*** Welcome to piglix ***

Prince (Amtrak station)

Prince
Amtrak's The Cardinal - Prince, WV.jpg
Eastbound Cardinal stopped at Prince Amtrak station
Location
Coordinates 37°51′24″N 81°03′38″W / 37.85667°N 81.06056°W / 37.85667; -81.06056Coordinates: 37°51′24″N 81°03′38″W / 37.85667°N 81.06056°W / 37.85667; -81.06056
Owned by Fayette County Commission
Line(s)
  Cardinal
Platforms 1 side platform
Tracks 2
Construction
Parking Yes
Other information
Station code PRC
History
Opened 1946
Traffic
Passengers (2013) 3,406 Increase 9%
Services
Preceding station   BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak   Following station
toward Chicago
Cardinal

Prince is an Amtrak station in Prince, West Virginia, served by the Cardinal. It serves as the main depot for the Beckley area because it is on the CSX (originally Chesapeake & Ohio Railway) mainline while Beckley itself is not.

The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway built the first facility in 1880 that was enlarged in 1891 to serve both freight and passengers. In 1942, the C&O president, Robert R. Young, saw a need for "a stylish, streamlined, and efficient passenger rail system" that lead to the development of the current station.

The design of the Prince train station is Art Deco. Built in 1946, the architectural firm was Garfield, Harris, Robinson, & Schafer that was headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. The main terminal building is 125 by 22 feet (38.1 m × 6.7 m) and the waiting area features tall ceilings and large windows, as well as a large wall mural depicting mining and the importance of coal.

The depot has a minimum of ornamentation. Each end of the 500-foot (152 m) canopy is rounded and topped with Streamline Moderne stainless steel lettering spelling out "Prince". The canopy is oriented so that the sun would warm waiting passengers in the winter time, while shading them in the summer.

Front entrance

Passenger platform side

With an upsurge in activities in the New River Gorge National River, and the development of the Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve that is located 7 miles (11 km) from the station, plans are underway for improvements to the passenger facility as of late-2013.


...
Wikipedia

...