Without fanfare, it was reported in 2016 that the Union Pacific railroad had torn down the old depot in Thompson Springs, Utah, 35 miles north of Moab. The station hadn’t been used in years and had fallen into disrepair, though it still seemed structurally sound when I wandered into the old station and took these photographs in June 2014. Thompson Springs was the last ‘flagstop’ on the Amtrak line. In the late 1990s, the station was shut down and passengers were required to catch the train in Green River.
In mid-January crews started removing asbestos and demolishing the old station. By February, it was just another pile of debris…JS
*Longtime Moabite TERRY KNOUFF was on the Amtrak Zephyr, hoping to take a few photographs of the old depot. This is what he found instead.
Jim Stiles is Founding Publisher and Senior Editor of the Canyon Country Zephyr.
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Thanks for this account of the T Springs depot and its eventual demise, Jim.
I love old train stations. When my wife and I travel, we search out all the ones we can find. You have
a great one not far from you in Salt Lake City. It has the history of railroading painted around the ceiling.
My favorite is in Kansas City. It was within hours of being demolished but was saved at the very last moment.
There are many more. Thanks for writing about this one.
My grandparents lived in the house that was connected to the Thompson depot and my grandfather worked/ran the depot. I would ride the train from Provo to Thompson quite often when I was young. My grandfather retired around 1981 and they moved to Las Vegas. That was the last I was there until I visited while I was in Moab, so sad to see the place in the run down condition it was in, as my grandparents took such pride in the yard and gardens they had there.