[Date Prev][Date Next]
[Chronological]
[Thread]
[Top]
(rshsdepot) Vancouver, WA
From The Columbian.
Bernie Wagenblast
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Down at the Station: Train passengers can expect more commodious facilities
sometime next year
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
By JEFFREY MIZE, Columbian staff writer
Vancouver’s train station has a look and feel straight out of the 19th
century.
Stark wood benches are etched with scratches and gouges from decades of use.
Heavily worn wood floors creak and groan with every step.
You almost expect to see a bespectacled man wearing a green eyeshade, and
glancing at his pocket watch every time he hears a distant sound.
Sometime in the middle of July, work will begin to give this dated interior
some modern improvements.
The Vancouver City Council awarded a $561,065 contract Monday to Skyward
Construction of Ridgefield, which submitted the lowest of four bids to renovate
portions of the station. The work will include:
Moving the ticket counter and consolidating it with the baggage-check area to
provide more seating. Upgrading restrooms, along with other parts of the
station, to make them disabled accessible. Improving heating, ventilation and
air conditioning. Bob Pixley, Vancouver station agent, said the station will
shut down next month and reopen once the work is completed, probably in
January. A doublewide trailer will be brought in as a temporary station during the
construction, he said.
Pixley, who worked in the station from 1979 to 1986 before returning in 2004,
said the interior will not lose its historic charm.
“I think a lot of people appreciate a building that is this old,” he said.
The station, at 1301 W. 11th St., actually was built in the 20th century:
1904.
“It’s a step back into history,” said Dan Norfleet, Vancouver’s facilities
superintendent. “The drawings I have show a separate ladies’ waiting area.”
BNSF Railway sold the station to the city for $1 in 2001, on the condition
that it be used only as a passenger depot for Amtrak or any successor.
So far this year, about 45,000 passengers have gotten on or off Amtrak trains
in Vancouver. Twelve Amtrak trains serve the station each day, with
connections to the north, south and east.
Most of the money for the renovation is coming from a $654,514 Federal
Transportation Infrastructure Improvement grant. The city is providing $102,150 in
facilities maintenance contingency money.
The size of the grant means the city should be able to afford future work.
“In a 100-year-old building, there are always additional things that can be
done,” Norfleet said.
**************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for
fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)
=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
To Unsubscribe: http://lists.railfan.net/rshsdepot-photo/unsub.html
------------------------------