Hanford Station is one of the few non-major city intermediate Amtrak stations that can provide baggage service for two different Amtrak trains that have pulled into the station at the same time. The stop owns two orange electric baggage carts. This happens daily between 2:42 and 2:44pm when southbound train #714 and northbound train #715 pull into the station on two separate side platforms at the same time. This operation has been feasible since 2006 when the line through the station was double-tracked and the new westside platform was added. Station crew members are not great announcing the track of other, non-passing departures but the rest seem to ideally stop at the depot side of the station. Hanford has been an Amtrak station since the first daily San Joaquin round-trip began in 1974. The tour begins at the southern end of the two platforms that have a black fence running between the two tracks to prohibit unathorized crossings. This is the grade crossing of West 7th Street and the only connection between the two platforms, this crossing the baggage cart is even driven across when a train arrives on the new western platform. From here the two concrete platforms with yellow tactile warning strips jut north, curving slightly to the west. The only other unifying features of the two platforms are modern Hanford signs that were recently installed and white decorative lampposts.
Right along the east side platform beginning along West 7th Street is the historic Hanford depot. It was constructed in 1897 by the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad, which was sold to the Santa Fe the next year and was renovated in 1992 by the city of Hanford. The depot is a single story brick building with white and blue trim between the windows with a singled gabled roof. On both sides of the depot, streetside where there is a passenger drop of area above the two sets of doors inside and along the platform covering both benches for waiting passengers and fenced off areas for the baggage, mobile lift and other equipment are blue awnings. These are held up by brick pillars. Inside the depot, starting from its northern end, is first area is the waiting room with four wooden benches. In what feels like a connecting hallway just beyond the waiting room is the Amtrak ticket office with three windows (window three is split from the rest by a column) with two separate built in baggage check-in scales beneath the windows. Continuing through this brick area are first the restrooms that require tokens from the Amtrak ticket office to operate (to make them non-public) a gate that can be raised or lowered followed by another entrance area where there is a brochure rack from the Hanford Chamber of Commerce and the offices of Sunland insurance services. Blue Hanford letters are on the concrete side facing the platform and the pointless arrow lives with a small pointless arrow sign saying Station along the other wall. The only other entrance to this platform is towards the northern end where a short ramp leads down to a small platform across from where 8 Street ends at the tracks. There is a blue fence in places and open-air benches.
The newer 2005 built platform is alongside the transit center for Kings Area Rural Transit (KRAT) that includes a Triweekly route to Fresno for medical appointments and a twice daily route south to Corcoran (that your webmaster didn't realize existed and just missed a trip on), as well seven routes within Hanford itself. This transit center has a small non-public wooden building home to a transit information window. A single canopied island for boarding buses radiates from here. The west side platform also has three separate small canopied areas with blue roofs held up by brick columns. Beneath them are benches for waiting passengers (and locals hanging out) that provide some protection. The top of these canopies each have a white sign with black serif text spelling 'HANFORD' sign There is also a modern brown wheelchair lift enclosure structure.
Photos 1-75 taken on 16 February, 2012, 76-80: 19 October, 2014
Fresno, CA 