Western Stations

he South Shore – Portsmouth station, an enclosed shelter on the platform, was completed in early 2023 as part of a larger $3.5 million program of accessibility improvements. The one-story red brick building features grey stone trim at the base and in the window sills, and it is topped by a seamed metal hipped-gabled roof. Wide eaves supported by graceful paired brackets protect passengers from inclement weather. Inside, the waiting area appears light and airy due to large tripartite windows, while metal benches line the walls. Complementing the depot are new light standards, fencing and a concrete platform with tactile edging. This new facility replaced an earlier shelter erected by Amtrak in 1976.

Great American Stations

mtrak began serving Maysville on June 12, 1977 via the James Whitcomb Riley (Washington-Cincinnati-Chicago) — which was soon renamed the Cardinal after the state bird of each state on the train’s route from Virginia to Illinois. A short article in Amtrak News, the company’s employee magazine, noted: “The new stop was added because of the population of the city and its surrounding area.”

The city’s passenger depot was built by the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (C&O) around 1918 and has a waiting room with traditional wooden benches. The single-story red brick colonial-style building, trimmed in white, has a central entrance under a small classical portico and two small offset wings to either side of the entrance, with star-patterned panes above each front window and similarly-patterned clerestory windows at either end of the building’s wings. Another small rectangular brick building in the same style, the former freight depot, sits nearby. The former Maysville station for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad is also still standing in town, and has been restored for other uses.

Great American Stations

mtrak customers at Connersville use a brick shelter on the platform, constructed with funds raised by volunteers of the local Rotary Club. A brick railroad depot, still standing nearby, was built in 1914 for the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad (CH&D) and is used by current owner CSX to support freight train operations. The depot was built only three years before the CH&D was purchased by the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad at auction. By 1891, Connersville was a local stop on both the CH&D and the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway a few blocks to the southeast. In summer 2023, Amtrak completed a $1.9 million improvement project at the Connersville station. Working with the city, Amtrak made improvements that included the construction of a new concrete platform meeting the specifications of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Other upgrades included the installation of new lighting, a ramp, a new connection to the public right of way and upgrades to the parking lot.

Great American Stations

he Amtrak stop in Crawfordsville is a heated, enclosed shelter on the platform that opened in 2022. From a distance, it’s marked by a steep, sloping roof and bands of windows that allow natural light in, as well as provide a view up and down the platform. It sits close by the original depot, a modest red brick hip-roofed structure built in 1926 for the Monon Railroad and served by its passenger trains until 1967. The depot is currently owned by Crawfordsville resident Nancy Morrison, who purchased it from CSX in 2004. Since then, she has renovated the building for commercial purposes, in part through $20,000 of funding assistance from the Crawfordsville Historic Preservation Commission.

In August 2022, Amtrak and local officials gathered at the station to cut the ribbon on completion of a $2.6 million improvement project at the facility. As part of the work, the existing asphalt platform and the old passenger shelter were removed and replaced with a new 300-foot-long concrete platform and heated waiting shelter. Also included in the upgrades were new station signage, a mobile lift enclosure and energy efficient LED light fixtures that enhance lighting along the platform and pathways.

Great American Stations