Amtrak station in Battle Creek...

[Todd Cline]

Anyone who has been there knows what a wreck this place has become. Sad to say, it was built in 1980 and was a real modern showplace at that time. Even had some photos in "Trains" magazine. Today it is an embarassment to the city. There was federal funding appropriated for its re-hab, but sadly nothing has been done. About a year ago I asked the agent there about the project and she told me that there were some people in about a year ago taking measurements of some things, but she hasn't seen anything of it since then. I gotta' wonder. Did money get spent on these "measurements"? Has some contractor walked away with lots of taxpayer dollars for a job not completed? Perhaps this is another reason why Amtrak should be "de-federalized". At least put it at the "state" level. I've never liked the idea of Washington beaurocrats running our trains anyway. Certainly everybody knows that passenger trains can never be run for a profit. It just doesn't happen. Not here, not in Europe, not in Japan. But neither do "Highways" turn a profit. Nor do government built airports. Even the so-called "free shipping lanes" of waterways depend on government funding. I don't suppose all those Army Corps of Engineers projects just fall out of the sky free for the taking, does anyone else? The Soo Locks alone cost the govt. millions of dollars a year. I'm not here to bad-mouth any one type of transportation over another, I just think that govt. needs to put ALL modes on an even playing field. With the inevitable energy crisis, yes, some day there will be NO MORE OIL, we need to put our focus on the most energy efficient way to move things from point A to point B. As has been proven again and again, Rails are the most energy efficient mode of overland transport. Now I'm not advocating "High Speed Rail" here, I think that is a crock, but the existing rail system should be supported by both private, as it is now for freight, and public,for passenger, as it is now woefully lacking. So write your congressman if you think Amtrak deserves support.

Todd

[conrail767596]

Uh, the building is owned by the City of Battle Creek... it's at the city level. Amtrak has little say over the renovations; it is an "intermodal" facility regardless. Gotta love how people find a way to trash Amtrak.

It's the City of Battle Creek's "Pride and Joy." Amtrak simply leases space inside. It's like blaming Victoria's Secret because the mall sucks. BC is quite proud to say they own and maintain the station as a separate entity from BCT. Might want to ask BCT and the city fathers where the $$ are...

Anyone who has been there knows what a wreck this place has become. Sad to say, it was built in 1980 and was a real modern showplace at that time. Even had some photos in "Trains" magazine. Today it is an embarassment to the city. There was federal funding appropriated for its re-hab, but sadly nothing has been done. About a year ago I asked the agent there about the project and she told me that there were some people in about a year ago taking measurements of some things, but she hasn't seen anything of it since then. I gotta' wonder. Did money get spent on these "measurements"? Has some contractor walked away with lots of taxpayer dollars for a job not completed? Perhaps this is another reason why Amtrak should be "de-federalized". At least put it at the "state" level. I've never liked the idea of Washington beaurocrats running our trains anyway. Certainly everybody knows that passenger trains can never be run for a profit. It just doesn't happen. Not here, not in Europe, not in Japan. But neither do "Highways" turn a profit. Nor do government built airports. Even the so-called "free shipping lanes" of waterways depend on government funding. I don't suppose all those Army Corps of Engineers projects just fall out of the sky free for the taking, does anyone else? The Soo Locks alone cost the govt. millions of dollars a year. I'm not here to bad-mouth any one type of transportation over another, I just think that govt. needs to put ALL modes on an even playing field. With the inevitable energy crisis, yes, some day there will be NO MORE OIL, we need to put our focus on the most energy efficient way to move things from point A to point B. As has been proven again and again, Rails are the most energy efficient mode of overland transport. Now I'm not advocating "High Speed Rail" here, I think that is a crock, but the existing rail system should be supported by both private, as it is now for freight, and public,for passenger, as it is now woefully lacking. So write your congressman if you think Amtrak deserves support.

Todd

[RRTTF]

Someone that I know that recently visited the Battle Creek station (notice that I am trying to extricate Amtrak from the description) commented to me that it has "all the charm of a well-trafficed public rest room."

It is intereting to make a "comparison in opposites." The station in Battle Creek is one of the newest on the Michigan Line, built in the late 20th century; and, it has been allowed to "decay" to the extent that it has. But, just up the railroad line is the station in Jackson -- rumored to be the OLDEST operating station in North America, built in the mid 19th century, and that station shows nowhere near the level of "decay" that the modern station does.

Similar comparisons can be made of the Battle Creek station to.... (not all are active Amtrak stops)
Niles..
Dowagiac..
Kalamazoo..
Albion..
Chelsea..
Dexter..
Ann Arbor.. (both a "modern station" and a 19th century depot, side by side).

Even the Michigan Central Depot in Detroit, up until the time she was "walked away from" had a regal look to her, and she was built in 1913.

[Norm]

Someone that I know that recently visited the Battle Creek station (notice that I am trying to extricate Amtrak from the description) commented to me that it has "all the charm of a well-trafficed public rest room."

It is intereting to make a "comparison in opposites." The station in Battle Creek is one of the newest on the Michigan Line, built in the late 20th century; and, it has been allowed to "decay" to the extent that it has. But, just up the railroad line is the station in Jackson -- rumored to be the OLDEST operating station in North America, built in the mid 19th century, and that station shows nowhere near the level of "decay" that the modern station does.

Similar comparisons can be made of the Battle Creek station to.... (not all are active Amtrak stops)
Niles..
Dowagiac..
Kalamazoo..
Albion..
Chelsea..
Dexter..
Ann Arbor.. (both a "modern station" and a 19th century depot, side by side).

Even the Michigan Central Depot in Detroit, up until the time she was "walked away from" had a regal look to her, and she was built in 1913.

It's difficult to make a true comparison. For example, the station in Durand has been well taken care of since it burned in the early 1900's. It is a reminder of yesteryear compared to the many depots that have been demolished with no regard for history. There are many examples of that in Michigan that are no longer seen by historic photos. Many of those depots were special, and at the moment I'm thinking of the 'witches hat' that seemed to be common in the 1950's. GTW was famous for them, and fortunately the one at Durand still stands.

I spent many hours at Durand back in the late 1940's waiting for the train from Port Huron to connect a car before we continued out journey toward Lake Michigan. I was not yet in my teens, but have fond remembrance of those days. Passenger service was still behind steam. So much for steam, and the last remembrance I have of that is sometime in the early sixties when I heard an engineer play the steam whistle as only they could do before the air horn on the diesels became common. I still miss the lonesome sounds those engineers played. They were masters of the game of making sounds with a steam whistle, and If I'd known them I could have identified each by the way they sounded. Back then their whistle signatures were identifiable. Can't say that for horns on diesels.

[AC60CW]

This may not be the main problem. But I am sure it has a small portion to do with it. It was built in the 80's. When, and still, government contracts are given to the company/person with the lowest bid. To make some more money, the company/person tries to shave a little of to increase their own profit. Some of the areas that suffer are skilled labor and materials. So if you don't have enough skilled laborors using inferior materials. Then your end product me look nice for a short while. But will deteriate rapidly. Unlike when a private/non-governement agency hires out for work. They take into more things. Comparing modern buildings to ones even build pre-WWII can't be achieved properly. When a company built something such as a headquarters or building that would be in the public eye, they made them into an extension of what they wanted the public/customer to view the company as. So, in turn you had depots built by railroads that took great pride in having a depot built. This is also evident in the days of early diesel passenger service, which trains like the Hiawatha and Southwest Chief to name s couple. Great lengths were taken to make sure these trains were ontime and looked spotless (in and out).

I do feel that it is a shame that the BC station is in as bad of shape as it is. This is something that is much farther reaching than just a station or two. All over the country, we have historical buildings rotting as they await some TLC to help them live another 10,20 or 50 years. Huge example is historic Fort Wayne in Detroit. Anyone that shipped out to military service up to the Vietnam war has been there. This place went to pot after the MEPS left. It would very well have gone to the earth, but a small group of people too up the call to help this historically significant location out. It took time and alot ot effort, but the place has made a huge comeback and is still being worked on. I am not sure if something like this is what the BC station is in need of. But, there are still ways to poke and prod the peopel that can make it happen.

[Todd Cline]

Uh, the building is owned by the City of Battle Creek... it's at the city level. Amtrak has little say over the renovations; it is an "intermodal" facility regardless. Gotta love how people find a way to trash Amtrak.

It's the City of Battle Creek's "Pride and Joy." Amtrak simply leases space inside. It's like blaming Victoria's Secret because the mall sucks. BC is quite proud to say they own and maintain the station as a separate entity from BCT. Might want to ask BCT and the city fathers where the $$ are...

Well, I was never trying to "trash" Amtrak. And I realize that the city owns the structure. HOWEVER.. Federal funds WERE allocated to remodel/repair the facility. I was just wondering why nothing has been done beyond a "measuring crew" and where the funding went...
Todd

[Steve B]

Norm wrote,

"It's difficult to make a true comparison. For example, the station in Durand has been well taken care of since it burned in the early 1900's."

Except when it was abandoned from 1974 to 1979. Practically all of the 2nd floor windows were smashed, and the interior was vandalized and damaged by the weather. The damage increased renovation costs by many thousands of dollars. At one point, GTW had equipment mobilized to tear the depot down.

[gtw5812]

Uh, the building is owned by the City of Battle Creek... it's at the city level. Amtrak has little say over the renovations; it is an "intermodal" facility regardless. Gotta love how people find a way to trash Amtrak.

It's the City of Battle Creek's "Pride and Joy." Amtrak simply leases space inside. It's like blaming Victoria's Secret because the mall sucks. BC is quite proud to say they own and maintain the station as a separate entity from BCT. Might want to ask BCT and the city fathers where the $$ are...

Well, I was never trying to "trash" Amtrak. And I realize that the city owns the structure. HOWEVER.. Federal funds WERE allocated to remodel/repair the facility. I was just wondering why nothing has been done beyond a "measuring crew" and where the funding went...
Todd

I am with Todd,

All of those "shovel ready" projects....Trillons of $$$...right into the coffer's of the City, County, and State employee pension funds.....gotta love it.

R/
G