Re: (rshsdepot) Tomah, WI

[KI6BN_@_aol.com]

$509,000 to replace a bench?  A bench is all Amtrak uses now and seems  to 
me the whole station could be rebuilt with gold trim for $509,000!  
 
 
In a message dated 6/21/2009 6:13:03 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
root_@_bluemoon.net writes:


Former Milwaukee Road depot in Tomah, WI.

Railroad depot to  receive  funds

http://www.tomahjournal.com/articles/2009/06/21/news/00lead.txt

Thanks  to Alco83 on the railhan.net forum for the heads up.

Henry

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Railroad depot to receive funds
By Paul  Medinger

The City of Tomah.s Amtrak Station is slated to receive  $509,000 in 
stimulus
money to improve the aging railroad depot in the  center of the city.

Tomah City Administrator Jim Bialecki said Tuesday  that the Amtrak Station
will receive the funding in federal railroad  administration grants through 
the
American Recovery and Reinvestment  Act.

The depot sits on a 61-acre property owned by Canadian Pacific  Railway, 
which
has been in contact with Tomah city officials about selling  the property 
along
both sides of Superior Avenue in the center of the  city.

The Tomah Amtrak Station is one of eight stations in Wisconsin.  The depot 
has
seen steady ridership increases throughout the past decade.  According to
Amtrak, 9,477 riders got on or off a train in Tomah from  October 2006 
through
September 2007. The depot is also a potential stop for  a proposed 
high-speed
passenger rail service between Chicago and the Twin  Cities -- via Tomah, La
Crosse and Winona, Minn.. that could begin in the  next five years. Tomah 
Mayor
Ed Thompson said that improvements to the  depot may help make high-speed 
rail
a reality in Tomah.

"The  high-speed rail is still in the works, and with half of a million
(dollars)  in here, it looks like there is some emphasis on rail in Tomah,"
Thompson  said. "This is not small money. Hopefully it means a brand  new
depot."

The possibility of obtaining the railroad property has  been a priority
interest of the city.s newly formed Long-Range Planning  Committee since
February. Canadian Pacific is interested in selling the  land and announced 
in
May that it had hired Vandewalle and Associates of  Madison to develop a 
plan
and market the property. Bialecki said that  improvements to the depot 
would be
beneficial for possible development of  the land.

"I think the community will be quite pleased to hear this,"  Bialecki said.
"Recently, there have been some complaints regarding the  facility, and I 
think
this will promote redevelopment in that  area."

Representatives from Vandewalle and Associates will update the  city's
Long-Range Planning Committee on its progress planning uses for the  land in
July. Bialecki said that he will know more about plans for  improvements to 
the
depot after the July meeting and that he expects the  stimulus dollars to 
make
an impact.

"I think this will be a big  benefit for Vandewalle," Bialecki said. "They
know, as well as we do, the  impact this can have on that area. I think this
could be an anchor for  development."

================================
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=================================
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

------------------------------

End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1905
********************************

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