Whitefish station is a stop on

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

's ''

Empire Builder The ''Empire Builder'' is an Amtrak long-distance passenger train that operates daily between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship passenger train of the Great Northe ...

'' in

Whitefish, Montana Whitefish ( Salish: epɫx̣ʷy̓u, "has whitefish") is a town in Flathead County, Montana, United States. According to the 2020 United States Census, there were 7,751 people in the town. History Long before the first Europeans came to Whitefish ...

. In addition to the ''Empire Builder'', a once-daily Greyhound Lines bus service also links the station to Kalispell and

Missoula Missoula ( ; fla, label=Salish language, Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula Cou ...

. A car rental agency operates a window within the station. The station and parking lot are owned by the Stumptown Historical Society. BNSF Railway leases office space on the upper floors of the station and owns the platform and track. The

Tudor Revival Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

station building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 2002 and is known therein as the Great Northern Railway Passenger and Freight Depot and Division Office or as the Whitefish Depot. Of the 12 Montana stations served by Amtrak, Whitefish is by far the busiest, boarding or detraining an average of about 170 passengers daily. Whitefish typically handles more than four times as many passengers as the next-busiest Montana station, which varies from year to year between East Glacier Park, Havre, and Shelby. It is the busiest station stop between the Pacific Ocean and St. Paul Union Depot on the ''Empire Builder'' route''.'' As per latest Amtrak schedule, the ''Empire Builder'' stops at the station for 20 minutes. Whitefish marks the western end of the BNSF's Hi Line Subdivision and the eastern end of the Kootenai River Subdivision.

History

The Great Northern Railway built the present Whitefish depot between September 10, 1927 and June 22, 1928. Architect Thomas D'Arcy McMahon designed the structure in a

style reminiscent of the Alpine resort hotels built by the railroad in nearby Glacier National Park and

Waterton Lakes National Park Waterton Lakes National Park is a national park located in the southwest corner of Alberta, Canada. It borders Glacier National Park in Montana, United States. Waterton was the fourth Canadian national park, formed in 1895 and named after Waterto ...

during that same era, some of which were also designed by McMahon. The upper floors of the depot housed the railway's division offices. By the 1980s the structure was deteriorating and the Burlington Northern Railroad (successor to the Great Northern) decided to vacate station in favor of a new building. After hearing the plan, Stumptown Historical Society approached the railroad and asked that the station be transferred for restoration. The transfer was completed in 1990 and Burlington Northern also donated money it had allocated for a new building to help fund the depot’s rehabilitation. The station was closed between June 24 and July 17, 1992 due to a mold outbreak. Stumptown started by renovating the upper stories of the depot and leased that space back to the BNSF Railway (successor to the Burlington Northern). Additional funding and the lease payments provided the money needed to renovate the first floor which is now leased to Amtrak and local vendors. The Historical Society also maintains a local history museum on the first floor adjacent to the waiting room. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. Recent additions include a baggage facility built in 1997 on the side of the station to better serve the large number of visitors during ski season. In 2011, Amtrak designed and constructed a new 1,200 foot long concrete platform, which includes an electric snow-melting system and better lighting.

References

External links

Stumptown Historical Society website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitefish (Amtrak Station) Amtrak stations in Montana Former Great Northern Railway (U.S.) stations Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Montana Railway stations in the United States opened in 1927 Transportation in Flathead County, Montana Whitefish, Montana National Register of Historic Places in Flathead County, Montana Railway buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Montana Tudor Revival architecture in Montana