Rocky Mount station explained

Style:Amtrak
Rocky Mount, NC
Other Name:Helen P. Gay Rocky Mount Historic Train Station
Address:101 Hammond Street
Borough:Rocky Mount, North Carolina
Country:United States
Coordinates:35.938°N -77.7977°W
Platform:1 side platform
Tracks:1
Bus Stands:7
Bus Operators:
Bus Routes:8
Parking:35 spaces
Bicycle:Racks
Architectural Style:Romanesque Revival
Opened:1893
Rebuilt:1911-12, 1916, 1997-2000
Original:Wilmington and Weldon Railroad
Accessible:Yes
Owned:City of Rocky Mount
Other Services Header:Former services
Other Services Collapsible:yes
Mapframe:yes

Rocky Mount station, officially the Helen P. Gay Rocky Mount Historic Train Station, is an intermodal transit station in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, United States. Its is served by four daily Amtrak round trips –the,,, and – and is a bus station for Tar River Transit and Greyhound. The station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing property to the Rocky Mount Central City Historic District.

History

Rocky Mount station was originally built in 1893 by the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, in dark red brick Romanesque Revival style. After the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad bought the W&WR, they rebuilt the station between 1911 and 1912, and again in 1916. During the 1960s ACL built a modern structure within the station to store switches and signal equipment before the railroad was merged with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad.

In 1995, the 2.23acres property, which included the station and a former REA Express freight house (c. 1930), was sold to the City of Rocky Mount. Between 1997 and 2000, the station was restored to its early 20th century design features, with additional accessible-compliant platforms and other amenities.[1] The freight house was converted into a bus terminal for the Tar River Transit and Greyhound stop. In 2010, the station was named after Helen P. Gay, a former member of the Rocky Mount City Council who was instrumental in the station's restoration project.[2]

Former ACL office car #303 is on display next to the station.[3] Former ACL "Whopper Hopper" 500000 that had been on display at the station was donated to the North Carolina Transportation Museum in 2018.[4]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Rocky Mount Station Improvements (NCDOT Rail) . January 14, 2009 . January 16, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090116224610/http://www.bytrain.org/istation/irockymount.html . dead .
  2. News: Community celebrates Helen Gay's birthday . Cooper . Geoffrey . . March 22, 2010 . July 6, 2010 . June 28, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100628194023/http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/community-celebrates-stalwarts-birthday-17724 . dead .
  3. http://rrpicturearchives.net/rspicture.aspx?id=28472 Pictures of ACL 303 (RR Picture Archives)
  4. Web site: limited . https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/60129481652/10155236673721653 . 2022-04-30. N.C. Transportation Museum on Facebook . Facebook.