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Saco Transportation Center

railway station in Saco, the United States of America

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 24, 2026
Entity authorityQ7396892
Source-derived summary

Saco Transportation Center, also referred to as Saco or Saco–Biddeford in some timetables, is a passenger transportation station on Factory Island in Saco, Maine, served by Amtrak, the national railroad passenger system, and other transportation providers. On average, about 110 passengers daily board or alight Amtrak's Downeaster service at the station, making it the third-busiest stop in Maine. The station is located next to the Pan Am Railways mainline, formerly the Western Route mainline of the Boston & Maine Railroad.

The train platform was constructed in 2001, and the station building was constructed in 2008 and opened in 2009. The station, at 138 Main Street, is owned by the City of Saco. The station is notable for being the first green design train station in the U.S. When it was built, it featured a wind turbine for electricity, geothermal heating and cooling systems, and a roof made from recycled soda bottles; however, the wind turbine, which cost the city about $200,000, did not produce the expected amount of electricity, and was shut down in 2006 after safety concerns. It was removed in November 2018.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Saco Transportation Center” as railway station in Saco, the United States of America. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Saco, Transportation and Center.

Editorial reviewA valuable geographic starting point for tracing changing names, boundaries, uses and administrative responsibility. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2001, 2008, 2009, 2006—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2001. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Saco, Transportation and Center providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Saco Transportation Center”, the useful work is to connect “railway station in Saco, the United States of America” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7396892. Authority coordinates are 43.496, -70.449. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2001, 2008, 2009 and 2006.

Critical limits

Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Saco Transportation Center”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Saco Transportation Center primary sources, Saco Transportation Center archive and Saco research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Saco Transportation Center”?
  2. Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
  3. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Saco Transportation Center” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.