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We've been over and across this country of ours on Amtrak three of the past four years on just about every LD east/west routing. On our last trip from Los Angeles to New Orleans we alighted from the Sunset Ltd during the crew change at Beaumont, TX. Spartan would be an extravagant description for this eastern most station in Texas. There is no paved approach road nor parking lot; no station building and the "platform" is a concrete slab that is in the last stages of disintegration. Not a very inviting atmosphere for detraining or entraining passesngers. Best regards, Rodger
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Here's more reqarding Rodger's observation:
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Heyyyyyyyyy, what about Lordsburg and Benson. Why the free pass for them?
Seriously, Beaumont will be building a multi-million dollars transit center soon. The delay has been with location and fighting with KCS.
HillsideStation Member # 6386
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Mr. Norman, as noted in the initial post the "Butler/General" cum Nissen Hut no longer "graces" the Beaumont stop. And give the condition of the platform pictured circa 2002, six years more wear and erosion. Best regards, Rodger
NativeSon5859 Member # 2993
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Once the new station is built, I'd expect you'd see ridership increase. It can only go up from where it is. Last time I checked, Beaumont was a very underperforming station (passenger totals wise) for a city and area its size.
gp35 Member # 3971
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Beaumont is out performing Houston....
Metro-Houston 5,800,000 with 14,000 riders Metro-Beaumont 400,000 with 1,4000 riders
SunsetLtd Member # 3985
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Don't forget Deming! a road crossing next to a gas station for a platform and 2 or 3 benches is all there is. Just recently i met a couple who came all the way from Silver City to board the train in El Paso, because they didn't even know there WAS a station in Deming.
NativeSon5859 Member # 2993
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gp35, that's true. Houston is pretty low.
I assume Houston sees more boardings on train #1, but I wonder how many people use Amtrak between Houston and New Orleans? Greyhound is making a killing on its Houston-New Orleans runs...there was an article not long ago talking about how nearly every run is full and how they have added buses in the market...it would sure be nice if you saw 100+ passengers board train #2 in Houston on a consistent basis.
Houston-N.O has always been a fairly large travel market in general.
gp35 Member # 3971
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Exactly Son, Amtrak is losing a lot of passengers because tri-weekly serves forcing rider to stay almost 3 days in NOL. If they move the west bound train to Sunday night, then weekends in NOL would soar. But it makes too much sense.
ellenorigby Member # 9414
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Don't forget Railfans, Amtrak has a program where they are revitalizing many stations....and I'd love to see them do more for the small towns too. My sister lives in Kanassas, NC and they have a new station. I want to ride down to see her, but I can't figure out how I'd do it without staying overnight in D.C. oh well. I am planning a trip in Oct. to D.C. on the Capital Limited and I'll check out what's around there at the time.
George Harris Member # 2077
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Houston - New Orleans train scheduled run time is also considerably slower that bus run time. Also, consider reliablitily.
Kanassas NC ? ? Is that supposed to be Kannapolis NC. these station upgrades are not an Amtrak program. They are a program by the state of North Carolina. Go to www.bytrain.org
PullmanCo Member # 1138
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If you like Beaumont, you'll love SPARKS NEVADA...
DeeCT Member # 3241
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Twice a year I visit my brother so I arrive and leave from this "station" twice a year ---
Quite interesting, especially the first time. Keep in mind that both the East bound and West bound SWC arrive here in the dark. Shuttle van/bus ride of about 10 minutes from here to civilization. A bus shelter would be an Upgrade!!
Dee
royaltrain Member # 622
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quote:Originally posted by PullmanCo: If you like Beaumont, you'll love SPARKS NEVADA...
What about Winnemuca Nev? If I recall correctly it is just a bus shelter.
notelvis Member # 3071
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quote:Originally posted by ellenorigby: Don't forget Railfans, Amtrak has a program where they are revitalizing many stations....and I'd love to see them do more for the small towns too. My sister lives in Kanassas, NC and they have a new station. I want to ride down to see her, but I can't figure out how I'd do it without staying overnight in D.C. oh well. I am planning a trip in Oct. to D.C. on the Capital Limited and I'll check out what's around there at the time.
You're speaking of Kannapolis, NC and you've got a couple of options other than an overnight in DC.
1) Catch the Crescent to Salisbury, NC. It's a middle of the night arrival but Salisbury is less than half an hour from Kannapolis.
2) Connect from the Capitol Limited to a Northeast Regional train as far as Ashland, VA. Get off the train and spend the night across the street at the Henry Clay Inn (cheaper, safer, and more convienant than in DC). The next morning catch the regional train down to Staples Mill Road Station in Richmond, get off, and catch the Carolinian on it's way to Kannapolis.
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