Tucson station

Tucson station is an Amtrak train depot in Tucson, Arizona, served three times a week by the Sunset Limited and Texas Eagle trains.

Tucson, AZ
General information
Location400 North Toole Avenue
Tucson, Arizona
United States
Coordinates32°13′23″N 110°58′00″W
Owned byCity of Tucson
Line(s)UP Gila Subdivision
Platforms1 side platform
Tracks2
ConnectionsSun Tran bus
Sun Link streetcar
Construction
Bicycle facilitiesYes
AccessibleYes
Other information
Station codeAmtrak: TUS
History
Opened1907
Rebuilt2004
Passengers
FY 202219,115[1] (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station
Maricopa
toward Los Angeles
 Sunset Limited Benson
toward New Orleans
Texas Eagle Benson
toward Chicago
Former services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station
Tempe
Until 1996 reroute
toward Los Angeles
 Sunset Limited Benson
toward Miami
Texas Eagle Benson
toward Chicago
Preceding station Southern Pacific Railroad Following station
Picacho
toward Los Angeles
 Sunset Route Benson
toward New Orleans

History

The depot was built in 1907 by the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP). It was designed by the SP's architect, Daniel J. Patterson, who designed a number of depots during the same era, including the San Antonio Station.

Passenger services

In the mid-20th century, into the latter 1950s, four trains a day departed west and four trains a day went east:[2]

  • Departing west toward Los Angeles Union Station via Yuma in the morning:
    • Argonaut (bypassed Phoenix to the south) (to ca. 1957)
    • Sunset Limited (passed through Phoenix) (continues to operate today)
  • Departing west toward Los Angeles Union Station via Phoenix and Yuma in the mid-afternoon and the evening:
  • Departing east toward Chicago's LaSalle Street Station via the Golden State Route in the midnight hours:
    • Imperial
    • Golden State
  • Departing east toward New Orleans Union Station via the Sunset Route and Houston in the daylight morning hours:
    • Sunset Limited
    • Argonaut

Recent decades

In 1998, the City purchased the entire depot property from the Union Pacific Railroad, which had absorbed the SP.[3] Restoration of the main depot building and the three adjacent buildings, to their 1941 modernized Spanish Colonial Revival architectural style, was completed in 2004. Spanish Colonial Revival elements include the stuccoed brick walls, red clay roof tiles, and colorful, decorative tilework in the waiting room.[3] The station and other railroad buildings are included as contributing resources to the National Register-listed Tucson Warehouse Historic District.[4] [5]

The Old Pueblo Trolley extended their historic streetcar line to the depot in 2009. Sun Link assumed operation of the line on July 25, 2014. The Southern Arizona Transportation Museum is located in the old Records Vault building.[6]

Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday statue
The Tucson Depot is where Frank Stilwell, suspected in the murder of Morgan Earp, was killed by Wyatt Earp in the company of Doc Holliday.

According to historian David Leighton, of the Arizona Daily Star, the Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday statue near the train depot commemorates the revenge killing of Frank Stilwell. On March 18, 1882, in the aftermath of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Morgan Earp was murdered by unknown killers, in Tombstone, Arizona. Two days later, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and a few other men were escorting the injured Virgil Earp and his wife to Tucson, with their final destination being California. While at the Tucson train station, Wyatt Earp learned that Frank Stilwell, one of the individuals suspected in the Morgan Earp murder, was lurking in the area. Earp, Holliday, and the others pursued Stilwell along the train tracks, eventually catching and killing him.[7]

References
  1. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2022: State of Arizona" (PDF). Amtrak. June 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  2. "Southern Pacific Lines, Tables 9,10". Official Guide of the Railways. National Railway Publication Company. 88 (4). September 1955.
  3. "Tucson, AZ (TUS)". Great American Stations.
  4. "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form – Tucson Warehouse Historic District" (PDF). City of Tucson. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  5. "Tucson Warehouse Historic District (map)" (PDF). City of Tucson. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  6. "At the Depot: Some history of our depot..." Southern Arizona Transportation Museum. Archived from the original on 2022-06-19. Retrieved 2022-06-19.
  7. Leighton, David (20 April 2015). "Street Smarts: Few Tucsonans saw Wyatt Earp as hero". Arizona Daily Star.

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