A Northern Pacific survivor in Ellensburg, WA.This impressively sized depot was built by the Northern Pacific in 1910 replacing an earlier and much smaller depot located one block to the east. It is believed by some that the Northern Pacific built the station to better establish itself in Ellensburg and to better compete against rival Milwaukee Road which had built a small station on the other side of town. The Milwaukee Road discontinued passenger service in 1960, and in 1971, Amtrak assumed responsibility for passenger service from Northern Pacific, which by then was part of the "new" Burlington Northern Railroad. 95 years of passenger train service ended when Amtrak's "Empire Builder" was rerouted on October 27, 1981. Preservation efforts are ongoing, but have been complicated, to say the least. Read more here at "Historic Ellensburg.org".
