The city, IDOT, the FRA, and Amtrak all have chipped in restore service the old 111 year old ex-ATSF depot at Fort Madison. The station is now the regular stop for Amtrak's Southwest Chief. Its been five decades since a passenger train has stopped here, but mid-December changed all that when the new stop became open. Here a hot San Bernardino Z heads towards the Mississippi River Bridge and a departure out of Iowa and into Illinois for the final 220 miles into Willow Springs near Chicago. A new crew is only a mile into the trip east.
