Jackson, MS (Amtrak's City of New Orleans)

Jackson, MS is a service stop and an engineer crew change on the City of New Orleans, with trains stopping at the historic 1927 Georgian Revival brick station. The historic building was fully renovated into the Union Station Multimodal Transportation Facility. It is home to Greyhound and is the main transfer hub for JATRAN, the Jackson Transit local bus system, along with Amtrak. Unlike other station's Amtrak has its own large waiting room and ticket office in the northern wing of the station. The Amtrak area is extremely nice with plenty of historic wooden benches for waiting passengers under restored brick walls. It has it's own restrooms and is open for one shift (since the the City of New Orleans trains service the station within a few hours of each other) from 10:15am to 5:45pm. All access is through doors into the greater station area.

To reach trains passengers use doors (that are locked unless a train is due in the station) to a staircase and an elevator in a nice modern area up to an upper landing a floor above. This leads out to the Amtrak platform on the viaduct trains use to go through the city, the doors have silver letters that read Union Station (sings for Jackson, MS are minimal, just one in an odd font plus small Jackson MS location signs). The passenger Amtrak platform is a low-level side platform with modern amenities. There is a second service (island) platform on the opposite side of the tracks. This service platform is used by Amtrak employees for baggage service) with it's own baggage elevator and an emergency staircase. There are also the remains of two more former island platforms (the tracks now used as a a freight yard). The current passenger platform is modern three cars covered by a wide silver canopy structure. Beneath the canopy are a few benches and some smokers poles. The edge of the platform has a modern tactile warning strip trainside, while the 'wall' of the side platform is simply a chainlink fence allowing passengers to see the roofs of the historic union station (a clock tower is at the southern end).
All Photos Taken on 31 December, 2016

Page 1|Page 2

Stepping off a the Sleepers for a rainy fresh air stop

The nice smokers area, empty because the dining car and lounge car are stopped here, and the train has just arrived

Doors into the Union Station entrance

Looking down at the crowded sleepers

These double doors are open since a train is in the station, normally they are locked

Plenty of nice wooden benches for waiting passengers

Amtrak has it's own restrooms

Looking out from a window on the staircase up to the platform at the city of Jackson on a rainy day

A line of coach passengers headed to New Orleans takes awhile to board (although the train is already late) because the conductors are scanning all tickets on the platform