# Does Amtrak actually "own" stations?



## Pastor Dave (Nov 16, 2010)

From a previous thread of mine on the Orlando station, pennyk shared that the facility is actually owned by CSX who rents it to Amtrak for $1 per year.

Is this a common arrangement? Does Amtrak actually own stations, or do they merely lease space in a facility that some other entity owns?

To be honest, I never thought of this before. I assumed that Amtrak just held title to everything.

Dave


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## AlanB (Nov 16, 2010)

Amtrak does own some stations, generally the bigger ones like NYP & DC for example.

Many more stations are either owned by the original freight RR or its successor; or by the local city/town that the station is in.


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## D T Nelson (Nov 16, 2010)

As another example, King Street Station was owned by the BNSF until early 2008, when the City of Seattle bought it for $10.


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## afigg (Nov 16, 2010)

Pastor Dave said:


> Is this a common arrangement? Does Amtrak actually own stations, or do they merely lease space in a facility that some other entity owns?
> 
> To be honest, I never thought of this before. I assumed that Amtrak just held title to everything.


The situation with who owns the stations, the platforms, and the parking facilities can get rather complicated. Amtrak posted on their website several weeks ago a October 2010 ADA compliance update report on their (slow) progress in getting their stations to meet ADA standards. The report has enough interesting info in it to be worthy of it's own thread. Appendix 3 of the report has a table listing who owns and who has responsibility for the station structure, the platform, and the parking facilities. The fun part is that there are some entries that have question marks such as Trinidad CO where it appears that Amtrak is not really sure who actually owns the station or parking lot - State of Colorado? BNSF?.

The Amtrak Oct 2010 ADA report can be found at http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/BlobServer?blobcol=urldata&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobkey=id&blobwhere=1249216603583&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-disposition&blobheadervalue1=attachment;filename=Amtrak_ADA_AccessibilityComplianceReport_Oct2010.pdf. Appendix 2 is a handy table of the FY2010 on/off ridership, ticket revenue, and weekly train frequency for every station in the Amtrak system.


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## MikefromCrete (Nov 16, 2010)

The ownership of Amtrak stations could fill a rather large book.

Amtrak owns most of the stations along the Northeast Corridor, the titles having been transferred from Conrail, but everywhere anything can be possible. Amtrak owns Chicago Union Station through a subsidiary, the Chicago Union Station Co. I believe Los Angeles Union Station is owned by a real estate subsidiary of BNSF.

In my local area, the Homewood, IL., station is owned by Canadian National (as successor to the Illinois Central, original builder of the station), although the village of Homewood has been making some overtures to buy it. (The adjacent commuter line platform, by contrast is owned by Metra).

Joliet Union Station is owned by the city of Joliet, which recently got a state grant to build an expanded transportation center on the site.

The Dyer, IN., Amshack is owned by Amtrak, but Dyer has taken over maintenance of the building and parking lot.

Each station has its own story.


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## trackie (Nov 16, 2010)

AlanB said:


> Amtrak does own some stations, generally the bigger ones like NYP & DC for example.
> 
> Many more stations are either owned by the original freight RR or its successor; or by the local city/town that the station is in.


Amtrak does not own NYC or DC stations! They do own Wilmington and many other stations but the two you used in your example are privately owned.


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## AlanB (Nov 16, 2010)

trackie said:


> AlanB said:
> 
> 
> > Amtrak does own some stations, generally the bigger ones like NYP & DC for example.
> ...


Amtrak most certainly owns New York Penn Station, although the banks hold a major note against the station. But you can't mortgage something that you don't own and Amtrak President George Warrington mortgaged Penn a few years ago to meet payroll back when he was on the glide path to profitability.

DC is actually more complicated, it's a private/public partnership. And AFAIK, Amtrak is responsible for overseeing/administrating the Fed's interests in the partnership.


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## transit54 (Nov 16, 2010)

AlanB said:


> ]But you can't mortgage something that you don't own and Amtrak President George Warrington mortgaged Penn a few years ago to meet payroll back when he was on the glide path to profitability.


Wow, I had no idea that ever occurred. Off the top of your head, any idea of how long till Amtrak pays off the mortgage note? I'm sure I could dig through the financials and get some answers, but I was wondering if you might know offhand.


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## afigg (Nov 16, 2010)

AlanB said:


> Amtrak most certainly owns New York Penn Station, although the banks hold a major note against the station. But you can't mortgage something that you don't own and Amtrak President George Warrington mortgaged Penn a few years ago to meet payroll back when he was on the glide path to profitability.
> 
> DC is actually more complicated, it's a private/public partnership. And AFAIK, Amtrak is responsible for overseeing/administrating the Fed's interests in the partnership.


Wonder if Amtrak could or has refinanced the note for NYP. Lock in those low rates while they can!

The ADA report table on station ownership lists U.S. Department of Transportation as the owner of DC Union Station and parking facility and Washington Terminal Corp. as the owner of the platforms. Amtrak/MARC/VRE/Union Station Redevelopment Corp. have responsibility for the station and parking garage and just Amtrak/MARC/VRE for the platforms. Sounds like a complicated arrangement. How did US DOT end up with ownership of WAS and not Amtrak?


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## AlanB (Nov 17, 2010)

transit54 said:


> AlanB said:
> 
> 
> > ]But you can't mortgage something that you don't own and Amtrak President George Warrington mortgaged Penn a few years ago to meet payroll back when he was on the glide path to profitability.
> ...


The loan was for $300 Million in 2001 and it was expected to be paid off in 2017.


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## AlanB (Nov 17, 2010)

afigg said:


> AlanB said:
> 
> 
> > Amtrak most certainly owns New York Penn Station, although the banks hold a major note against the station. But you can't mortgage something that you don't own and Amtrak President George Warrington mortgaged Penn a few years ago to meet payroll back when he was on the glide path to profitability.
> ...


As of the 2009 financials, they had not refinanced. The current rate is 9.5%.



afigg said:


> The ADA report table on station ownership lists U.S. Department of Transportation as the owner of DC Union Station and parking facility and Washington Terminal Corp. as the owner of the platforms. Amtrak/MARC/VRE/Union Station Redevelopment Corp. have responsibility for the station and parking garage and just Amtrak/MARC/VRE for the platforms. Sounds like a complicated arrangement. How did US DOT end up with ownership of WAS and not Amtrak?


Amtrak owns a 99% interest in the Washington Terminal Corp. Don't know who owns the other 1%.

As for US DOT owning the station, they also technically own Amtrak. US DOT holds all the Preferred Stock shares in Amtrak in trust for the US Congress and the citizens of the US. I guess they figured that US DOT should also hold onto the station for some reason.


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## Pastor Dave (Nov 17, 2010)

All I can say is that "I had no clue," that station ownership could be so complex.


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## dlagrua (Nov 17, 2010)

Both the Lorton VA and Sanford FL AutoTrain stations are owned by Amtrak.

One that is surprising is the New Orleans Amtrak station that serves three routes. Its owned by the New Orlaans Public Belt Railroad, a small switching and port serving railway. The station recieves no direct public money to run it, relying on rent from Amtrak and revenue only generated from railway services provided by the NOPBRR.


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## frj1983 (Nov 17, 2010)

dlagrua said:


> Both the Lorton VA and Sanford FL AutoTrain stations are owned by Amtrak.
> 
> One that is surprising is the New Orleans Amtrak station that serves three routes. Its owned by the New Orlaans Public Belt Railroad, a small switching and port serving railway. The station recieves no direct public money to run it, relying on rent from Amtrak and revenue only generated from railway services provided by the NOPBRR.


I'm sure they also get "rent" from Greyhound who also uses the Station!


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## Pastor Dave (Nov 17, 2010)

AlanB said:


> afigg said:
> 
> 
> > AlanB said:
> ...


I'll toss out the thought that, at least in the Northeast, owning some stations can be profitable. Back when I served in Philadelphia I often went to 30th Street Station to eat and people watch. With lots of trains in and out I would think that the rents in the food court would provide a nice chunk of change. It's kind of like the station is a destination in itself.

Other stations with heavy traffic - like Trenton for instance - have not given me the same vibe. That is simply a place to get on and get off, not "visit."

Dave


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## PRR 60 (Nov 17, 2010)

It is interesting how many major stations are not owned by Amtrak. Here is the list of the top 25 Amtrak stations by total ridership (origin and destination). Amtrak owns 10 (including the top 4), others own 15.

1. New York Penn, NY (7,832,874) <==Amtrak

2. Washington Union, DC (4,278,930) <==Amtrak

3. Philadelphia 30th Street, PA (3,675,761) <==Amtrak

4. Chicago Union, IL (3,080,564) <==Amtrak

5. Los Angeles Union, CA (1,475,920) <==Not Amtrak

6. South Station, Boston, MA (1,287,615) <==Not Amtrak

7. Sacramento, CA (1,109,351) <==Not Amtrak

8. Baltimore, MD (932,827) <==Amtrak

9. San Diego, CA (731,394) <==Not Amtrak

10. Albany-Rensselaer, NY (723,913) <==Not Amtrak

11. Wilmington, DE (664,429) <==Amtrak

12. New Haven, CT (661,656) <==Not Amtrak

13. Newark Penn, NJ (630,939) <==Not Amtrak

14. Irvine, CA (629,748) <==Not Amtrak

15. Portland, OR (618,131) <==Not Amtrak

16. BWI Airport, MD (617,349) <==Amtrak

17. Seattle, WA (615,735) <==Not Amtrak

18. Providence, RI (582,296) <==Amtrak

19. Milwaukee, WI (553,475) <==Not Amtrak

20. Harrisburg, PA (539,167) <==Amtrak

21. Emeryville, CA (520,969) <==Not Amtrak

22. Lancaster, PA (492,629) <==Amtrak

23. Davis, CA (434,779) <==Not Amtrak

24. Fullerton, CA	(417,649) <==Not Amtrak

25. Trenton, NJ (411,869) <==Not Amtrak


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## Railroad Bill (Nov 17, 2010)

Thanks for the stats PRR 60. 

How about my CLE station? Since it isnt used by any other transportation network, I had assummed it was owned by Amtrak??


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## dlagrua (Nov 17, 2010)

frj1983 said:


> dlagrua said:
> 
> 
> > Both the Lorton VA and Sanford FL AutoTrain stations are owned by Amtrak.
> ...


Thats right I forgot about Greyhound using the New Orleans Station. Its obvious that they don't use it for free. But if you go back to the Golden age of railroading, there was a large bus terminal at the rear of Pennsylvania Station in NY. That rent revenue didn't seem to be of any concern when the wrecking ball came.


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## PRR 60 (Nov 17, 2010)

Railroad Bill said:


> Thanks for the stats PRR 60.
> 
> How about my CLE station? Since it isnt used by any other transportation network, I had assummed it was owned by Amtrak??


Cleveland is one of those fun stations. The station building is owned by Amtrak, the platform is owned by Norfolk Southern, and the parking is owned by the city of Cleveland.

I'm getting most of the station info from the Great American Stations site HERE.


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## railiner (Nov 18, 2010)

dlagrua said:


> frj1983 said:
> 
> 
> > dlagrua said:
> ...


The Pennsylvania Greyhound Terminal in New York was not actually on the property of Penn Station, but across 33rd street from it. It was midway in the block between 7th and 8th avenues, extending from 33rd to 34th street, approximately on the site of the current One Penn Plaza office building. Greyhound moved from it and its other NYC terminal on 50th near 8th avenue (where Buddy Ebsen boarded a Scenicruiser in the film "Breakfast at Tiffany's), back in 1963 into the first expansion of the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

Greyhound Lines, due to a substantial ownership by several railroads for a number of years, utilized a lot of different railroad stations across the country. As the Greyhound Corp. bought these shares from the railroads after World War II and on to the '50's, they tended to move away from the RR stations.

Now with the government entities building multi-modal terminals, the trend is to move back together for seamless multimodal travel.


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## TransitGeek (Nov 18, 2010)

railiner said:


> Greyhound Lines, due to a substantial ownership by several railroads for a number of years, utilized a lot of different railroad stations across the country. As the Greyhound Corp. bought these shares from the railroads after World War II and on to the '50's, they tended to move away from the RR stations.
> 
> Now with the government entities building multi-modal terminals, the trend is to move back together for seamless multimodal travel.


We'll get another confusing station soon enough in Riverside. Like every train station in Riverside County, the station and parking lots are owned by the Riverside County Transportation Commission. (It sees daily SWC service +4 San Joaquins buses each way.) The City is buying nearby property to be used as a bus terminal for both local public buses and intercity operators, mostly Greyhound and Crucero. (Probably also Lineas Ejecutivas, a carrier that serves the cross-border market.) So when that goes through, the platforms and half the parking will be owned by the county, but the only terminal building (none exists presently), the bus terminal and half the parking will be owned by the city, and some of that will undoubtedly be leased by operators and vendors.

As far as Amtrak services go, I can only hope we'll get a QuickTrak machine. The Metrolink machines won't print out AGR tickets.


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## Shanghai (Nov 18, 2010)

The Wisconsin Dells station was built and is owned by a local

citizens organization. A volunteer staffs the station and works

with Amtrak personnel as an agent would. It is a nice, well kept

station.


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## alanh (Nov 18, 2010)

WAS has had a complex history. Formerly owned jointly by the B&O and Pennsylvania RR, it was transfered to the National Park Service to serve as the National Visitor Center for the Bicentennial in 1976. After a couple years, this closed and station deteriorated severely, closing in 1981 for safety reasons (chunks of the roof were falling in). The DOT took it over from the Park Service, and paid for part of the restoration along with the commercial interests that operate the shopping and restaurants.


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## had8ley (Nov 19, 2010)

I don't know if this slipped between the cracks or not but the Hammond, LA station is getting a million dollar canopy. In the '80's the IC ripped up its second main line, which was closest to the depot, through Hammond and most of the way to Chicago. Asphalt patching didn't seem to be sufficient to cover the old right of way especially when the train was not spotted at the asphalt walk ways. I drove up yesterday to find all the old bricks on the north side of the depot walkway being torn out of the ground,palletized and moved away from the right of way. There was a sign that stated that it was a Federal dollar project; the station is owned by the Hammond Chamber of Commerce. Thumbs up for their heads up in getting the $$$. :hi:


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## ALC Rail Writer (Nov 19, 2010)

IIRC The ALC platform is owned by Amtrak, but the parking lot and little park adjacent to the platform are owned by NS. NS has a MOW facility at ALC, and I think Amtrak only owns the concrete platform.


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## PRR 60 (Nov 19, 2010)

ALC_Rail_Writer said:


> IIRC The ALC platform is owned by Amtrak, but the parking lot and little park adjacent to the platform are owned by NS. NS has a MOW facility at ALC, and I think Amtrak only owns the concrete platform.


Norfolk Southern owns everything at Alliance, including the platform.

Great American Stations


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## bjk (Dec 2, 2010)

Dave-

I am researching what Amtrak pays to lease stations. Speciffically where ridership (on-off) is around 30,000 per year.

I have been google and bining for 2 days with little success. You seem knowledgeable can you help me?

Thank you,

bjk


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## Pastor Dave (Dec 2, 2010)

bjk said:


> Dave-
> 
> I am researching what Amtrak pays to lease stations. Speciffically where ridership (on-off) is around 30,000 per year.
> 
> ...


Unfortunately, I usually come to the table with more questions than answers. This is one of those times.

My OP about the Orlando station came about because I falsely assumed that everything related to Amtrak belongs to Amtrak (all though I did know about other railroads actually owning most of the rails that they travel on). With my false assumptions, I would be quick to blame Amtrak for shoddy station conditions when, actually, Amtrak has little control.

Pennyk shared that Amtrak leases the Orlando station for $1 per year from CSX. Without anymore information at my disposal, I assume they have the same relationship with other stations (there I go "assuming" again :unsure: )

Dave


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## MJL (Dec 2, 2010)

The Norman OK station is privately owned and was closed briefly recently in a legal kerfluffle:

http://www.koco.com/r/25232345/detail.html



> OKLAHOMA CITY -- Travel troubles at Oklahoma City's train station could cause big problems for Oklahoma Sooners fans. The Heartland Flyer is set to take people to Dallas for the Red River Rivalry game at the Cotton Bowl.
> "This is a really big weekend," said Brenda Perry of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. "We have sold out trains heading out tomorrow morning."
> 
> But a sign at the depot tells visitors that the facility is closed and it has been closed since Monday.
> ...


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## AlanB (Dec 2, 2010)

Pastor Dave said:


> Pennyk shared that Amtrak leases the Orlando station for $1 per year from CSX. Without anymore information at my disposal, I assume they have the same relationship with other stations (there I go "assuming" again :unsure: )


Dave,

It varries all over the map. Some stations Amtrak owns. Some stations are owned by the freight RR's. And still others are owned by the local city/town or even in a few cases private citizens/companies.

And the rents of course can vary depending on the size of the station and who owns it.


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## Eric S (Dec 2, 2010)

MJL said:


> The Norman OK station is privately owned and was closed briefly recently in a legal kerfluffle:
> 
> http://www.koco.com/...345/detail.html
> 
> ...


I believe that dispute involved the Oklahoma City station, not the Norman station.


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## Pastor Dave (Dec 2, 2010)

MJL said:


> The Norman OK station is privately owned and was closed briefly recently in a legal kerfluffle:
> 
> http://www.koco.com/r/25232345/detail.html
> 
> ...


I've never heard the term "legal kerfluffle" before. However, I will try to use it in this Sunday's sermon just for the heck of it.


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## jis (Dec 3, 2010)

AlanB said:


> Amtrak does own some stations, generally the bigger ones like NYP & DC for example.
> 
> Many more stations are either owned by the original freight RR or its successor; or by the local city/town that the station is in.


And in some cases they are owned by the local transit system. E.g. all of the Amtrak stations in NJ except for EWR are owned and operated by NJTransit. EWR is owned and operated by the Port Authority of NY&NJ, the same guys that own (well sort of, actually have a very long term lease on I believe) and operate the adjacent airport and the monorail connecting the station to the airport.


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## zephyr17 (Dec 3, 2010)

In many cases, Amtrak got use of railroad facilities for free as a condition of joining Amtrak. So on the original routes, they still have use of the some of the old RR stations virtually for free. If a community wants the facilities improved, generally the city or something other entity buy the station (often for a symbolic $1, like King Street Station in Seattle) and improves it. Then Amtrak uses it, usually for a very low price. That sometimes causes problems. For example, there was a big issue at San Bernardino when they wanted to charge Amtrak more than Amtrak was willing to pay for use of the renovated station, so Amtrak didn't use the station building and turned it into an unmanned stop. I heard there was a similar situation in Albany when the new station there was finished and it ultimately got resolved, but don't know much about that.

At Los Angeles Union Station, the owner is Catellus which is a corporate descendent of the Santa Fe Land company. They got Santa Fe's share and they got got SP's share in the abortive SPSF merger when non-RR assets were merged before the RR merger, which was disapproved. They later picked up UP's share. At some point they sold the actual RR operating facilities (tracks, etc) to SCRRA (Metrolink).

In any case, one of the reasons that Amtrak doesn't have a Metropolitan Lounge at LA is because Catellus doesn't want to give them access to any more space. Amtrak pays very little for use of LAUPT because of the original conditions of use. There has been talk about using the old ticketing wing for something, perhaps a Metropolitan Lounge, but Catellus finds it much more lucrative to rent it out for special events and film shoots than let Amtrak use if for almost nothing.


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## Anise (Dec 29, 2012)

Hi all,

I know that this an old discussion, but I found it through Google and it's exactly what I'm looking for. I'm writing a mystery novel in which the planned destruction of a historic train station is a major plot point. HOWEVER, in order for this to work, the station has to be owned 100% by a private family. This doesn't even have to be something that's ever actually happened, but is it possible/plausible? All info appreciated!


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## AlanB (Dec 29, 2012)

Anise,

That's perfectly reasonable. Amtrak doesn't own many of the stations, most are owned by freight RR's or the local city where the station resides. But there are at least a few that are owned by someone. The station in Oklahoma City comes to mind, where the owner of the station has actually locked the station up once or twice over disputes with the agreement to use his station.


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## tomfuller (Dec 29, 2012)

The Barstow station was built by ATSF and operated as a "Harvey House" for many years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_House_Railroad_Depot

The City of Barstow owns it now and there are 2 small museums on the property.


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## Nathanael (Dec 29, 2012)

Anise, this is one plausible way it could work for your story. The private railroad would have sold the historic station building off to the highest bidder. The station would then pass through multiple owners, each with a different plan for what to do with the station. Then the city would get passenger rail service to its "historic station" reinstated after a political campaign of some sort, with the private owner of the station agreeing to let Amtrak use the station (perhaps for a nominal fee).

This has happened before, as noted with the Oklahoma City situation.

In cases where passenger service has been operated continuously without a break, the station building is unlikely to both be in private hands and be in use as a train station. Usually either the original freight railroad still owns it, or Amtrak bought it, or one of the local governments bought it, or most commonly Amtrak abandoned the building and just uses the platform. However, when there's been a break in passenger service, it's actually fairly common for the station buildings to be privately owned even though they're used by Amtrak.

There are a lot more cases where passenger service was operated continuously, where the historic station building is standing right next to the platforms, privately owned but not used for train service, while Amtrak uses a prefabricated shack off to one side or just uses the platform with no station.

A really impressive situation is in Grand Junction, Colorado, which has one historic brick station (privately owned) in use as an office building, a second historic brick station (privately owned) is sitting derelict, and a wood-and-cinder-block building -- which is *also* privately owned, originally being a restaurant -- is being used as the current station.

http://trainweb.org/...il/grandjct.htm

http://www.greatamer...JT/Station_view


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## JoeSF (Dec 29, 2012)

Emeryville Station is the main station for the SF Bay Area (sorry Oakland) and is owed by the Capital Corridor Joint Power Authority. It was developed in the early 1990's via a public private partnership with the developer of the land around it to replace the Oakland Station at 16th Street. I think the developer owns the land while CCJPA owns the building.

The Oakland 16th Street staion was severly damaged in the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, and was in a not ideal location. The Capital Corridor started operating at the same time and Amtrak service to the Bay Area went from two LD trains a day (in each direction) and two San Joaquins to 15 CC round trips, 4 SJs and 2 LDs in a short period. In the meantime. Emeryville was a bit of a backwater until that time but since has started booming. The CC started acting more like a commuter train, so lots of office and condo developments have spring up around the station, taking advantage of the proximity to the train.


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## D.P. Roberts (Dec 29, 2012)

Whitefish (WFH) is the busiest Amtrak station in Montana, and it's owned by the Stumptown Historical Society (http://stumptownhistoricalsociety.org/). By paying dues, you can become a member & own part of a station yourself!


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## Swadian Hardcore (Dec 29, 2012)

D T Nelson said:


> As another example, King Street Station was owned by the BNSF until early 2008, when the City of Seattle bought it for $10.


Did the City of Seattle actually just pay $10? This caught my eye before reading anything else!


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## Carolyn Jane (Dec 29, 2012)

The little station in Jesup, GA burned 8 years ago, and has recently been rebuilt, with the aid of grant money from the state. It is owned by the city and leased to Amtrak by the month. They rebuilt in the still standing walls, with the original look. The historical society has a postcard out of the station as it was in 1919. EM


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## Dovecote (Dec 29, 2012)

I will add my two cents worth since this post has resurfaced. The Harpers Ferry station building is owned by the National Park Service. They also maintain the station parking lot and sidewalks. MARC, the previous owner, owns the two dilapidated wooden porches that connect the underground "subway" allowing passengers to circumvent crossing the tracks. These two structures are an embrassment to a restored beautiful station and stick out like a sore thumb.


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## Anise (Dec 29, 2012)

Wow!! Lots of answers. Thanks, y'all.  I also talked to some friends tonight at a post-Christmas get-together, and they had even MORE ideas. I'm still not completely sure how this will work, but basically, there are 3 buildings owned by the same eccentric family, all of which use Richardsonian Romanesque architecture (based on the William Temple House-- it's not letting me a post a link, the Armory,  good pic here,, and finally, Union Station. Pretty good pic here. All of the mysterious clues eventually lead to... the train station. (Ominous music.) So that's why I'm trying to figure out how it MIGHT make sense for the private family to own it. If they'd bought it almost five years before the narrative opens, it could work... and it does sound like that's possible.


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## X (Dec 30, 2012)

Swadian Hardcore said:


> D T Nelson said:
> 
> 
> > As another example, King Street Station was owned by the BNSF until early 2008, when the City of Seattle bought it for $10.
> ...


Nope, they only paid $1.

http://seattletimes....gstreet21m.html


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## PRR 60 (Dec 30, 2012)

X said:


> Swadian Hardcore said:
> 
> 
> > D T Nelson said:
> ...


The original deal was revised to $10 prior to closing. Why? No clue.

Seattle Times, 3/5/08


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## Swadian Hardcore (Dec 30, 2012)

PRR 60 said:


> X said:
> 
> 
> > Swadian Hardcore said:
> ...


Now that's a STEAL! It costs so much more just to renovate!


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## JoeSF (Dec 31, 2012)

Anise said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I know that this an old discussion, but I found it through Google and it's exactly what I'm looking for. I'm writing a mystery novel in which the planned destruction of a historic train station is a major plot point. HOWEVER, in order for this to work, the station has to be owned 100% by a private family. This doesn't even have to be something that's ever actually happened, but is it possible/plausible? All info appreciated!


Anise, It's not a currently operating station, but the Michigan Central Station in Detroit is a big neo-classical station on the order of Grand Central (same architect) that is owned by a company called Controlled Terminals Inc.which acquired the station in 1996 (long after Amtrak ended operations there). Controlled Terminals is owned by a guy named Manuel Moroun, who also, somewhat incredibly, owns the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor Ontario.

Michigan Central is one of Detroit's more famous and fabulous ruins. Depsite being listed as a hitoric landmarked it is in complete disrepair, and site of many mysteries I'm sure.


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