 Albany, OR | Amtrak Cascades | Oregon City, OR  |
| Coast Starlight | Portland, OR |
The Salem, OR depot is a historic Beaux Arts structure completed in 1918 that serves as a nice welcome to the State Capital of Oregon, it is located south of but in walking distance from the Statehouse. It receives three trains a day; the two Eugene-bound Cascades plus the Coast Starlight. The stop underwent a restoration in 2000. The structure has a double-height central hall area with high-backed wooden benches with arms for train waiting; in a small anti-chamber is restrooms and a Qick-Trak kiosk. Opposite this is a ticket office staffed by an extremely helpful Amtrak employee who remedied a mistake by Amtrak of unnecessarily printing my ticket in Portland, and putting it on a train I was not taking until Albany. Baggage service is also available for the Coast Starlight in both directions and the two northbound Amtrak Cascades trips only since the station is open from 6:00am to 8:00pm. There is a whiteboard used by the agent to give the status of trains. The depot is at the sothern end of a 30 space parking lot, bounded by 13 Street and Mill Street along with a long low-level platform that begins just south of the grade crossing of Mill Street and continues south ending a bit before the overpass of Mission Street. This platform has a tactile warning strip, exposed ADA wheelchair lift and sings from the early 2000s era with the name written and direction of travel beneath.
2013: The station has spanking new signs in the new silver format with a white line beneath and the directions of travel for Eugene and Portland.
Photos 1-28 taken on 17 October, 2011, 29-31 on 27 June, 2013
