Amtrak's Phase IV Heritage P42 #184 leads the daily southbound Heartland Flyer into Purcell station in Oklahoma as the station master, Joe Ellis, waves on.
Purcell was founded as a railroad town in 1887, named in honor of Santa Fe Railroad Vice-President Edward Purcell. The current station depot was built in 2001 with a grant from the Great American Stations Foundation after passenger rail service returned to Oklahoma after an almost two decade absence on June 14, 1999 in the form of the Heartland Flyer. Since the station's opening, Joe and his wife Marilyn have held the important responsibility of greeting passengers and taking care of the station grounds in cooperation with the city.