Bangor, MI (BAM)

The 1926 brick depot was built for the Pere Marquette Railroad and replaced an earlier wooden structure. Following a renovation, it now houses a waiting room, cafe and office space.

541 Railroad Street
Bangor, MI 49013-1464

Station Hours

Annual Ticket Revenue (FY 2023): $112,868
Annual Station Ridership (FY 2023): 3,250
  • Facility Ownership: City of Bangor
  • Parking Lot Ownership: City of Bangor
  • Platform Ownership: CSX Transportation
  • Track Ownership: CSX Transportation

Derrick James
Regional Contact
governmentaffairschi@amtrak.com
For information about Amtrak fares and schedules, please visit Amtrak.com or call 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245).

The brick Amtrak station in Bangor was built by Louis Janoskie, a local contractor, and completed in 1926 for the Pere Marquette Railroad at a cost of $30,000; it replaced a wooden building erected in 1870. The depot sat empty for almost three decades, until a model train factory occupied most of the space in 1981. From 1984, when Amtrak and the Michigan Department of Transportation began the state-funded Pere Marquette service, to 1991, Amtrak passengers used a waiting room adjacent to the business.

Lee Miller of Bangor was inspired to create an enterprise to occupy the then-empty rail depot with the theme of Bangor as “Train City.” By 1982, Lee’s brother Duane joined him in this business, which they called the Kalamazoo Toy Train Factory. They manufactured G-scale trains, which are now collector’s items, as the factory closed in 1991. Before closing, they gained national fame as a prize on The Price Is Right television show in 1983, and in 1984, when they sent a train set to then President Ronald Regan.

Following the closing of that business, the station had the dubious distinction of being at the top of the Great American Station Foundation’s 1998 list of “Top Ten Most Endangered Stations in America.” The city of Bangor bought the station from CSX Transportation (successor to the Pere Marquette Railroad) in 2001, and the building was purchased in 2004 by Beacon Specialized Living Services, a healthcare provider. The empty attic of the station was replaced by a full second story, doubling the usable space in the station. The city retained ownership of the south end of the building, which was originally a portico, and then enclosed to be used as the passenger waiting room.

In July 2004, the city received a $125,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Transportation to rebuild the waiting room and platform. Amtrak contributed engineering services and the balance of the $500,000 project was carried out with private and city funds. The project was completed with a station rededication on May 6, 2005.

Adjacent to the present waiting room is the Railroad Café and Coffee Depot, in the space which was the original waiting room. The main entrance and lobby for the Beacon offices are in what was the freight room. Stairs lead up to the company’s offices on the newer second floor. A larger meeting room is available in what might have been a second waiting room on the first floor. Also on the second floor is the Edwin Foster Trophy Collection with an array of mounted African game animals.

The area which would become Bangor, on the South Branch of the Black River first occupied by the Potawatomies, was settled by Charles U. Cross in 1837, a civil engineer and surveyor from New York State. At that time, stands of very large timber covered the region, and some of the black walnut and white wood trees were recorded as six feet in diameter and lumbering was naturally an initially common occupation in the area until the land was cleared. Fruit growing and farming then became profitable. A prominent early settler, Joseph H. Nyman, arrived in Bangor in 1856 and built several mills in the area to manufacture cut lumber, flour and woolens using the water power of the Black River. Nyman made the first plat for the village in 1860. Bangor was incorporated as a city in 1968.

Bangor became a central shipping point when the Chicago and West Michigan Railroad was opened through the town in 1870, and it was not until 1877 that Bangor was incorporated as a village. Another advancement in the village was the opening of the Bangor Blast Furnace for smelting iron ore and manufacturing pig iron.

Today, apple and blueberry farming is still a main occupation, and is celebrated with a yearly Apple Festival in October. Since 1944, Bangor Plastics has provided employment as well.

Pickle production is also a mainstay in the town, with green vats of the Freestone Pickle Co. visible in the tanking yard as the Amtrak Pere Marquette calls at the station. The family-owned business was founded in 1903 and formerly shipped pickles in tanks bolted to railroad flat cars.

The Pere Marquette is financed primarily through funds made available by the Michigan State Department of Transportation.

Station Building (with waiting room)

Features

  • ATM not available
  • No elevator
  • No payphones
  • No Quik-Trak kiosks
  • Restrooms
  • Unaccompanied child travel not allowed
  • No vending machines
  • No WiFi
  • Arrive at least 30 minutes prior to departure
  • Indicates an accessible service.

Baggage

  • Amtrak Express shipping not available
  • No checked baggage service
  • No checked baggage storage
  • Bike boxes not available
  • No baggage carts
  • Ski bags not available
  • No bag storage
  • Shipping boxes not available
  • No baggage assistance

Parking

  • Same-day parking is available; fees may apply
  • Overnight parking is available; fees may apply
  • Indicates an accessible service.

Accessibility

  • No payphones
  • Accessible platform
  • Accessible restrooms
  • No accessible ticket office
  • Accessible waiting room
  • No accessible water fountain
  • Same-day, accessible parking is available; fees may apply
  • Overnight, accessible parking is available; fees may apply
  • No high platform
  • No wheelchair
  • Wheelchair lift available

Hours

Station Waiting Room Hours
Mon06:00 am - 08:00 pm
Tue06:00 am - 08:00 pm
Wed06:00 am - 08:00 pm
Thu06:00 am - 08:00 pm
Fri06:00 am - 10:00 pm
Sat06:00 am - 10:00 pm
Sun06:00 am - 08:00 pm
Ticket Office Hours
No ticket office at this location.
Passenger Assistance Hours
No passenger assistance service at this location.
Checked Baggage Service
No checked baggage at this location.
Parking Hours
Mon24 HOURS
Tue24 HOURS
Wed24 HOURS
Thu24 HOURS
Fri24 HOURS
Sat24 HOURS
Sun24 HOURS
Quik-Track Kiosk Hours
No Quik-Trak kiosks at this location.
Lounge Hours
No lounge at this location.
Amtrak Express Hours
No Amtrak Express at this location.