Princeton station (Illinois)

Not to be confused with Princeton Junction (Amtrak station).
Princeton
Location 107 Bicentennial Drive
Princeton, IL 61356
Coordinates 41°23′07″N 89°28′01″W / 41.3852°N 89.4669°W / 41.3852; -89.4669Coordinates: 41°23′07″N 89°28′01″W / 41.3852°N 89.4669°W / 41.3852; -89.4669
Owned by BNSF Railway
Line(s)
  California Zephyr
  Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg
  Southwest Chief
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 2
Other information
Station code PCT
History
Opened 1911
Rebuilt 1998
Traffic
Passengers (2014) 35,786[1] Decrease 0.9%
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station
toward Emeryville
California Zephyr
toward Chicago
toward Los Angeles
Southwest Chief
toward Chicago
toward Quincy
Illinois Zephyr
  Former services  
Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad
Wyanet
toward Denver
Main Line
Malden
Location
Location of the Princeton, IL Amtrak Station.
Location within Illinois

Princeton is an Amtrak intercity train station at 107 Bicentennial Drive in Princeton, Illinois. The station was built in 1911 by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad[2] and is listed as "Princeton City" on the Amtrak website and the List of Amtrak stations. Amtrak, the Illinois Department of Transportation and the city worked together to renovate the depot in 1998. Over the following six years, a new roof and gutters were installed, brickwork was repaired and the restrooms were upgraded.[3]

The station is adjacent to Darius Miller Park, which was named in honor of Darius Miller, president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) from 1910 to 1914; officials from the CB&Q donated the land for the park following Miller's death.[4]

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 Princeton. 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 Princeton on the BNSF line.

References

  1. ↑ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2014, State of Illinois" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  2. ↑ Princeton, Illinois; Great American Stations (Amtrak)
  3. ↑ Great American Stations. Accessed March 28, 2013.
  4. ↑ Barker, Donna (July 6, 2011). "Darius Miller needs a facelift". BCRNews.com. Retrieved November 30, 2013.


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