Gallup station

Gallup
Gallup Amtrak station
General information
Location	201 East Highway 66 Gallup, NM 87301
Coordinates	35.5293°N 108.7405°W / 35.5293; -108.7405
Line(s)	Southwest Chief
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	3
Other information
Station code	GLP
History
Opened	1918
Passengers
2015	16,354  1.3%
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station Template:Amtrak stations toward Template:Amtrak stations Template:Amtrak lines Template:Amtrak stations toward Template:Amtrak stations   Former services   ATSF Template:ATSF stations toward Template:ATSF stations Template:ATSF lines Template:ATSF stations toward Template:ATSF stations Template:ATSF stations toward Template:ATSF stations Template:ATSF lines Major stations Template:ATSF stations toward Template:ATSF stations

Gallup is an Amtrak train station at 201 East Highway 66 in downtown Gallup, New Mexico. It is the second busiest station in the state, with more than 16,000 boardings and alightings in 2014.

Historic use

The two-story station was built in the Mission Revival style in 1918. Then one of a series of Santa Fe railroad station hotels built across the southwestern and central United States by the Fred Harvey Company was connected to the depot in 1923. The fabulous El Navajo Hotel was designed by the master architect Mary Colter, blending Pueblo Revival and Art Deco styles, and decorated using Navajo sand paintings. The hotel was demolished in 1957 to widen Route 66. The depot reopened later as an unstaffed Amtrak station.

Gallup Cultural Center

The city renovated the building in 1996 to serve as the Gallup Cultural Center to be operated by the Southwest Indian Foundation. In addition to a passenger waiting area, it is also home to the Gallup Visitor Center, which relocated to the station in 2004.

The Cultural Center houses a Storyteller Museum and Gallery of the Masters showcasing Native American Arts & Culture; the Kiva Cinema; and a coffee shop. and a gift shop featuring jewelry, pottery, rugs and blankets, and other pieces by local Acoma, Zuni, Navajo, Hopi and other Native American artisans. The Museum includes exhibits on weaving, sandpainting, silversmithing, trains, and Historic Route 66.

A statue of Navajo Chief Manuelito by Tim Washburn stands in a plaza front of the Gallup Cultural Center. Next to the plaza is the "Navajo Code Talker", a 12-foot bronze statue by famous Navajo/Ute sculptor Oreland Joe. The Navajo Code Talkers played a major role during WWII because the Japanese never cracked their language "code".

The station is unique in that a fence guards the platform from the rest of the station. This is to prevent people getting onto BNSF's triple-tracked, high-speed, very busy Southern Transcon main line.

Routes

• Southwest Chief

External links

• Gallup, NM – Amtrak
• Gallup, NM – Station history at Great American Stations (Amtrak)
• Gallup Amtrak Station (USA Rail Guide -- Train Web)
• Gallup Cultural Center
• Gallup, NM (GLP) (Amtrak's Great American Stations)