Mendota station

Mendota, IL
The station building
General information
Location8th Street and 6th Avenue
Mendota, Illinois
Coordinates41°32′59″N 89°07′02″W / 41.5498°N 89.1171°W / 41.5498; -89.1171
Owned byMendota Museum and Historical Society
Line(s)BNSF Mendota Subdivision
Platforms1 side platform
Tracks2
ConnectionsBus interchange NCAT (dial-a-ride)
Other information
Station codeAmtrak: MDT
History
OpenedOctober 20, 1853[1]
RebuiltFebruary 23, 1888[2]
Passengers
FY 202312,647[3] (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station
Princeton
toward Quincy
Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg Plano
toward Chicago
Princeton Southwest Chief Naperville
toward Chicago
     California Zephyr does not stop here
Former services
Preceding station Burlington Route Following station
Arlington
toward Denver
Main Line Meriden
toward Chicago
Kewanee
toward Oakland
California Zephyr Aurora
toward Chicago
Preceding station Illinois Central Railroad Following station
Sublette
toward Freeport
Freeport – Centralia Dimmick
toward Centralia
Future services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station
Princeton
toward Moline
Quad Cities
Proposed
Plano
toward Chicago
Location
Map

Mendota station is an Amtrak intercity train station at 783 Main Street, Mendota, Illinois, United States.

The station was originally built on February 23, 1888, by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, as a replacement for the former Union Depot that was built in 1853 and burned down in 1885. It originally contained a hotel, restaurants and waiting rooms for passengers, and rooms for railroad employees. In 1942, much of the station was torn down, with little more than the waiting room and ticket office remaining intact.

Today the building is owned and preserved by the Mendota Museum and Historical Society as the Union Depot Railroad Museum.[4] The station is a regular stop for the state-supported Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg trains, and the long-distance Southwest Chief. The California Zephyr also uses these tracks, but does not stop in Mendota. BNSF Railway also has a small freight yard and office adjacent to the station. This yard is used to store trains and locomotives that do local runs along the Mendota Subdivision (which are usually pulled by four axle road switchers).

  1. ^ Hubbart 1922, p. 5.
  2. ^ Mendota, Illinois; Great American Stations (Amtrak)
  3. ^ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2023: State of Illinois" (PDF). Amtrak. March 2024. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  4. ^ Mendota Museum and Historical Society