Next Amtrak Depot Committee Board Meeting: Thursday, June 12, 2 p.m., TwinStar Credit Union Headquarters conference room; 4501 Intelco Loop, Lacey New YouTube Link (After June 1): OLW Steel Highway
Operating since 1993 at 6600 Yelm Highway S.E. completely by community volunteers who meet every passenger train, regardless of when each train arrives. Volunteers are available twenty-four hours per day for 31 years, seven days per week,14 trains per day. The depot, also known as "Centennial Station" to celebrate 1889-1989 statehood, was built with community volunteers, donated labor and contributions from Olympia, Tumwater, Lacey, Thurston County, the Port of Olympia, etc. It is now the fourth busiest passenger train depot in Washington state (Mile Post 32.2 on the Burlington Northern Seattle Sub). The building, designated by Amtrak as "OLW", was sold to Intercity Transit which maintains the facility and provides scheduled city bus connections and park/ride lots.
Above, BNSF employees making repairs to Main 2 at the station.
AMTRAK passengers
and depot visitors
are welcome to comment, compliment Engrossed House Bill 1837, the Amtrak Intercity Rail Improvement bill endorsed by the OLW Board, was signed into law (Chapter 363, 2025) by Gov. Bob Ferguson
in May. It passed the state Legislature in the final days of session. There were some differences in the bills passed earlier by each house but the House of Representatives voted to concur with Senate changes.
The final bill set targets during the next 10 years and annual reports on the progress. Our station would have 16 more Cascades trains per day if 10-year targets set by ESHB 1837 in each house becomes reality. A summary report is due in two years, June 2027.
The bill now becomes effective July 27, 2025, so we could expect the first annual report next year.
The new law will establish 2035 targets for the Department of Transportation's Amtrak Cascades service regarding improvements, connections, frequency, and reliability.
Targets are established for Amtrak Cascades service, to be met by 2035, which include:
(1) a minimum trip reliability of 88 percent on-time performance,
(2) a minimum of 14 round trips per day between Seattle and Portland and a minimum of five roundtrips per day between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia
(3) improvements to first and last mile connections, and
(4) emissions reductions.
It also requires the Department of Transportation to annually report to the transportation committees of the Legislature and the Joint Transportation Committee with progress toward attaining goals and provide detailed explanations for constraints, whether or not they can be mitigated by the Legislature or another party. Instructs the Joint Transportation Committee to conduct an independent review of Amtrak Cascades 2024 preliminary service development plan.
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| Amtrak Coast Starlight to Los Angeles (Train 11) departs Olympia-Lacey Centennial Amtrak Station daily. |
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Our forerunner: "AmShack" Photo taken in 1980 The remote site had no public transportation, no lighting, a gravel lot, and a usually non-operational pay telephone. The three-sided building served East Olympia for about 20 years. (Photo by Paul Vitous) |
Our History
Since the Northern Pacific first built track to Tenino in 1872, the
Olympia area has been often spurned for passenger train service. NP
chose Tacoma over Seattle and Olympia for its West Coast terminus. At
the urging of the territorial governor, private landowners began laying
track on their own to connect Olympia with the "Prairie Line" to Tacoma
that ran east from Tenino (known eventually as the Port Townsend
Southern) to enable Olympia passenger service. That same citizen
commitment from the late 1880s continued one hundred years later when
Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater residents began planning a full-service
train station to serve the Amtrak Pioneer and other trains to replace a
three-sided stop at Chambers Prairie in East Olympia (Today, we refer to
it as 'AmShack.')
The initial fundraising campaign for the station began in 1987 and was to mark the State of Washington centennial in 1989. This "Centennial Station" that resulted was built largely from community donors and laborers working mostly without compensation. Approximately $100,000 was raised in cash and $300,000 in products and services to build Centennial Station. Washington State provided $60,000 in additional funds to install utilities after the building was completed. Donors purchased bricks on the station platform during one local donation drive. There were at least 30 Olympia-area depots that preceded it in history (many pictured inside the station.)
Talgo Clock, Cypress Corbels, Stained
Glass,
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Bob BregentOriginal Depot Project ManagerHe was manager during construction of the station. He recalls asking a representative of the State Department of Transportation for assistance. "He literally laughed in my face and said 'Nobody rides the train anymore. We're not giving you one red penny.' " Bregent said there isn't anything the State of Washington could have told advocates to galvanize them more. -Thurston Talk |
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Rich DeGarmoFather of the Volunteer Station ModelHe was one of the key founders of Olympia-Lacey Centennial Station and the designer of our unique volunteer-run depot model. Richard William DeGarmo, 85, of Tumwater, died Sept. 9, 2024 following a very long illness. Survivors include Susan DeGarmo, his wife who herself was a station volunteer. Amtrak initially refused to stop at our station until Rich worked out a volunteer schedule that allowed Olympia-Lacey train stops in 1993 without any on-site paid Amtrak employees. His legacy continues and lives on with our all-volunteer depot. Typical volunteer shifts at the station are about five hours and largely between the hours of 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. |
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Find Us On Facebook Olympia-Lacey Amtrak Depot |
| Website
maintained by the community volunteers of the Amtrak Depot Committee. Web manager is Larry Ganders, centennialstation@outlook.com |