Waterloo 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. ...

train station in

Waterloo, Indiana Waterloo is a town in Grant and Smithfield townships, DeKalb County, Indiana, United States. The population was 2,242 at the 2010 census. History Waterloo was laid out in 1856 when the railroad was extended to that point. It was likely named af ...

. Waterloo is a small town of under 2,500 people; the station primarily serves the vastly larger population of Fort Wayne, which is some to the south. The station opened in 1990; in 2016, the former

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

station building was moved and reopened for passenger use. The station has a waiting room and restroom facilities; it is open for only short periods before trains arrive.

History

Early history

In 1858, the

Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, established in 1833 and sometimes referred to as the Lake Shore, was a major part of the New York Central Railroad's Water Level Route from Buffalo, New York, to Chicago, Illinois, primarily along th ...

completed its Northern Indiana Air Line from Toledo, Ohio to Elkhart, Indiana. A number of towns had been platted along the route, including Waterloo in 1856. The first passenger office for the town was merely a boxcar placed along the track. In 1883, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad built a new wooden depot, serving both the east-west Air Line and the north-south Fort Wayne and Jackson Railroad. By 1914, both lines were under control of the

. A freight derailment in 1957 destroyed a trackside bay window. Passenger service on both lines was discontinued in the mid-20th century, and the north-south route was abandoned altogether. The line passed to Penn Central in 1968 and

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busi ...

in 1976. In 1984, the station building was moved east to protect it from Conrail's intentions to demolish it. The town renovated it as a community center.

Amtrak service

From May 1971 to January 1972,

operated the '' Lake Shore'' through Waterloo. The ''

Lake Shore Limited The ''Lake Shore Limited'' is an overnight Amtrak intercity passenger train that runs between Chicago and either New York City or Boston via two sections east of Albany. The train began service in 1975; its predecessor was Amtrak's Chicago– ...

'' resumed service on the route on October 31, 1975. Neither train stopped at Waterloo or the other small towns along the line. On November 11, 1990, Amtrak rerouted the ''

Capitol Limited The ''Capitol Limited'' is a daily Amtrak train between Washington, D.C., and Chicago, running via Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Service began in 1981 and was named after the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's ''Capitol Limited'' which ended in 1971 u ...

'' and ''

Broadway Limited The ''Broadway Limited'' was a passenger train operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) between New York City and Chicago. It operated from 1912 to 1995. It was the Pennsylvania's premier train, competing directly with the New York Central ...

'' off the former Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway so that Conrail could abandon the lightly-used line. The ''Broadway Limited'' was rerouted onto a former

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

line through Garrett, while the ''Capitol Limited'' was moved to the ''Lake Shore Limited'' route. The changes meant that Fort Wayne lost rail service, so stations were established in nearby small towns on the new routes; Waterloo station was opened with a single platform and a small plexiglass shelter. An

Amtrak Thruway Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, transit ...

bus connection to Fort Wayne ran until April 2, 1994. The ''Lake Shore Limited'' began stopping at Waterloo in 1995. The '' Pennsylvanian'' was extended to Chicago from November 7, 1998, to January 27, 2003, including a stop at Waterloo.

Renovations and relocation

The town received a $420k federal grant (supplemented with $153k in local match and $100k in other funds) in 2005 to renovate the station for rail use. The work included replacement of the roof, windows, and doors; installation of accessible restrooms, and repainting. The renovation was completed in September 2010. In October 2010, the town of Waterloo received a $1.8 million federal TIGER grant to construct station improvements including a new platform, a canopy, lighting, and the incorporation of the restored building. The full-length platform would eliminate the need for the long Amtrak trains to double-stop at the station. However,

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31, ...

(which owns and operates the line) was concerned about the platform location. Waterloo Indiana Depot 2016

A second proposal was created to build a modern station building and platforms east of North Center Street, on the opposite side of the grade crossing from the existing station. This station was to cost $6 million, funded by the 2010 TIGER grant plus $4 million from Amtrak, and begin construction in early 2013 for a 2014 opening. Waterloo accepted the agreement in June 2012, but the 2013 budget sequestration reduced Amtrak's available funds and the project was canceled. In early 2015, the town began a smaller project funded by the original TIGER grant, which included additional lighting and walkways, a new parking lot, and electronic signage. On March 30, 2016, the station building was moved west, adjacent to Center Street. The move provides Amtrak passengers with a more permanent facility. On June 24, 2016, the station building was reopened for passenger use.

References

External links

Waterloo Amtrak Station – USA Rail Guide (TrainWeb)Station from Google Maps Street View
{{NYC Main Line stations Amtrak stations in Indiana Transportation buildings and structures in DeKalb County, Indiana Railway stations in the United States opened in 2016 Former New York Central Railroad stations