Kewanee station

Kewanee
Location West Third and Loomis Streets
Kewanee, IL 61443
Coordinates 41°14′45″N 89°55′40″W / 41.2459°N 89.9278°W / 41.2459; -89.9278Coordinates: 41°14′45″N 89°55′40″W / 41.2459°N 89.9278°W / 41.2459; -89.9278
Line(s)
  Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 2
Other information
Station code KEE
History
Opened 1986
Rebuilt 2012[1]
Traffic
Passengers (2014) 17,152[2] Increase 3.9%
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station
toward Quincy
Illinois Zephyr
toward Chicago
  Former services  
Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad
Galva
toward Denver
Main Line
Neponset

Kewanee is an Amtrak intercity train station in Kewanee, Illinois. A new station opened on April 13, 2012, replacing a smaller brick structure built in 1986. In addition to the waiting room, the depot houses a regional office of the Henry County Tourism Bureau.[3] The station is serviced by the Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg. The California Zephyr and Southwest Chief also use these tracks but do not stop in Kewanee.

New station

Designed by the Peoria-based Farnsworth Group, the new $485,000 station has a sloping roof and great wall of glass. The primary decoration is a large neon sign, placed high on the waiting room wall, that spells out "KEWANEE."[4] In 2009, town officials set aside $300,000 in capital funds for the project; additional funds came from the city's economic development fund. The city later applied for two state grants to help cover approximately half of the depot’s cost. $163,000 was gained through "Illinois Jobs Now!", a six-year, $31 billion statewide capital program supported by 20 year state bonds and federal and local matching funds. An additional $75,000 came through a state grant obtained by State Senator Darin LaHood and State Representative Don Moffitt.[5]

Trails & Rails and APRHF Rail Rangers program

Between May 18, 2013 and July 19, 2015, volunteer rangers with the National Park Service provided commentary for train passengers between Chicago, Illinois and La Plata, Missouri on Amtrak's Southwest Chief, including through Kewanee. This Trails & Rails program was a partnership between Amtrak, the National Park Service, Texas A&M University, and the American Passenger Rail Heritage Foundation (APRHF) in La Plata, Missouri. Volunteers were on board for two round-trips per week during the busy summer and winter holiday travel periods. Despite volunteers no longer being on the train, the reference manual used by Trails & Rails volunteers is still available for passengers at Outside The Rails. After the National Park Service ended its partnership with the APRHF in July 2015, the APRHF launched its Rail Rangers program, which continues to provide a similar service on private railroad car excursions across the Midwestern United States, including through Kewanee on the BNSF line.

References

  1. ↑ Kewannee Station (KEE) Great American Stations (Amtrak)
  2. ↑ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2014, State of Illinois" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  3. ↑ Great American Stations. Accessed March 27, 2013.
  4. ↑ Great American Stations. Accessed March 27, 2013.
  5. ↑ Great American Stations. Accessed March 27, 2013.


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