(rshsdepot) Slidell, LA

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

Links:
http://slidell.dbsysgraph.com/images/old_train_depot.jpg  (original Slidell
depot)
http://www.geocities.com/nhsphotoclass/1999/train_st.gif  (1999 photo)

City will welcome Amtrak into new offices at railroad depot today

SLIDELL -- The city will officially welcome Amtrak into the renovated Olde
Towne Railroad Depot during a press conference at 11 a.m. today.

Community leaders, travel agents and representatives of Olde Towne are
expected to gather at the Front Street depot to celebrate the national rail
passenger company's move to Slidell.

"In a city with few historic architecture or artifacts, this train depot is
representative of three different centuries and two millennia," said Mayor
Sam Caruso, who began efforts to acquire and renovate the depot in 1987.

Previously, Amtrak occupied a small waiting room on the west end of the
10,000 square-foot building. Now, located in the center of the building,
Amtrak will offer a comfortable, climate-controlled environment to await a
daily New Orleans-bound train, which links New York and the Crescent City
via Washington, Charlotte, NC, Atlanta, and Meridian.

The Amtrak Crescent stops daily in Slidell, northbound at 8:15 a.m. and
southbound at 6:13 p.m. The train features coach and sleeping
accommodations, a full-service dining car and a snack/lounge car.

The depot was completed in 1903 based on plans by the New Orleans and
Northeastern Railroad. After years of limited use and deferred maintenance,
efforts were launched to renovate the facility, which has been placed on the
National Register of Historic Places.

The investment of approximately $660,000 in city, state and federal funds
has restored the building to an appealing and vital anchor for the
re-emerging Olde Towne neighborhood. In addition to the Amtrak waiting room,
the Times Bar and Grill calls the depot home.

A coffee and beignet cafe is planned for the south end in the former Amtrak
space. There is also talk of opening a museum to pay tribute to Louisiana
musician and Slidell resident Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown - a three-time
winner of the W.C. Handy award for instrumentalists.

Story by: Iris Cooper - Slidell Sentry-News

Bernie Wagenblast
Transportation Communications Newsletter
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/transport-communications/

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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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