1. What stations have you boarded or gotten off Amtrak or VIA trains where it's no longer possible to do so?
2. What is the most remote station anywhere which you've used?
Here are my answers:
Former stations I've used that are no longer served by Amtrak or VIA:
-Rye, New York
-Brownville, Junction, Maine
-Atlantic City, NJ
-Columbus, Ohio
-Chillicothe, Ohio
-Indio (Palm Springs), CA
-Oakland, California - 16th Street Station
-Windsor Station, Montreal, Quebec
Most remote station:
-Brownville Junction, Maine. This was a stop on the ex-Canadian Pacific Montreal-St. John, NB line across Maine. I got off there at 3:45am after an exciting dome car ride from Montreal. I had hopes of hitching a ride down to Bangor. There was nothing near that small country depot but a lake and a snow-covered, deserted two-lane highway. The only sound was the crunching snow underfoot. There wasn't a tire track on that unplowed road, but foolishly waited for headlights to appear. I stood there anyway, ready to stick out my thumb, and growing ever more frozen there beneath a cathedral of frosted pines. The silence was unforgetable. Finally I gave up the idea of hitching. I went back in the tiny depot. The CP station agent gave me some coffee. He drove me to Bangor a few hours later when he got off duty. He told me I was the first person to get off the train in Brownville Junction in quite some time.
Also very remote (to me, anyway):
Lagos, Portugal. It's as close as one can get by rail to the southwest tip of Europe. Not far beyond the small town of Lagos is a barren, rock strewn bluff called Sagres. It overlooks both the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. When I visited Sagres the seas were choppy and full of whitecaps all around. The weather was bright and blustery. But I found no answers blowing in the wind that day.
Maybe there are none.
Dave
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Posts: 284 | From: Ithaca, NY USA | Registered: Oct 2003
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1. a. Las Vegas NV b. Del Mar, CA [later replaced by Solana Beach]
2. Have not been anywhere really remote. But the Goleta CA stop is not convenient to anything. Petersburg VA hardly qualifies as remote but it also is "far away from anything" if you are without a car.
Have visited Commerce, CA, just outside of Los Angeles on BNSF. Was used by Amtrak San Diegans for a while but later dropped; never got much business. Metrolink does still use it I think.
MP
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Posts: 874 | From: South Bay (LA County), Calif, USA | Registered: Aug 2000
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1. Dearborn Station, Chicago, IL; and both the ex-ATSF station and the now-demolished CB&Q station in Galesburg, IL.
2. Saxmundum, Suffolk, UK. A beautiful little town about 45 minutes by DMU from Ipswich. Known as "Sax" by the locals. Not exactly the weeds, but a world away from the bustle of London.
Posts: 103 | From: St. Louis, MO USA | Registered: Oct 2002
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This may not strictly speaking apply, since it has never had passenger service, but Hay River Northwest Territories Canada is located just above 60 degrees and is the farthest north you can travel continuously by rail in North America. Alaska and the Yukon don't count as you have to break your rail journey to get there. My "luxury" accomodation was up in the locomotive with the engineer and fireman, and the "station" in Hay River was an engine shed. A most interesting adventure in my youthful days back in 1970. I don't think I would repeat it as I much prefer deluxe bedrooms in my old age.
Posts: 524 | From: Toronto Ont. Canada | Registered: Mar 2001
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Williams Junction is fairly remote. Not really any paved roads to it, and the only way out is by the Williams Grand Canyon Bus. And the platform is basically a small slab of concrete.
I've never boarded or detrained, but while I was in Williams, I went to see the "new" station. The guy I asked for directions at the Fray Marcos thought I was nuts. He said all that is out there is a slab of concrete. And the road is pretty rough. Things may have changed, but as of last Thanksgiving it was still a very small platform.
Posts: 579 | From: San Bernardino Subdivison | Registered: Dec 2001
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So far, Hay River sounds like the most remote station anyone has visited. Commerce and Saxmundum sound interesting too.
I am surprised to hear that Williams Jct. is a modest station. Isn't it the HQ for the GCRY?
Did Pendleton have a station building or an Amshack, or nothing but a platform?
I once got off I-10 just to have a look at Benson, AZ's Amtrak station. It was just a weathered sign nailed onto a trackside 2x4 in '82. I thought it was awesome!
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Posts: 284 | From: Ithaca, NY USA | Registered: Oct 2003
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My experience 2 weeks ago may not be directly applicable to the discussion but it certainly is interesting.
I was in Nadi, Fiji and saw one of their very-narrow gauge (610mm) sugar trains running along the trak paralleling the road. So I asked my driver to stop and I went over to take photos of the 0-6-0 140 hp engine (pulling 91 "cars") and the engineer actually stopped to talk! I hopped up to the cab and looked around for a while. Had a great time.
All documented on film, just received yesterday. I'm trying to figure out where I can post the photos -- suggestions gladly accepted!
Posts: 363 | From: Southwest North Central Florida | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote:Originally posted by dnsommer: I once got off I-10 just to have a look at Benson, AZ's Amtrak station. It was just a weathered sign nailed onto a trackside 2x4 in '82. I thought it was awesome!
I boarded the Sunset here in '95; there were a handful of passengers at the time. By then they had built an 'Amshack', a rather basic structure.
It was still there in 2001 when I was last in the area. Benson has built a visitors center that looks like an SP station, a few blocks east, but the trains still use the shack.
Posts: 874 | From: South Bay (LA County), Calif, USA | Registered: Aug 2000
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The Santa Fe had a really unique looking station at Williams Junction. Very modern looking, for the time. It was built during the Crookton realingment around 1960 or so. Kind of sad that it didn't last that long and was demolished. I bet GCRY wish this station was still there.
Check out the book on the Santa Fe in Arizona, I think it's volume 4 or something like that. But there is a nice picture of the station.
Posts: 579 | From: San Bernardino Subdivison | Registered: Dec 2001
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Yesterday I read about a hazmat accident that happened some years ago at Benson, AZ. There was an explosion. Maybe the explosion took out Benson's station.
Dave
Posts: 284 | From: Ithaca, NY USA | Registered: Oct 2003
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quote:Originally posted by dnsommer: Here's another former Los Angeles area Amtrak station: "Alhambra (Pasadena)"
It was a Sunset Limited stop in the '70s.
History/comments?
Dave
Dave, The Sunset Limited served the Alhambra station for a few years in the 70s. At some point in the mid or late 70s the SP route through that area was put in a below-ground trench and the Alhambra station was no longer trackside. The station building itself survived until the early 80s, but it was vandalized and later torn down. http://abandonedrailroads.homestead.com/ca_sp_alhambra_pasadena.html
Posts: 874 | From: South Bay (LA County), Calif, USA | Registered: Aug 2000
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There's nothing quite like an In-'n-Out chili cheeseburger, fries, and a shake. You can only get 'em in LA. Oh sure, there's The Varsity in Atlanta and Nathan's in NY and the wilderness specialties promoted by Ewell Gibbons up in Lewis & Clark country, and they all have their merits.
But an In-n-Out burger on a warm, breezy SoCal Saturday night, riding with the top down and your best girl by your side?
Man, oh man.
But I digest.
Er... I mean, disgress.
Dave
Posts: 284 | From: Ithaca, NY USA | Registered: Oct 2003
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I am truly surprised that nobody yet mentioned Grand Central Terminal...? Amtrak pulled out of the largest passenger terminal in the world (still) back in 1991.
In terms of 'remote' (and also coincidentally being a stop disused by Amtrak), there is Tempe AZ (which is remote from myself, living on the east coast).
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Total list of now defunct Amtrak stations I have used.Las Vegas,Nv;Ogden,Ut.Desert Wind.Alhambra,Ca.Sunset Limited.Pasadena,Ca.Pomona,Ca.ATSF.Seligman,Az.Southwest Limited.Hood River,Or.Pioneer.Atlantic City,NJ.Grand Central Terminal,Lake Shore Limited.Old stations I have used incities that still have Amtrak service,but have replaced the stations.Elko,Nv.bothW.P. and S.P.stations.Santa Ana,Ca. Oceanside,Ca.Also,Ihave used both North Vancouver,and Lilooet,BC.on B.C.Rail.
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What's the story with the Elko, NV WP Station? Isn't that one really ancient history?
And what about Tempe? How come Phoenix and then I think Scottsdale were dropped? Makes me wonder how many lines there have been through the years across Arizona. It seems like there have been many Amtrak re-routes. Not many of the original lines remain, I suppose.
Dave
Posts: 284 | From: Ithaca, NY USA | Registered: Oct 2003
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Dave - Phoenix, Tempe, and Scottsdale were dropped because the Sunset Ltd no longer even passes through those cities -- entire line was rerouted through Gila Bend several years ago (bypassing Phoenix completely)
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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Don't those cities need even freight trains? How could it be? Boy, that's tough, missing that whole market. Where are the hemmers and hawers when you need 'em?
Dave
Posts: 284 | From: Ithaca, NY USA | Registered: Oct 2003
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quote:Originally posted by dnsommer: Don't those cities need even freight trains? Dave
Dave, In most of these cases the passenger trains traveled on secondary routes that paralleled still-existing freight routes. The Sunset used a light-density SP line west of Phoenix that was not needed for freight. Phoenix is served by UP (SP) from the east, BNSF (Santa Fe) from the north, and AZRC (Arizona & California-ex-ATSF) from the west. I believe the same was true of Boise, ID, where the Pioneer went on a UP side-loop branch through Boise. The UP freight main is several miles south of Boise. The Santa Fe had two routes between LA and San Bernardino, but dropped the northern one (through Pasadena and N. Pomona) in '94 and concentrated all freight on the line through Fullerton. LA-Pasadena-Sierra Madre has been rebuilt as the light rail Gold Line. Sierra Madre-Arcadia is out of service. Arcadia-Pomona is still a BNSF spur. Pomona-San Bernardino is a Metrolink route with BNSF still serving a few local industries. MP
Posts: 874 | From: South Bay (LA County), Calif, USA | Registered: Aug 2000
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dnsommer: Pendleton had an "Amshack" right beside a great old train station that has now been remodeled into a wonderful museum. Guess we'll just have to have a new one someday (station not a shack) when we have the Pioneer again. Wishful thinking, but maybe? I used to take my lunch, sit and watch the Pioneer come through.
Posts: 11 | From: Pilot Rock, OR | Registered: Feb 2001
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How about even further back than AMTRAK - the LaSalle St. station in Chicago and Newtonville in MA?
Posts: 518 | From: Maynard, MA, USA | Registered: Sep 2000
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While stationed at Fort Eustis, Virginia from 81 to 85 I would travel on Amtrak from the (former C&O) Lee Hall Station (located between Newport News and Williamsburg). The station was a "flag stop" but saw frequent use. When I returned to the area in 1989 it was no longer in use.
Posts: 3 | From: Honolulu, HI | Registered: Sep 2002
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