a bit different, as it's located on BNSF property within the wye. BNSF Police are located across the street and do actively patrol the area as does Vancouver Police. No homeless issues there (now walk to the east side of the yard and north a few blocks, there's a massive homeless camp there.) There's little in terms of amenities at the Vancouver station but it at least has working A/C and plenty of seating. Food service is two vending machines; nearby restaurants are quite a walk away (or a short taxi/Uber/Lyft drive away). Downtown Vancouver has long been an ugly headed stepchild and doesn't exactly rank in the "Top 500 downtowns of the United States" lists, but the area around Esther Short Park is pretty nice especially on weekends if the Farmer's Market is running. Vancouver is also working to redevelop its waterfront to try and mimic Portland's condo and hip scene.

[Tadman]

RE Portland, Go slightly south of the station by about half mile and it's clean and nice. Plenty of good food. Cab over fifteen minutes before your train. I'd suggest Shigezu Izakaya or Tasty Alder for lunch. Vancouver is pretty clean but utterly boring. I have family there and it's a very nice town, I hope they can amp up downtown just a bit.

[Pensyfan19]

In terms of Amtrak stations, there are certain stations which would not meet the needs for current or future services. Such examples include the "amshacks" at major cities such as Omaha, Salt Lake City, Cleveland, Syracuse, Buffalo, and Portland Maine (as well as nearly countless smaller stops along LD and regional routes such as Fulton, KY), and other locations with stations with nowhere near as many tracks as it used to have, such as St. Paul Union station, Toledo, Cincinnati, Memphis Central Station, Rochester (sorry, but 1 island platform does not accommodate the same amount as six island platforms) and the large amount of dust known as the remains of Omaha Union Station (already listed but I feel the need to explain how empty this once-great station was). If some of these cities were to experience more service, such as Atlanta which was already discussed in another topic, I feel that the station which is being served should have more tracks added to it, rather than an island platform off to the distance, rather than a modified bus station on concrete. There are some signs of improvement with certain stations, specifically Elyria, OH and Springfield, MA Union Station, being rebuilt into larger, cleaner stations with more platforms to accommodate potential service increase.

[Westernstar1]

Omaha Union Station was really a beautiful train station. In the late 1940's, the station saw an average of 10,000 passengers in and out of the station every day.





Richard

[Gilbert B Norman]

Messrs. Pennsy and Western Star Richard, I'm surprised to hear reference to Omaha Union Station in the past tense, for it is quite alive today as the Durham Museum.

Now the Burlington Station, to which the present-day Amshack is adjacent, appears to be a different story. Last time I had occasion to be near Omaha, '07 IIRC, the Station was home to a TV station. However that appears "past tense", and Mr. Pennsy's comment could be quite appropriate for that structure.

But in view of the hours at which #5 and #6 call, it doesn't look like an attractive location at which to board or alight a train.

[Westernstar1]

I didn't know about the Durham Museum. Thanks for the infomation, Mr. Norman.

Mr. Pensyfan19, you mentioned Elyria, Ohio. I'm glad that it's being refurbished.

Amtrak station in Elyria:



Richard

[Tadman]

Omaha Union Station is alive and well. They just don't need it for trains. Omaha is and always will be a place that won't see many trains. The population density out there is one step from the Sahara.

[dgvrengineer]

Omaha UP station is now beautifully restored and is open as the Durham Museum. Union Station across the tracks from the UP station is still a TV station or was in May of 2019 when I was there last. Amtrak has an Amshack next to Union Station which is spartan but adequate for the current number of trains. The UP station and Union station where once connected by an overhead foot bridge which served as access to the track platforms and a connection for passengers arriving from one station and connecting to the other.

[Pensyfan19]

Omaha UP station is now beautifully restored and is open as the Durham Museum. Union Station across the tracks from the UP station is still a TV station or was in May of 2019 when I was there last. Amtrak has an Amshack next to Union Station which is spartan but adequate for the current number of trains. The UP station and Union station where once connected by an overhead foot bridge which served as access to the track platforms and a connection for passengers arriving from one station and connecting to the other.

The point I am trying to make with Omaha specifically, is that the station used to have 20 or so tracks for passenger service, and now it's downgraded to an amshack with a side platform. If there is an increase of service traveling through or terminating at Omaha, which I have a feeling it might since I heard that the Quad Cities would eventually go to Omaha, then the current Omaha station would need to be upgraded with more tracks in order to hold a large capacity of passenger and through freight trains.

[urr304]

I know it is not Cleveland Union Terminal but the Amtrak station in Cleveland I do not think qualifies as an 'Amshack' with all the negative tones. It has secure parking and from what I had seen interior wasn't bad.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view ... tedIndex=1

[Roadgeek Adam]

I didn't know about the Durham Museum. Thanks for the infomation, Mr. Norman.

Mr. Pensyfan19, you mentioned Elyria, Ohio. I'm glad that it's being refurbished.

Amtrak station in Elyria:



Richard

That depot burned down in October 2013. It has been a bus stop shelter ever since.

[Gilbert B Norman]

Omaha UP station is now beautifully restored and is open as the Durham Museum. Union Station across the tracks from the UP station is still a TV station or was in May of 2019 when I was there last. .... The UP station and Union station where once connected by an overhead foot bridge .......

Mr. DVG, the structures are Union Station that is now the Durham Museum, and from which all roads other than the CB&Q operated, and the Burlington Station that I'm pleased to learn
from you still houses a TV station.

And yes, I do recall once seeing an overhead walkway between the two structures.