The Amtrak Station In La Plata, MO

When you arrive in Silver Rails Country, the Amtrak La Plata Station welcomes you to everything! This station was originally built for the Santa Fe Railway and is staffed by caretakers Bob & Amy Cox from the American Passenger Railroad Heritage Foundation. Caretakers assist passengers with answering questions and with getting on and off the train as well. Tickets are not sold here but the station itself provides a heated waiting room inside with rest rooms and there is also a pop machine available outside on the platform. The station is staffed during the times when the Southwest Chief arrives into town and is located at 535 North Owensby Street in La Plata. If you're staying at the Depot Inn & Suites, a member of their staff will pick you up from this station in the hotel's van, just contact them to let them know when you're arriving! I I arrived here on October 19th and the photos you'll see here were taken during my visit to Silver Rails Country of some Amtrak action around this historic station! Check out those photos along with some trivia about the station below... Enjoy!

A wide-angle view of the station and surrounding grounds.

Looking west towards the station building. The typical Amtrak display board with station information is set up here with info on the Southwest Chief.

From the platform looking east on the BNSF Marceline Sub, this route is also known as the "Transcon" as it runs all the way to Los Angeles from Chicago.
The road crossing in the photo is North Owensby Street and the building in the background is home to TrainParty.com.

Looking west from the platform towards Kansas City and eventually Los Angeles!

Let's take a look inside this historic station. Here we have the original Santa Fe ticket office (though tickets are not sold here)
and some seating in the waiting area.

A view of the location of the station's rest rooms. The curved walls along the hallway leading to the men's room look very cool!

The train display boards here are original Santa Fe and by their size would indicate there were quite a few trains that stopped here at one point!

A view looking at the waiting room.

This nicely restored baggage cart inside the station displays Amtrak train information.

On October 20th, Amtrak's Southwest Chief arrives in La Plata with GE P42DC #132 followed by #200 for power with one of the last Heritage Baggage
Cars in service on Amtrak as the Viewliner II Baggage Cars are quickly being added to the active roster.

The Southwest Chief and its Superliner-equipped train set having just departed La Plata on it's way to Chicago.

This eastbound BNSF van train passes by the Loram Rail Grinder near the La Plata Station. The freight is lead by GE C44-9W #4474.
This view was made possible using an 18-250mm zoom lens.

This heavily-powered westbound BNSF intermodal is lead by GE ES44C4 #6830 about to pass by the La Plata Depot.
Now that you've seen the Amtrak Station here in La Plata, let's head over to the Depot Inn & Suites!