Danville (Amtrak station)

Danville
Station statistics
Address	677 Craighead Street Danville, VA
Coordinates	36°35′2.4″N 79°23′1.68″W / 36.584°N 79.3838°W / 36.584; -79.3838Coordinates: 36°35′2.4″N 79°23′1.68″W / 36.584°N 79.3838°W / 36.584; -79.3838
Lines	Crescent
Platforms	1
Tracks	1
Baggage check	No
Other information
Opened	1899
Rebuilt	1922, 1995
Accessible
Code	DAN
Owned by	City of Danville
Traffic
Passengers (2010)	8,658[1]  47%
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station Greensboro toward New Orleans Crescent Lynchburg toward New York City
Danville Southern Railway Passenger Depot U.S. National Register of Historic Places Location: Danville, Virginia Coordinates: 36°35′2.4″N 79°23′1.68″W / 36.584°N 79.3838°W / 36.584; -79.3838Coordinates: 36°35′2.4″N 79°23′1.68″W / 36.584°N 79.3838°W / 36.584; -79.3838 Architect: Frank P. Milburn, R.B. Graham Architectural style: Renaissance Governing body: City of Danville NRHP Reference#: 95000895[2] Added to NRHP: 1995

The Danville, Virginia, Amtrak station was built in 1899 from plans drawn by the noted Southern Railway (US) architect, Frank Pierce Milburn. In 1915, a track expansion required that the track be moved 133 feet to the northeast. The station was jacked up on rollers, and crews used mules and stump pullers to roll the building. It is said that the move was done so skillfully that not a single brick was cracked.

In 1922, the building was almost destroyed by fire during a raging snowstorm. Southern Railway rebuilt the building to its original specifications, minus the spire that had formerly graced its roofline.

With the demise of public rail transit, the building fell into disuse, and for years, Amtrak passengers had to walk through an underground tunnel and wait on a platform between the tracks. In 1993 it was closed to passenger service temporarily and bought by the City of Danville. In 1995, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The same year, a group of local civic leaders sought federal ISTEA funding and local contributions to renovate the station. It is now part of the campus of the Danville Science Center, the first satellite facility of the Science Museum of Virginia.

Routes

The station is currently served by the Crescent passenger route.

References

1. ^ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2010, Commonwealth of Virginia" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2010. http://www.amtrak.com/pdf/factsheets/VIRGINIA10.pdf. Retrieved 2011-01-06. 
2. ^ Danville County Listings on the National Register of Historic Places

External links

• Amtrak – Stations – Danville, VA
• Danville (DAN) Great American Stations (Amtrak)
• Danville Amtrak Station (USA RailGuide -- TrainWeb)