In a Town Full of Trains, Is the Depot Worth Saving?

By Cate Huisman, 11-28-09

Sandpoint is a town of trains. Dozens of them come through day and night. We don’t wax sentimental about hearing that lonesome whistle blow because we hear it all the time.

Trains stop conversations with their noise. Trains are the excuse students give for being late to school. Trains make drivers wait at the bottom of the hill before they can head up to the ski slope, and trains make them leave themselves a lot of stopping distance on the way back down. In a town that’s nearly 50 miles from the nearest bus depot and 75 miles from an airport served by public airlines, the train is what we have for public transportation.

The passenger trains are not late as often as they were several years ago, but when they are delayed by having to wait on a siding for a freight train (freight takes precedence over people on the rails) or by an avalanche in Stevens Pass or by flooding over the tracks in Minnesota, travelers waited—until just a few weeks ago—in Sandpoint’s historic train station. Although there was never any visible staff, the station was always heated and open in the dead of night for the westbound train that comes through at midnight and the eastbound two and a half hours later. With its ancient wooden benches and marble bathrooms, it appeared to be holding a place in time as well as space.

But now time is getting going again. Safety concerns and leaks in the roof have caused the closure of the station in recent weeks (although fortunately the trains continue to stop for passengers, who must now wait outside in the elements). Construction of the long awaited and highly controversial Sandpoint Bypass is isolating the historic station between the tracks and the highway, and its future is in question.

In fact, there are many questions. The mayor listed a half page full in last week’s edition of the Sandpoint Reader, Sandpoint’s alternative newsweekly. They had to do with who would own and maintain the depot in the future and whether and how to keep it even if the city loses its Amtrak stop. Money figured significantly as well—who would provide it, how much was needed, and whether any would be generated. Councilman John Reuter provided a definitive answer to many of them on the same page: “Instead of asking: ‘Should we save the Depot?’ We must ask: What will it take and what can we do to save the Depot?’”

Reflecting Reuter’s commitment, the city council formed a negotiating team to work with Amtrak and Burlington Northern Santa Fe to secure the depot and the passenger service. Those of us who don’t want to be limited to transportation by auto should take note.