Livingston station (Northern Pacific Railway) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Livingston, MT
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| inter-city rail station | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The former Livingston station in 2005.
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| Location | Park & Second Streets, Livingston, Montana USA |
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| Coordinates | 45°39′41″N 110°33′45″W / 45.66139°N 110.56250°W | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owned by | City of Livingston | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Platforms | 1 side, 1 island platform (removed) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tracks | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 1902 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Closed | 1979 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former services | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Livingston Depot is an old train station located in Livingston, Montana. The Northern Pacific Railway built it way back in 1902. Trains carried passengers here until 1979, when Amtrak stopped its North Coast Hiawatha service. Since 1987, this cool old building has been known as the Livingston Depot Center. It's now a big part of Livingston's historic district downtown.
History of the Livingston Depot
The Livingston Depot was designed by a company called Reed and Stem from Minnesota. They also designed parts of New York City's famous Grand Central Terminal! The depot was built in an Italian style, using red and yellow bricks. It has fancy terra cotta decorations, like lion heads and flowers. You can even see the Northern Pacific's special yin-yang symbol.
Inside, the floors have cool patterns made from terrazzo and tiles, also showing the NP symbol. It took about three years to build this station, costing $112,000. It officially opened in the summer of 1902.
This station was very important because it handled trains for both the main railway line and the line going to Yellowstone Park. For about 25 years, it was the main way most visitors got to Yellowstone National Park. The depot was also the main office for the Northern Pacific's Rocky Mountain area. Workers here sent orders and telegraph messages. Busy trains like the North Coast Limited often stopped here.
The station building is actually a group of buildings. There's a main building, a restaurant building, and a baggage building. They are all connected by a fancy walkway around a courtyard that faces the train tracks. Before this depot, there was a wooden station built in 1882, but it burned down. Then, a brick building was built in 1888. However, it quickly became too small for all the people traveling to Yellowstone.
The success of the depot depended on the railroad. At first, it was a very busy place where many train lines connected. It was next to the large Livingston train repair shops. It was also a main office for the NP because it was about halfway between St. Paul, Minnesota, and Seattle, Washington.
Around World War II, fewer people traveled to Yellowstone by train. More people started driving cars instead. By 1970, the Northern Pacific Railway joined with other big railway companies. These included the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, Great Northern Railway, and Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway. Together, they formed a new company called the Burlington Northern Railroad. This new company then owned the depot.
In 1971, Amtrak took over all passenger train services. But in 1979, Amtrak stopped the North Coast Hiawatha train service. They decided to use a different track, the old Great Northern line, for their Empire Builder train. After this, the Livingston Depot started to be neglected. By the mid-1980s, the Burlington Northern Railroad tried to sell it, but couldn't find a buyer.
Local people in Livingston really wanted to save the depot. They worked hard to convince the city to take it over. They also created a non-profit group called the Livingston Depot Foundation. This group helped raise money to fix up the building.
Livingston Depot Center Today
In the summer of 1987, the depot reopened as the Livingston Depot Center. It became a museum and a community center right in the middle of the city. It's still open today as of 2023[update]!
The museum is usually open from late May to mid-September. When the museum is closed for the winter, the building is used for many other events. People host wedding parties, holiday gatherings, and concerts there. There are also card nights, history talks, and meetings about local business. A model railroad club even meets in the basement!
During the Fourth of July weekend, the center hosts an arts festival. This festival takes place in the nearby Depot Rotary Park, which is next to the train tracks. The building also had a big project to fix its roof and make it stronger between 2004 and 2007.
See also
