Mineola station is a station in Mineola,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, United States, currently served by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

's '' Texas Eagle''. The station was originally built in 1906 by the

Texas & Pacific Railway The Texas and Pacific Railway Company (known as the T&P) was created by federal charter in 1871 with the purpose of building a southern transcontinental railroad between Marshall, Texas, and San Diego, California. History Under the influence of ...

and also used by the

Missouri Pacific Railroad The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad ...

History

The Missouri-Pacific Railroad built the station in 1906. In 1951, as "modernization", the hipped roof was removed and decoration stripped from the station, leaving a rectangular brick building. The Missouri-Pacific Railroad ended service on its '' Texas Eagle'' on April 30, 1971, one day before

took over passenger services. In March 1974,

's '' Inter-American'' was extended from

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

to St. Louis, restoring passenger service to the Missouri-Pacific Railroad's main line but without a stop in Mineola. The ''Inter-American'' was replaced by the ''Eagle'' in 1981, which in turn was renamed as the '' Texas Eagle'' in 1988. On April 14, 1996, Newport station in Arkansas was closed as part of a deal with the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

to reopen the stop at Mineola. Trains began stopping at Mineola on April 28. According to Mineola native Willie Brown, the station was reopened as the result of his persistent lobbying of President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

. Responding to an Amtrak report that a survey did not reveal anyone wanting to get off in Mineola, Brown reportedly told Clinton: "The reason to stop in Mineola is not to let anybody ''off''. It's to let the people ''on''. It's not that great a place. Look at me! I left!" Amtrak, however, credited "Mineola community leaders" with the successful effort. In 2005, the city began an $800,000 renovation project, funded primarily by the

Texas Department of Transportation The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a government agency in the American state of Texas. Though the public face of the agency is generally associated with the construction and maintenance of the state's immense state highway system ...

, to restore the station to its original appearance. A new angled roof was constructed, signage and landscaping built, and the interior converted for use as a railway museum. The station was rededicated on June 10, 2006.

References

External links

Mineola, TX – ''Texas Eagle'' (Amtrak)
{{Amtrak Texas stations Amtrak stations in Texas Railway stations in the United States opened in 1906 Mineola, Texas Buildings and structures in Wood County, Texas Transportation in Wood County, Texas Railway stations closed in 1971 Railway stations in the United States opened in 1996 Former Missouri Pacific Railroad stations