Western Route

ocated a few blocks north of the Truckee River in downtown Reno, the current Amtrak facility was added to the historic Southern Pacific station in 2005. This addition was part of a multi-year, $282 million project that depressed 2.2 miles of the Union Pacific mainline in the heart of the city and eliminated eleven grade crossings. The new building, sited west of the original depot, opened to the public in January 2006. Passengers enter from street level but descend to the waiting room located at the new track level.

In 2007, a large fountain that once stood in downtown Reno was installed in the Amtrak waiting room. Commissioned by the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, the 14-foot-tall monument was originally unveiled on Oct. 17, 1908. One of many erected by temperance leagues across the country, the fountain was intended to keep men out of saloons by providing a free source of water for them and their horses and dogs. Included on the fountain is the Red Cross symbol as well as crossed swords representing the First Calvary Volunteers of Nevada, which fought in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War.

The Reno City Council provided most of the $50,000 in funding for the fountain restoration and relocation, fulfilling a public art component of the track relocation project. While it no longer gurgles with water, the monument welcomes travelers. A plaque in the waiting room explains the history of the fountain, and is joined by historic images of the SP station.

Great American Stations

he historic Sacramento station, opened by the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) in 1926, succeeded at least two earlier SP stations on the site, which is part of a complex that dates back to 1863 and the Central Pacific Railroad’s construction of the western portion of the first transcontinental rail line. The station sits on an approximately 240-acre rail yard that was originally filled with every kind of building and equipment necessary for the fabrication of locomotives and rolling stock.

Designed by the San Francisco architectural firm of Bliss and Faville, the three story building with red tile roof employs a dignified Renaissance Revival style. A reinforced concrete frame is faced with Italian sienna-colored brick trimmed with terracotta. The famous waiting room includes a 40-foot-high barrel vaulted ceiling, Philippine mahogany woodwork and marble floors. Enormous arched windows allow sunlight, filtered through leaded, amber-colored glass, to stream into the space. A mural by John A. MacQuarrie located on the east wall of the waiting room depicts the 1863 groundbreaking ceremony of the Central Pacific Railroad.

The station is a key component in a massive development deal — more than a decade in the making — that is meant to create a multimodal transportation hub, revitalize Sacramento’s urban core and end 150 years of railroad ownership over a large area immediately adjacent to downtown. This vision includes redevelopment of the station complex and the Sacramento Railyards, which is reputed to be the largest infill development in the United States.

Great American Stations