(rshsdepot) Purcell, OK

[Jim Dent <jdent_@_erols.com>]

-From The Oklahoman...

Purcell depot gets dedicated
2001-06-15
By Ellie Sutter
Staff Writer


PURCELL -- The sun flirted with clouds Thursday morning as a crowd of about
200 people gathered to witness the official dedication of the city's new
Amtrak Depot.

However, the bright yellow T- shirts being sold to commemorate the event
made up for any lack of solar rays.

The T-shirts featured a color photo of the depot with the words, "I helped
build it," along with the date, June 14, 2001.

The depot cost $240,000 and was built with an enhancement grant from the
state Department of Transportation.

Purcell shares its history with railroads. It was named for E.B. Purcell, a
dispatcher for the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe, and the tracks of what is
now the Burlington Northern Santa Fe follow the South Canadian River through
Purcell.

The red brick depot with its red tile roof occupies the site of the former
depot. Amtrak passenger trains pass through Purcell twice daily.

Thursday, Engineer Pat Bush climbed down from his diesel engine, looked over
the depot and said, "Purcell should be proud of this."

He said the whole depot from the parking lots to the landscaping to the
wrought iron fence looked really great. He didn't quite say that it is the
nicest depot on his run, but that was what he implied.

Bush said he particularly likes the long platform that makes it easy for him
to spot where to stop the engine to have the passenger cars near the depot
entrance.

The depot dedication took place on the second anniversary of Amtrak's
Heartland Flyer passenger service.

Bush looked at his wristwatch and said the train was 25 minutes late in
reaching Purcell.

"We loaded 19 wheelchairs in Norman. It took 19 minutes," Bush said.

Rhonda Richy, social service director for Grace Living Center, was on board
with 19 folks from the center. She said they were traveling to Ardmore where
they will spend the day and then return to Norman on the train's evening
northbound run.

Richy said this was the second time center residents have taken an Amtrak
trip. Rosalyn Richek and Robbie Hyde were making their second trip. It was
the first trip for Mary Jane Harris.

The Purcell depot is open a short time before the train arrives and it
contains railroad photos of depots both old and new as well as a bench from
the old Shawnee Depot. The bench was donated by W. Stanley Muenzler.

An iron-wheel baggage cart stands on the platform outside the depot. It was
donated by several members of the Cypert family, said Lee Cypert, who worked
for the AT&ST for 37 years as a plumber.

As the train readied to move south, the conductor called out the familiar,
"All Aboard," and the Heartland Flyer guided smoothly out of town, headed
for Fort Worth, Texas.

All content copyrighted 2001 The Oklahoma Publishing Co.

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