SLC station.

[creddick]

The last time I was in Salt Lake, 1990 (I know, a long time ago), Amtrak was using a beautiful station near downtown. Maybe the Rio Grande station? Today I was looking for the station and didn't find it. The Rio Grande station is now restaurants, shops, etc., with no tracks in sight. Ditto for the UP station which is part of the Gateway. Good uses for the stations but what does Amtrak use and where is it? Please don't tell me they use a shack of some ind now. BTW, the grand hall at the UP station is gorgeous.

 

[bretton88]

You bet they use an Amshack. It's just south of Salt Lake Central, where Frontrunner stops, just follow the tracks. It's a very depressing Amshack in my mind too. It's a wooden blue building.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

SLC is indeed an Amshack, but I wouldn't call it depressing; it's just sorta there. Depressing is a grand old station fallen into serious disrepair - my last look at Omaha comes to mind. In addition to FrontRunner (commuter trains to Ogden), Salt Lake Central is the downtown terminus for Trax light rail Blue (Sandy) and Red (University) lines, and has UTA and Greyhound buses.

For a non-depressing old station take a FrontRunner up to Ogden and visit the old Union Station, home to 3 museums and a cool outdoor railroad collection.

 

[creddick]

I call it depressing, especially when you see what could be. The two stations downtown are really neat and a real attraction. If you want to really talk depressing, take a ride by the Michigan Central depot in Detroit. It will make you cry.

 

[AlanB]

Actually, if it hasn't happened already, Amtrak will be moving into the new intermodal facility that will serve buses, FrontRunner, light rail, and buses. And that building definately does not qualify as an Amshack.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

And that building definately does not qualify as an Amshack.

Quite right. It's a Greyhound station that looks like a small airport terminal, inside and out:

Unless California Zephyrs are tortuously rerouted over FrontRunner rails past this building, then back to the UP main line, the structure is pretty inconveniently situated for passengers and Amtrak staff.

 

[AlanB]

Unless California Zephyrs are tortuously rerouted over FrontRunner rails past this building, then back to the UP main line, the structure is pretty inconveniently situated for passengers and Amtrak staff.

No rerouting required, the new building is maybe 50 yards down the very same track as the Amshack. When the OTOL gang briefly visited SLC a few years ago we ran the detour route from Denver to SLC and were hours early into SLC. Several people actually walked to the new station that wasn't yet completed and saw the concept drawings that include space for Amtrak. In fact, one could walk straight down the existing platform between the two buildings. One can see both the tracks and the two stations in this sat photo.

And with a major interlocking just north of the new station, all trains including FrontRunner pass through that interlocking.

 

[zephyr17]

The last time I was in Salt Lake, 1990 (I know, a long time ago), Amtrak was using a beautiful station near downtown. Maybe the Rio Grande station? Today I was looking for the station and didn't find it. The Rio Grande station is now restaurants, shops, etc., with no tracks in sight. Ditto for the UP station which is part of the Gateway. Good uses for the stations but what does Amtrak use and where is it? Please don't tell me they use a shack of some ind now. BTW, the grand hall at the UP station is gorgeous.

If you went inside and it was a beautiful station, it was probably when Amtrak was still in the UP station. They used the UP station for quite awhile after they switched over the the D&RGW, even though getting to it from the Rio Grande involved a torturous series of backup moves.

When Amtrak finally moved over to the D&RGW station, they never used the main station waiting room. They used a small space in a refurbished baggage room in the south wing of the building. This was the same space the D&RGW used for the station for the RGZ in the last few years of the RGZ's operation. It was not grand or impressive by any means, just a relatively small waiting room with a regular acoustic tile dropped ceiling and a ticket counter.

BTW-if anyone wants to see what the inside of the UP station looks like, catch "The Stand" on Sci Fi sometime. The "town meeting" scene was shot in the SLC UP station. And it is beautiful.

Last time I was through SLC, Amtrak was using a temp station that seemed to be made out of a bunch of trailers with some siding slapped on. Somewhat similiar to the old **** in St. Louis (St. Louis Union Trailers), but somewhat larger. Can't say if they moved into the Intermodal Hub now, but when I was through that was already there, and Amtrak was still using the trailer station.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Unless California Zephyrs are tortuously rerouted over FrontRunner rails past this building, then back to the UP main line, the structure is pretty inconveniently situated for passengers and Amtrak staff.

No rerouting required, the new building is maybe 50 yards down the very same track as the Amshack. When the OTOL gang briefly visited SLC a few years ago we ran the detour route from Denver to SLC and were hours early into SLC. Several people actually walked to the new station that wasn't yet completed and saw the concept drawings that include space for Amtrak. In fact, one could walk straight down the existing platform between the two buildings. One can see both the tracks and the two stations in this sat photo.

And with a major interlocking just north of the new station, all trains including FrontRunner pass through that interlocking.

I think I stand partially corrected in that any rerouting would not be tortuous. But that's a fairly old sat photo, and much has changed. The track next to the Amshack is no longer used by the Zephyrs, and as can be seen in this more recent view it serves as FrontRunner layover parking (some scrolling and enlargement required). CZs run out by a new platform, which can be seen under construction in the Bing pic. The Amtrak and FrontRunner platforms are adjacent, but not the same.

Also, the Bing pic is pre-FrontRunner and pre-light rail extension - missing tracks and platforms, and showing a parking lot where the transit plaza is now.

At the interlocking FrontRunners run to the right toward Ogden, Zephyrs peel off to the left.

Interestingly, scrolling around a bit more revealed that both views captured freights on the north side of the interlocking, both at the 600 West grade crossing where in July a couple had to be dissuaded from climbing over a stopped freight that sat for quite awhile. The Bing shot is also lacking condos that are now on the north side of the grade crossing, and shows the W. North Temple viaduct still in place - it's gone, and being replaced by a new structure as part of light rail extension to the airport.

 

[alanh]

Unfortunately there's zero chance of returning to the Rio Grande or UP stations. The tracks through the downtown area are long gone.

 

[MikeM]

Unfortunately there's zero chance of returning to the Rio Grande or UP stations. The tracks through the downtown area are long gone.

We were just in Salt Lake last week, stayed at a Homewood Suites right next to the old Rio Grande station. It's owned by the Utah Historical Society, and is very well maintained, but landlocked by roads on all sides. At the time we were there it was holding an exhibit on Rio Grande passenger trains, but we weren't there long enough to tour it. Our room had a nice view into the windows of the main waiting room, which was nice.

The old UP station is merged into the Gateway Shopping Center, and has some stores in it along with a grand hall (the old passenger waiting room). The entire track area is filled by shops and fountains. This kind of snuck up on me, I didn't realize until I was in the main plaza area that this was the old depot. You can see a shadow on the west side of the roof where the UP shield used to be mounted to the copper roof. Seeing so many old depots destroyed, it is nice to know this has been kept in productive use, but it'd be nicer to see as a station. I didn't get inside, but there used to be some nice murals in the waiting room which depicted historic scenes from Utah railroad history. UP spent a fair amount of money to restore the waiting room ceiling in the 1970's if I recall right, in time for the bicentennial. At one point the south part of the station was filled with train simulator equipment for engineer training.

 

[bretton88]

Unfortunately there's zero chance of returning to the Rio Grande or UP stations. The tracks through the downtown area are long gone.

We were just in Salt Lake last week, stayed at a Homewood Suites right next to the old Rio Grande station. It's owned by the Utah Historical Society, and is very well maintained, but landlocked by roads on all sides. At the time we were there it was holding an exhibit on Rio Grande passenger trains, but we weren't there long enough to tour it. Our room had a nice view into the windows of the main waiting room, which was nice.

The old UP station is merged into the Gateway Shopping Center, and has some stores in it along with a grand hall (the old passenger waiting room). The entire track area is filled by shops and fountains. This kind of snuck up on me, I didn't realize until I was in the main plaza area that this was the old depot. You can see a shadow on the west side of the roof where the UP shield used to be mounted to the copper roof. Seeing so many old depots destroyed, it is nice to know this has been kept in productive use, but it'd be nicer to see as a station. I didn't get inside, but there used to be some nice murals in the waiting room which depicted historic scenes from Utah railroad history. UP spent a fair amount of money to restore the waiting room ceiling in the 1970's if I recall right, in time for the bicentennial. At one point the south part of the station was filled with train simulator equipment for engineer training.

The murals are still there. Its still a majestic waiting room. It just will never be used for passengers again. It is a good spot to wait for your light rail train though.