Marshall station (Texas)
Marshall station is a railroad station in Marshall, Texas. It is served by Amtrak, the national railroad passenger system, which operates the Texas Eagle through Marshall each day, with service north to Chicago and west-southwest to Dallas, San Antonio and Los Angeles. The station also houses the Texas and Pacific Railway Depot & Museum.
The ticket office in Marshall is staffed 7 days a week from 7am to 10am, and 5:30pm to 8:30pm.
History
The station, also known as the T&P Depot, is the only surviving structure of the Texas and Pacific Railway shops complex which originally consisted of fifty-seven buildings spanning.The building is located in the Ginocchio Historic District of the National Register of Historic Places and was built in 1912 to house a passenger station and the headquarters of railroad's eastern district. The building welcomed soldiers in both World War I and World War II, and at its height housed telegraph and immigration offices.
During the 1970s a series of events led to the station being abandoned. Amtrak passenger trains used the building beginning on March 13, 1974, however in 1988 the Union Pacific Railroad, which owned the property, filed for a permit to demolish the building. The community intervened and throughout the 1990s worked to save the Depot and the building was restored and resumed service as the local train station; additionally, much of the building houses the railway museum.
In 2008 T&P Railway #400, a 2-8-2 "Mikado" type steam locomotive, was moved to the depot museum grounds from where it had been previously kept for years before in City Park, and restoration work on the engine was completed a couple of years later. The restoration work included rust removal and a new coat of paint, as well as stair access to the cab of the engine for visitors. The locomotive is now accessible to the public during regular museum hours.