The old single-story stucco Santa Fe passenger station in Santa Ana was replaced by this imposing structure - the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center. When the new station, which serves Amtrak and Metrolink rail operations, as well as Greyhound, transit and other bus lines, opened on September 7, 1985, it was the largest new rail station built in the United States since the completion of the New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal in 1955. This is also the meeting place of the Orange County Railroad Historical Society on the first Monday of each month. For the film "Rain Man" (starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise) this station was a stand-in for Los Angeles Union Station.
Oh the stories these special buildings could tell. Originally the brains of the rails they monitored, working to insure effecient rail service for our nation! A tribute!
