Kelso Multimodal Transportation Center
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Kelso Multimodal Transportation Center, located at 501 South First Avenue in Kelso, Washington provides Amtrak rail, national and regional bus service, shuttle vans, taxis and rental cars for Kelso and neighboring Longview, Washington.
Contents |
[edit] History
The Kelso Train Station was originally built by the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1912. The brick passenger and wood freight depot replaced an earlier wooden structure at a slightly different location.
In 1970 the Northern Pacific merged with several other railroads to create the Burlington Northern Railroad. The station remained in active freight service until the early 1980s when Burlington Northern suspended freight service there and transferred that service to the Portland, Oregon hub.
The station became an Amtrak stop in 1981. The station was manned by a ticketing agent until the 1990s when the station was locked up due to vandalism.
In the mid-1990s the station underwent extensive remodeling to make it look like the passenger stations of a bygone era. The station's interior and exterior received face-lifts and rebuilds, and a 30-foot tall clock tower was constructed outside the station. The clock can be seen from across the Cowlitz River at the Cowlitz County Hall of Justice and as far north as the higher points in the Beacon Hill Neighborhood of Kelso. The refurbished station was formally dedicated on September 23, 1995.
[edit] Current Usage
The center serves as an unstaffed Amtrak station for the cities of Kelso and Longview, and also provides commercial and intercity bus service. The station stands as both the rail hub of the county and as a tribute to the rail pioneers of the Pacific Northwest. However, passenger rail traffic continues to decline and locals are concerned for the future of their beloved landmark. The trains that still use the station as a call point are the Amtrak Cascades which runs from Vancouver, BC to Eugene, Oregon and the Coast Starlight which runs from Seattle, Washington to Los Angeles, California via Sacramento and Oakland.
[edit] Special Events
Numerous special events are held at the station each year, the most notable of which is the Kelso Christmas Celebration at which the mayor lights the Christmas tree that adorns the clock tower and Santa Claus makes a visit via the Amtrak Cascades train. Between 2001 and 2004, the Kelso City Council held its meetings in the stations basement, due to the fact that City Hall had been torn down to make way for a new bridge spanning the Cowlitz River.[citation needed]
In 1993, a special BN train made a stop at the station while it was carrying the company's CEO and board members on an inspection of the system. It was also used that year as a staging area for Burlington Northern's Incident Response Unit when a BN train suffered a head-on collision with a Union Pacific train about 15 miles down track from the station. {fact}}In 1994 and 1995, the station was inundated with water damage when the nearby Cowlitz River peaked over the dike at 22 feet and flooded the basement and platform area, which ultimately led to the approval of the remodel. In 1996, a steam-powered locomotive made a journey past the station on its way to Seattle.[citation needed]
