San Antonio station is an

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...

railroad station located on the eastern portion of Downtown San Antonio, in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_ ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. San Antonio station hosts two Amtrak services; the tri-weekly ''

Sunset Limited The ''Sunset Limited'' is an Amtrak passenger train that for most of its history has operated between New Orleans and Los Angeles, over the nation's second transcontinental route. However, up until Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it operated betw ...

'' and the daily ''

Texas Eagle The ''Texas Eagle'' is a daily passenger train route operated by Amtrak between Chicago and San Antonio in the central and western United States. Prior to 1988, the train was known as the ''Eagle''. Trains #21 (southbound) and 22 (northbound) ...

''. Four days a week, San Antonio is the southern terminus of the ''Texas Eagle,'' which originates in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. Three days a week, the ''Texas Eagle'' joins with the ''Sunset Limited'', continuing westbound to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. It is the second busiest Amtrak station in Texas, behind Fort Worth Central Station.

History

Amtrak previously used the historic

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

(SP) Station, also known as Sunset Station. It was designed by SP's architect Daniel J. Patterson in the Spanish Mission Revival style, and built in 1902 by the SP. The train station was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1975. Amtrak moved operations in 1998 to a smaller depot that was built adjacent to the older Sunset Station. Under its owner, VIA Metropolitan Transit, the historic Sunset Station underwent an extensive restoration and now serves as an entertainment complex. The station also neighbors the

Alamodome The Alamodome is a 64,000-seat domed indoor multi-purpose stadium in San Antonio, Texas. It is located on the southeastern fringe of downtown San Antonio. The facility opened on May 15, 1993, having been constructed at a cost of $186 milli ...

and the Robert Thompson Transit Station. A preserved 2-8-2 Baldwin "Mikado"

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the loco ...

, Southern Pacific No. 794 was donated to the City of San Antonio at the end of its service life in 1956, and placed on static display at nearby Maverick Park for decades before being relocated to the station in January 1999. Since September 2008, it has been under the care of volunteers from the San Antonio Railroad Heritage Museum.

References

External links

Texaseagle.com: San Antonio Amtrak station for "Texas Eagle" line informationOfficial Sunset Station complex webpageAustin Steam Train Association
San Antonio (Amtrak station) Buildings and structures in San Antonio San Antonio Station Transportation in San Antonio Railway stations in the United States opened in 1902 National Register of Historic Places in San Antonio Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Mission Revival architecture in Texas Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in Texas {{Texas-NRHP-stub