Merced station (Amtrak)

Merced station is an Amtrak intercity rail station located in Merced, California, United States. The station is served by seven daily round trips of the San Joaquin and is a major transfer point for YARTS buses serving Yosemite National Park. Merced station has a single side platform adjacent to the western track of the BNSF Stockton Subdivision.[1]

Merced, CA
A San Joaquin at Merced station in April 2015
Location	324 West 24th Street, Merced, California United States
Coordinates	37.3073°N 120.4768°W / 37.3073; -120.4768
Owned by	State of California
Line(s)	BNSF Stockton Subdivision[1]
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	2
Connections	Merced County Transit M5, UC Route YARTS: Highway 140 Bus CatTracks: E1, G
Construction
Parking	46 spaces
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Station code	MCD
History
Opened	1896;[2] March 5, 1974
Closed	April 30, 1971
Rebuilt	1917, 2000[2]
Original company	San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad
Traffic
Passengers (2018)	126,793[3][4]  0.5% (Amtrak)
Rank	26th in California[3]
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station Denair toward Oakland – Jack London Square or Sacramento San Joaquins Madera toward Bakersfield
Former services Preceding station Amtrak Following station Denair toward Oakland – Jack London Square or Sacramento San Joaquins Storey until 2010 toward Bakersfield Preceding station Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Following station Empire toward Oakland Oakland – Barstow Fresno toward Barstow
Location

The Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) opened through Merced in 1872, followed by the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad in 1896. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF) purchased the latter railroad in 1899 and erected a larger station in 1917. Service on both the SP and AT&SF ended in 1971; Amtrak San Joaquin service began on the AT&SF line in 1974. In 2000, the city replaced the 1917-built station with a modern facility of similar design.

History

The first railroad through Merced was the Central Pacific Railroad, a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP), which reached the village on January 15, 1872.[5] Charles Henry Huffman, who was the SP's agent for land acquisition, founded Merced and moved there when the railroad opened.[2] The original village was along Bear Creek, but the town center quickly became the SP station.[2] A branch to Oakdale (later extended to Stockton) was completed in 1891.[5] The SP later built a new station off 16th Street at N Street.[2]

Merced station in November 1979

The San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad opened through Merced in 1896.[2] The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF) - the SP's main rival - purchased the line in 1899, providing it a parallel competing mainline through the Central Valley.[2] In 1907, the Yosemite Valley Railroad (YVRR) began service from Merced to El Portal - the gateway to Yosemite National Park. The YVRR connected with both mainlines in Merced; its shops were northwest of downtown, while its station was adjacent to the AT&SF station.[2]

In 1917, the AT&SF built a new station at 24th Street and J Street. Unlike most of the railroad's stations in California, which were in the Mission Revival style, the Merced station was also influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement.[2] The lower part of the walls was bare brick, while the rest was coated in stucco to approximate the look of adobe. The eaves of the gabled roof provided shelter for passengers, and the northwest end of the station was open with broad arches.[2]

Passenger service on both branch lines ended in the 1940s. Merced remained an important stop on the two mainlines, serving named trains including the San Francisco Chief and Golden Gate on the AT&SF, and the San Joaquin Daylight and Sacramento Daylight on the SP. On May 1, 1971, Amtrak took over intercity passenger service in the United States from the private railroads. Amtrak chose to run its San Francisco–Los Angeles service over the Coast Line rather than the Central Valley, and passenger service to Merced ended.

Amtrak began the Oakland–Bakersfield San Joaquin on March 5, 1974.[6] The San Joaquin was controversially routed over the AT&SF rather than the SP (which ran through more major cities); the AT&SF station in Merced was used by Amtrak.[7] The SP station was renovated in the 1990s to serve as the city bus terminal.[2]

By the end of the century, the 1917-built station was in poor shape. In 2000, it was replaced by a new station on the same site.[2] The new station, which was funded by Caltrans, copies the basic design of the former station but with modern improvements. It includes improved facilities for Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System (YARTS) bus service to Yosemite (which serves as an Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach route).[2] The planned Merced station of the California High-Speed Rail system would be built along the ex-SP alignment at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way.

References

1. SMA Rail Consulting (April 2016). "California Passenger Rail Network Schematics" (PDF). California Department of Transportation. p. 10.
2. "Merced, CA (MCD)". Great American Stations. Amtrak.
3. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2018, State of California" (PDF). Amtrak Government Affairs. June 2019. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
4. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2017, State of California" (PDF). Amtrak Government Affairs. November 2017. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
5. Gudde, Erwin S. (2010). California Place Names: The Origin and Etymology of Current Geographical Names. University of California Press. p. 235, 247. ISBN 9780520266193 – via Google Books.
6. "Press release announcing the launch of the San Joaquin, 1974". Amtrak. March 5, 1974.
7. Cook, Gale (March 10, 1974). "San Joaquin Valley Amtrak route draws some tart comments". Modesto Bee. Archived from the original on January 24, 2013.

External links

Media related to Merced station (Amtrak) at Wikimedia Commons

• Merced, CA – Amtrak
• Great American Stations (Amtrak): Merced, CA (MCD)
• USA RailGuide: Merced, CA (MCD)