Tucson, AZ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| General information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | 400 North Toole Avenue Tucson, Arizona United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 32°13′23″N 110°58′00″W / 32.22306°N 110.96667°W | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owned by | City of Tucson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line(s) | UP Gila Subdivision | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Platforms | 1 side platform | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tracks | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Connections | Sun Tran bus Sun Link streetcar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bicycle facilities | Yes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accessible | Yes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Station code | Amtrak: TUS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 1907 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rebuilt | 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Passengers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FY 2022 | 19,115[1] (Amtrak) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Tucson station is an Amtrak train depot in Tucson, Arizona, served three times a week by the combined Sunset Limited/Texas Eagle train.
History[edit]
The depot was built in 1907 by the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP). It was designed by the SP's architect, Daniel J. Patterson, who designed a number of depots during the same era, including the San Antonio Station.
Passenger services[edit]
In the mid-20th century, into the latter 1950s, four trains a day departed west and four trains a day went east:[2]
- Departing west toward Los Angeles Union Station via Yuma in the morning:
- Argonaut (bypassed Phoenix to the south) (to ca. 1957)
- Sunset Limited (passed through Phoenix) (continues to operate today)
- Departing west toward Los Angeles Union Station via Phoenix and Yuma in the mid-afternoon and the evening:
- Imperial (to 1958)
- Golden State (to 1968)
- Departing east toward Chicago's LaSalle Street Station via the Golden State Route in the midnight hours:
- Imperial
- Golden State
- Departing east toward New Orleans Union Station via the Sunset Route and Houston in the daylight morning hours:
- Sunset Limited
- Argonaut
Recent decades[edit]
In 1998, the City purchased the entire depot property from the Union Pacific Railroad, which had absorbed the SP.[3] Restoration of the main depot building and the three adjacent buildings, to their 1941 modernized Spanish Colonial Revival architectural style, was completed in 2004. Spanish Colonial Revival elements include the stuccoed brick walls, red clay roof tiles, and colorful, decorative tilework in the waiting room.[3] The station and other railroad buildings are included as contributing resources to the National Register-listed Tucson Warehouse Historic District.[4] [5]
The Old Pueblo Trolley extended their historic streetcar line to the depot in 2009. Sun Link assumed operation of the line on July 25, 2014. The Southern Arizona Transportation Museum is located in the old Records Vault building.[6]
Proposed expansion[edit]
Tucson station is a proposed endpoint for planned train service to Phoenix.
Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday statue[edit]
According to historian David Leighton, of the Arizona Daily Star, the Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday statue near the train depot commemorates the revenge killing of Frank Stilwell. On March 18, 1882, in the aftermath of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Morgan Earp was murdered by unknown killers, in Tombstone, Arizona. Two days later, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and a few other men were escorting the injured Virgil Earp and his wife to Tucson, with their final destination being California. While at the Tucson train station, Wyatt Earp learned that Frank Stilwell, one of the individuals suspected in the Morgan Earp murder, was lurking in the area. Earp, Holliday, and the others pursued Stilwell along the train tracks, eventually catching and killing him.[7]
References[edit]
- ^ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2022: State of Arizona" (PDF). Amtrak. June 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
- ^ "Southern Pacific Lines, Tables 9,10". Official Guide of the Railways. 88 (4). National Railway Publication Company. September 1955.
- ^ a b "Tucson, AZ (TUS)". Great American Stations.
- ^ "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form – Tucson Warehouse Historic District" (PDF). City of Tucson. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
- ^ "Tucson Warehouse Historic District (map)" (PDF). City of Tucson. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
- ^ "At the Depot: Some history of our depot..." Southern Arizona Transportation Museum. Archived from the original on 2022-06-19. Retrieved 2022-06-19.
- ^ Leighton, David (20 April 2015). "Street Smarts: Few Tucsonans saw Wyatt Earp as hero". Arizona Daily Star.
External links[edit]
Media related to Tucson (Amtrak station) at Wikimedia Commons
- Tucson, AZ – Amtrak
- Tucson, AZ – Station history at Great American Stations (Amtrak)
- Tucson Amtrak station information
- Southern Arizona Transportation Museum – at the Depot.
- Arizona Rail Passenger Association: Tucson Depot history
- USA Rail Guide: "Tucson Amtrak Station & El Paso and Southwestern Railroad Depot" – by Train Web.