(rshsdepot) Topeka, KS

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From today's The Topeka Capital Journal.
 
Bernie Wagenblast
Transportation Communications Newsletter    
_http://groups.yahoo.com/group/transport-communications/_ 
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/transport-communications/) 
 
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Topeka Amtrak Station -- On track

But first-time visitors to Topeka still don`t get a great first  impression 
at the train station 
 
Topeka`s Amtrak station looks great, but only in a relative way. A  
refurbishment project of the station at S.E. 5th and Holliday was officially  unveiled 
with a reception Friday morning. 
 
Ron Dean, a retired Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad employee, is  among 
those who deserve credit for getting the improvements made. He said before  
the improvements, the place was an embarrassment. Some windows were broken, 
half  the lights didn`t work and pieces of the exterior were missing. 
 
Friday morning the lobby was neat and clean and the cracked sidewalk around  
the southwest corner of the building had been replaced with new concrete. 
 
Amtrak`s Southwest Chief is scheduled to pass through Topeka at 1:09 a.m.  
westbound, headed ultimately to Los Angeles. The eastbound train is scheduled to 
 pass through at 5:20 a.m., headed toward Chicago. 
 
The sign near the main entry door still proclaims that the station`s hours  
are midnight to 7:45 a.m. and that the station is closed on holidays. 
 
Dean said when he got involved, people arriving for the trains on Saturday  
and Sunday nights couldn`t get into the stationto get out of the weather or to  
use a restroom. 
 
Arrangements have been made for a night watchman to open the lobby on those  
nights so waiting passengers can get inside seven nights a week. 
 
Bottom line, as a result of community efforts and the financial  contribution 
from BNSF, the station is much more customer friendly. 
 
But for someone seeing it for the first time, it still leaves something to  
be desired as a gateway into the city -- a first impression for many visitors. 
 
The original internally illuminated Amtrak sign above the west entrance has  
faded badly. The lobby, while neat and clean, still offers furniture with  
slightly worn and torn cushions. 
 
And one thing that first-time visitors won`t understand is that the north  
half of the building is used for railroad operations and is not considered to be 
 part of the Amtrak station. But it`s all one building, and the north half 
shows  the worst wear, with a crumbling asphalt sidewalk and rusty signs mounted 
on the  exterior wall. 
 
It`s a wonderful first effort, but Topekans really should ask BNSF and  
Amtrak to do a little more. 
 
Or maybe there is some responsibility by the city, the county and Visit  
Topeka Inc. For that matter, the way Amtrak has to scrap for its annual  operating 
subsidy from Congress, our members of Congress should be asked to  support 
better financing for the nation`s passenger rail  service.

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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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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1384
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org