As rail travel in the western US continues to be a fade from the past, many people have forgotten several cities used to have more than one passenger terminal to use.  Some of the multiple rail stations have survived in other guises.  Some, simply gone.

Union Stations

You might have noticed that many main rail stations have the name “Union Station”, even in towns where the Union Pacific rates as a non-factor.  A “Union Station” means simply a terminal used by more than one rail line.  In the Northwest, that includes Portland, Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane.  Vancouver BC’s Pacific Central is a “union” station of sorts combining Amtrak, VIA Rail and several long-haul bus services.  Technically, the Amtrak rail stations in Vancouver (WA), Kelso, Centralia, Olympia and even Tukwila could also be considered “union” stations due to the originally multiple rail lines using those stations.  The term becomes outdated for most today since the only inter-city rail carrier is Amtrak.

Rails to the NW

Northern Pacific was the first rail company to come to the Pacific Northwest prompted by the rail act of 1866 giving the company vast land tracts along the lines built from Minnesota to the Northwest.  The company was always land rich and cash poor going in and out of bankruptcy a few times.  The company began construction on either end of its routes, both in Minnesota and in Washington.  NP decided to make Tacoma its Northwestern hub, much to the chagrin of nearby Seattle.  The company then built rails to connect the Puget Sound to Portland to the south via a ferry in Kalama and later more directly with a bridge at Vancouver.

Oregon

In Oregon, Benjamin Holliday spearheaded efforts, again aided by federal land grants, to connect Portland with California to the south.  His line, the Oregon & California, became later absorbed into the world of the Southern Pacific in 1887 – the O&C bankrupt.  From 1901 to 1913, SP control fell into the orbit of the Union Pacific and its president Edward Harriman. They were forced to split up by the federal government in 1913 – Harriman had died in 1909 – but the SP fell back into the UP web in 1993 after failed attempts to merge with the Santa Fe system.

The Union Pacific accessed Oregon mainly through control of the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company – OR&N – which became the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company – OWR&N.  The OR&N evolved from the earliest rail lines in the Northwest, portage lines around the rapids and falls along the Columbia River.  By 1883, the OR&N became part of the NP transcontinental system linking the rails of the two to complete a rail line from Portland to St. Paul, Minnesota.

The UP-subsidiary Oregon Short Line and the OR&N created another transcontinental link in 1884 pushing a line from Umatilla – and onto Portland – to Huntington on the Snake River and beyond to the UP world in Ogden, Utah.  The OR&N was half purchased in the late 1880’s by the UP constructing new line through eastern Washington to arrive in Spokane by 1889.  The 1893 financial crisis bankrupted the OR&N, as well as the UP.  The miracle worker of bankrupt railroads, Edward Harriman gained first the UP in 1893, the Oregon Short Line in 1899 and the OR&N in 1900 renamed the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company – OWR&N.

Back to Washington

Not needing land grants, the Great Northern line of James J. Hill branched out from its Minnesota roots along the US-Canada border to reach the Puget Sound over Stevens Pass reaching Seattle in 1893.  Hill also gained control of the NP line and together the two companies created the Spokane, Seattle and Portland line – SP&S – creating the North Bank rail line along the north side of the Columbia opposite the OWR&N lines on the Oregon side.

The last big player in the rail industry of the US Northwest was the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Minneapolis Railroad, better known as the Milwaukee Road.  Stationed firmly in the Midwest along Lake Michigan with route north to Lake Superior, the management decided in the 1890’s to expand to the west coast completing their line after three years of construction in 1909.  A big problem for the Milwaukee Road arose since much of their routes paralleled NP routes.  The cost of construction proved four times original estimates pushing the railroad into financial trouble in the early 1920’s and eventual bankruptcy in 1925.  Reorganized, the Great Depression came next and another bankruptcy in 1935.  A final bankruptcy occurred at the end of 1977.  Most of the Pacific Extension became abandoned with lines in the Midwest now operated by Canadian Pacific.

New Player

Amtrak – the National Railroad Passenger Corporation – formed in 1971.  A quasi-public corporation managed for profit but also receiving federal and state subsidies.  Operating over 21,400 miles of track, Amtrak only owns about 623 miles – some sections developed for high speeds of up to 150 mph.  83% of Amtrak’s passengers travel on routes shorter than 400 miles.

Meanwhile, north of the Border

In British Columbia, Canadian Pacific became the first transcontinental line built between 1881 and 1885.  The rail line constituted a commitment made to the province when it entered into the Confederation in 1871.  The CPR provided the only long-haul passenger transport in Canada until the Canadian National, a formerly government-run entity. 

Passenger services of the CP and CN became assumed by Via Rail in 1978. Via Rail is a government corporation that like Amtrak runnig trains over lines owned and maintained by other railway companies.  Transcontinental service on Via has suffered much like Amtrak routes in the US.

More than one line can mean more than one train station

Today, Amtrak runs out of one main station in the cities it serves in the Pacific Northwest instead of previously several rail stations.  For the larger cities, that means Pacific Central Station in Vancouver, BC, King Street Station in Seattle, Union Station in Portland and the Spokane Amtrak Station in Spokane, formerly the Northern Pacific terminal.  In all of those cities, the rail stations used today were not the only ones used in the past.

SEATTLE

Seattle became the Puget Sound hub for James J. Hill’s rail empire.  He combined both of his rail lines – NP and Great Northern – into the King Street Station after some coaxing from the town’s folks about the need for a terminal representative of the Emerald City.  King Street survives today hosting Amtrak and Sounder trains.  The Sounder system is a local suburban rail line running from Everett to Lakewood just south of Tacoma.  Sounder Transit is responsible for Link Light Rail system running from Northgate to Angle Lake just south of SeaTac Airport, as well as a short line running into downtown Tacoma from the new Tacoma Amtrak station.  The transit company also runs a variety of express bus services running throughout the metropolitan area.

king street station

The King Street station opened in 1906 featuring a clocktower inspired by St Mark’s Campanile in Venice.  The station includes ten tracks and four platforms – one used by Sounder trains connected by a pedestrian bridge outside the station.  The waiting room and other platforms are used by Amtrak.  Time was not good to rail travel nor to King Street Station.  Not until the city purchased the station from BNSF Railway in 2006 did renovation of the proud old building finally get underway in earnest.  An original restaurant was not included in the restoration, that area became incorporated into baggage areas.  The building did get updated for seismic upgrades rededicated in 2013.

Built in “railroad Italianate” the steel framed building is clad in red bricks.  The four clock faces in the clock tower actually work.  Original escalators are, however, gone. This means a lot of stairs if going north to Jackson Street – possibly to connect with the Link Light Rail system.  Wikipedia notes 25 train departures a day from the station, though 17 are Sounder commuter trains.  Four Amtrak trains – Cascades – head south to Portland and two go north to Vancouver, BC.  One long-distance train heads east to Chicago – Empire Builder – and one south to Los Angeles – Coast Starlight.  That means for quiet periods during a long day contrasting to the heydays of the 1940-1950’s.

Union Station

King Street Station was originally known as Seattle’s “Union Station”. But that changed in 1909 with the coming of Union Pacific to town.  Only one block from King Street, the station, originally known as the Oregon and Washington Station. Built more in beaux arts tradition. The station features a huge waiting area repurposed today as a grand hall open to the public for special events.  Union Station provided passenger rail service for passengers on the OWR&N (UP) and the Milwaukee Road.  The UP, through its OR&N subsidiary, shared lines south to Portland with the NP and GN since 1909.

Train travel ended here for the Milwaukee Road in 1961 after 50 years of service. UP ended its service in 1971 with the coming of Amtrak.  Amtrak only needed one instead of two rail stations, so Union Station was largely empty for almost 30 years.  With money from Paul Allen, the building was refurbished and repurposed.  Sounder Transit has their headquarters in the building.  Amazon.com used to be a major tenant in the building complex built up just south of the old station on the former tracks.  Outside the station on its east side, escalators drop people down to the tracks of Link Rail line. This makes it possible for passengers to travel north to the University of Washington or south to a waiting flight at SeaTac International Airport.

PORTLAND

Like Seattle, Portland, at one time sported two rail stations. And also, like Seattle, today there is only one.

union station

Opened as Grand Central Station in 1896, three transcontinental lines reached Portland by 1887.  Henry Villard controlled the NP at the time the rail line reached Portland in 1883.  He had original plans for the terminal laid out that year. Problematically, just as financial problems rose up to stymie Villard and his rail line.  The Northern Pacific Terminal Company founded in 1883 was responsible for operating the Portland depot and the eventual construction of today’s Union Station.

The terminal was designed by Henry Van Brunt who in partnership with Frank M. Howe, built several stations for the UP line.  Built in a Victorian Renaissance Revival traditional interior, the one main renovation of the terminal took place in 1930 with a jump in style to more an Art Deco redesign.  By the 1920’s five rail companies used the Union Station with more than 120 trains arriving and departing daily.  Like at King Street, the centerpiece of the station was a 150-foot-high clock tower later modified to hold the big neon signs “Go By Train” and “Union Station”. 

The station became part of the Portland Development Commission – today’s Prosper Portland and saw a new era of renovation.  A long era of redevelopment, especially with the erection of the many apartment and condominium towers of the new Pearl District, included the train station peripherally.  Much like King Street Station, passengers can transfer to the local light rail system by walking one block to the south – Northwest 6^th & Hoyt Station.  That redevelopment, especially around the train station has been put in doubt lately by the large numbers of homeless people congregating in the area.

quiet in old age

The number of trains served today has dropped considerably.  There are two long-distance trains – Empire Builder to Chicago and Coast Starlight to Los Angeles or Seattle.  The Amtrak Cascades trains make up the bulk of the routes with four a day to Seattle – two of those going on and continuing south from Vancouver, BC – and the northern end of two trains from Eugene.

here comes the sp&s

When the Northern Pacific reached Portland in 1883 – after installing the rail ferry at Kalama – they used the same depot as OR&N. They shared OR&N rail lines along the south bank of the Columbia River connecting at Wallula from NP lines at Pasco.  The NP built a new line connecting Kalama with Vancouver, WA in 1907 with the double track installed.  Enter the SP&S.

Many rail lines operated through subsidiaries.  This, hopefully, protected the parent companies from potential financial calamity.  Spokane, Seattle & Portland formed in 1905 with NP and Great Northern as co-owners.  SP&S built the North Bank line into Vancouver, WA late in 1908.  SP&S then initiated construction of two rail bridges – one across the Columbia and one over the Willamette – in 1906 – putting the rail ferry out of work.

By 1909, the rail line leading north from Portland to Seattle became “pooled” as trains from NP, UP and GN – later also the Milwaukee Road for a short while – traveled the same tracks.

North Bank Depot

In Portland, the new rail line needed buildings to house freight storage and handling.  NP had already bought property for a terminal and rail yard west of the Union Station.  They hoped to operate passenger services out of Union Station. They had to deal, however, with the Northern Pacific Terminal Company.  That company was only partially owned by NP. Its owners also included competing railroad companies – OWR&N, UP, SP – all meaning Edward Harriman.  Harriman and James J. Hill had been involved in a struggle for rail dominance for the better part of the early part of the new 20^th century.  Unable to come to an agreement with the Terminal Company, the SP&S – Hill – fell back on the two freight houses at 11^th and Hoyt.  One of the houses – the east building – repurposed as a passenger station.

Trains ran from here to Seattle, Spokane and Astoria-Seaside on another subsidiary of Hill’s.  Subsidiaries owned subsidiaries.  In this case, the Oregon Electric Railway owned by the SP&S.  OE ran tracks through downtown Portland to the new terminal in 1912.  That particular service lasted only for twenty years due to traffic congestion and declining ridership.  Slowly in the 1920’s, SP&S began shifting some of its passenger services to Union Station. New platforms and train sheds went up there – the two antagonists, Harriman and Hill – long gone by now.

Eventually, after 1931, all SP&S passenger trains used Union Station as originally planned. Two rail stations melded into one. Both of the North Bank Depot buildings used for freight purposes along with nearby rail maintenance buildings.  The buildings became vacant in the 1980s. Empty for almost a decade before area was repurposed along with adjacent rail yards into what is the Pearl District today.  In the late 1990’s the North Bank Depot Buildings found new life as condominiums.

SPOKANE

northern pacic to amtrak

Portland and Seattle both featured two rail stations.  Not to be outdone, Spokane built three rail stations.  The present Amtrak station uses the former Northern Pacific terminal.  Restored in 1994 as an “intermodal center”, buses operate out of the station as well.  A co-owner with Great Northern of the SP&S, trains from the east like today’s Amtrak Empire Builder break up in Spokane sending some cars on to Portland or Seattle. The station receives cars from those station, likewise.  NP exchanged cars with SP&S trains for the run to Portland in Pasco. So, there was no connection with the SP&S in Spokane.  The station dates to 1891.  The Empire Builder is the only train suing the station today.  It runs very late in the night both eastbound and westbound trains making them somewhat inconvenient for locals.

gone but not completely forgotten

The two other rail stations saw bulldozers to make room for the redevelopment along the Spokane River and Spokane Falls in time for Expo 74, a world’s fair held in the smallest city ever to hold such a fair.  One of the structures was Union Station. Located just across a branch of the river on the south side from its twin, the Great Northern Depot.

Union Station served the Union Pacific, Milwaukee Road and Spokane International lines.

SI was a small, short line used by Canadian Pacific to hook their lines into the Pacific Northwest.  Over time, the line fell into the orbit of the UP.  An elevated track served the Union Station terminal with trains arriving on the second floor of the building. 

Great Northern Depot across the way served both GN and SP&S lines.  Spokane and Inland Empire interurban electric trains used the GN Depot with their acquisition by Hill.  The clocktower of the GN Depot is the only part of the two terminals left in place.

VANCOUVER BRITISH COLUMBIA – ANTOHER SPECIAL CASE.

Two main transcontinental railroads made Vancouver their western terminus – Canadian Pacific and Canadian National. From the south, James Hill’s Great Northern crept forth. Vancouver is another example of a city with three rail stations.

CP’s main terminal stood on the east end of downtown Vancouver. Built in 1914, the terminal saw diminishing business by the early 1970’s – only one train a day, the Canadian – when Via Rail took over passenger business in Canada. The Waterfront Station serves Vancouver’s Skylink light rail system today and the Seabus boats outside on the water. Additionally, bus services run past here and a commuter rail line – West Coast Express runs out from here.

CP’s big rival north of the border is Canadian National. CN shared their station with the Great Northern. It presently constitutes Vancouver’s only railroad station situated just southeast of downtown. Today’s Pacific Central station dates to 1917 when named the False Bay Station. It is a “union station” with both Via and Amtrak serving up trains. That said, there are only two round trip trains per day to Seattle – one continuing to Portland – from Amtrak and Via musters up only one train twice a week.

A third train station used to sit next to the CN terminal. Union Station went up in 1916 to serve trains of both the Northern Pacific and the Great Northern. The NP stopped service in the late 1920’s. The Vancouver, Victoria & Eastern Railroad built the station. VV&E was similar to SP&S being a subsidiary for GN. The station was torn down in 1965 with Great Northern moving next door for the last few years before the age of Amtrak-Via.