Princeton station (Illinois)

Princeton
Location	107 Bicentennial Drive Princeton, IL 61356
Coordinates	41°23′07″N 89°28′01″W / 41.3852°N 89.4669°WCoordinates: 41°23′07″N 89°28′01″W / 41.3852°N 89.4669°W
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]  0.9%
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station Galesburg toward Emeryville California Zephyr Naperville toward Chicago Galesburg toward Los Angeles Southwest Chief Mendota toward Chicago Kewanee toward Quincy Illinois Zephyr   Former services   Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad Wyanet toward Denver Main Line Malden toward Chicago Union Station
Location
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.

External links

• Media related to Princeton (Amtrak station) at Wikimedia Commons
• City of Princeton - Amtrak Depot

• Amtrak – Stations – Princeton, IL
• Princeton Amtrak Station (USA Rail Guide -- Train Web)
• Princeton (PCT)--Great American Stations (Amtrak)