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Salem station (Oregon)

Coordinates: 44°55′56″N 123°01′41″W / 44.93222°N 123.02806°W / 44.93222; -123.02806
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Salem, OR
General information
Location500 13th Street SE
Salem, Oregon
United States
Coordinates44°55′56″N 123°01′41″W / 44.93222°N 123.02806°W / 44.93222; -123.02806
Owned byState of Oregon
Line(s)Union Pacific Railroad
Platforms1 side platform
Tracks1
ConnectionsCascades POINT
Cherriots
Greyhound Lines
Shuttle Oregon
The Wave
Construction
Parking25 long term spaces
Bicycle facilitiesYes
AccessibleYes
Other information
Station codeAmtrak: SLM
History
Opened1918; 106 years ago (1918)
Rebuilt2000; 24 years ago (2000)
Passengers
FY 202373,171[1] (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station
Albany
toward Eugene
Amtrak Cascades Oregon City
Albany Coast Starlight Portland
toward Seattle
Former services
Preceding station Southern Pacific Railroad Following station
Turner Shasta Route Chemawa
toward Portland
Salem Southern Pacific Railroad Station
A close up picture at night.
Area2.7 acres (1.1 ha)
Built1918 (1918)
ArchitectChristie, J.H.; Stebinger Bros.
Architectural styleQueen Anne, Beaux-Arts
NRHP reference No.10000015[2]
Added to NRHPFebruary 12, 2010
Location
Map

Salem station is an Amtrak train station in Salem, Oregon, United States. It is served by Amtrak Cascades corridor trains going to and from Portland, Oregon, as well as the long-distance Coast Starlight. Greyhound Lines and some regional buses also stop at the station.

History

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Trackside of Salem Depot

This station was constructed for the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1918 and is the third station to be built at this location.[3] The two previous stations were built in 1871 and 1889.[4] The 1871 depot burned down in 1885.[4] It is commonly believed that the Queen Anne style 1889 depot burned down on March 5, 1917,[4] but newspaper reports from the time say it was unsightly and, except for the baggage wing, demolished.[5]

The current Beaux-Arts-style structure was designed by Southern Pacific's chief architect John H. Christie.[6][7] It is constructed of masonry, and is one of five masonry depots that still exist along the original Southern Pacific West Coast line. The other depots are in Albany, Medford, Roseburg and Eugene.[8]

A restoration project by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) was completed in 2000.[3][9] Amtrak leases the station from ODOT for $1 a year, in exchange for maintenance of the building and grounds.[citation needed]

An 1889 Railway Express Agency (REA) freight depot/baggage shed from the previous station was kept and is the oldest freight depot still in existence in the state.[citation needed] Either after the 1917 fire or in preparation for constructing the new depot, the Queen Anne-style REA depot was relocated from its original site to the south.[4][5] The REA depot had not been used since the mid-1970s, but ODOT restored it in the late 2000s for use by Greyhound.[10]

The station and baggage depot were added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 12, 2010.[11] In 2011, daily ridership on Amtrak between Salem and Portland reached 24,146 boardings.[12]

Greyhound Lines moved operations from its downtown station to here in 2013, first to the north wing of the station building and, upon completion of renovations in 2018, to the former freight shed.[13][14][15]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2023: State of Oregon" (PDF). Amtrak. March 2024. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
  2. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  3. ^ a b "Salem's Railroad Depots". Salem Online History. Archived from the original on 2007-08-11. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
  4. ^ a b c d "Salem City Council Agenda: National Register of Historic Places Nomination for Southern Pacific Railroad Depot" (PDF). City of Salem. October 12, 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-12.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ a b Salem Depots Historic Explanation.pdf
  6. ^ "Oregon Digital". oregondigital.org. Archived from the original on 2017-05-10. Retrieved 2016-05-08.
  7. ^ "Salem, OR — Great American Stations". www.greatamericanstations.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-05-08.
  8. ^ Christie, Tim (September 7, 2007). "Railroad depot speeds into history books". The Register-Guard. Retrieved 2007-09-19. [dead link]
  9. ^ "Oregon Dept. of Transportation Museum". Oregon Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on 2006-12-15. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
  10. ^ "Communications Salem Railroad Baggage Depot Project". Archived from the original on 2017-05-08. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  11. ^ National Park Service (2010-02-19). "Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 2/08/10 through 2/12/10". Archived from the original on 2010-03-02. Retrieved 2010-02-19.
  12. ^ Rose, Joseph (March 5, 2012). "Amtrak gaining popularity among commuters who ride between Portland, Oregon City and Salem". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on 2012-03-06. Retrieved 2012-03-06.
  13. ^ Henderson, Tom (April 29, 2013). "Greyhound on the move in Salem". Daily Journal of Commerce. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
  14. ^ Rose, Michael (May 7, 2013). "Greyhound to move bus depot to Amtrak station". Statesman Journal. Archived from the original on November 8, 2023. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  15. ^ Lynn, Capi (January 30, 2018). "After $2.7 million renovation, historic depot reopens in Salem". Statesman Journal.
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Media related to Salem Southern Pacific Railroad Station at Wikimedia Commons