I know this topic has been discussed before, but it's been a while.
What Amtrak stations would be in your "top 20 list", based on general appearance? Here is my top 20 list. I've been to only a few of the stations listed, so I'm really going on photographs in order to rate them. In some cases, historic stations weigh in as heavily as the visual aspect. I'm sure you can both add and subtract from this list:
Amtrak Station Cities and Towns:
20. El Paso, TX 19. Greensboro, NC 18. Galesburg, IL 17. Rocklin, CA 16. Greensburg, PA 15. Tuscaloosa, AL 14. West Palm Beach, FL 13. Leavenworth, WA 12. Barstow, CA 11. Los Angeles, CA 10. Chicago, IL 9. Kansas City, MO 8. Williamsburg, VA 7. Portland, OR 6. Richmond VA (Main St. Stn.) 5. San Diego, CA 4. Worcester, MA 3. Davis, CA 2. Glenwood Springs, CO 1. Whitefish, MT
Richard
Posted by RR4me (Member # 6052) on :
I would have Denver in my list, and although not a grand old station, I like the way the new Martinez, CA turned out.
Posted by TwinStarRocket (Member # 2142) on :
I thought Seattle, WA was quite nice. I agree with RR4Me with Denver.
I'm surprised to see Glenwood Springs so high on the list but certainly don't disagree - river, mountains, hot springs definitely make the *setting* nice, but the station itself - unremarkable?
That Worcester, MA photo, for some reason, reminds me of Kuala Lumpur (old station)!
Posted by amtrak92 (Member # 14343) on :
20. Washington Union 19. Williamsburg 18. Whitefish 17. Chicago Union 16. King St in Seattle 15. Wilmington 14. Orlando 13. El Paso 12. San Diego 11. Denver Union 10. Richmond Main St. 9. Portland Or 8. Greensboro 7. West Palm Beach 6. Omaha 5. Kansas City 4.Ft. Worth 3. Dallas 2.Worcester 1. LA
Posted by Southwest Chief (Member # 1227) on :
I like San Bernardino and Bartsow, after the rebuilds of course.
Flagstaff is a nice and often forgotten one too. Best looking in winter.
My all time favorite is a toss up. Los Angeles or San Diego. Both are impressive. If San Diego did not have the electric lines for the trolley in front, it would be an easy pick for #1.
Posted by amtrak92 (Member # 14343) on :
The electric lines take out a lot of the view.
Posted by Ocala Mike (Member # 4657) on :
Always liked Winter Park, FL for its "location, location, location."
Posted by amtrak92 (Member # 14343) on :
I know I always love it when my train stops there. It is just so awesome to be in the park itself
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
WPK; step off and smell the $$$$$$$
Posted by Doodlebug (Member # 4564) on :
It is not the busiest or biggest, but it's home and a Top 20 list without it is incomplete. Hamlet, N.C., as it appears when its only remaining train, the Silver Star, passes through.
Posted by yukon11 (Member # 2997) on :
How did I miss Hamlet...wow..I agree it is definitely high on the list.
I agree with Geoff Mayo..probably should not have rated Glenwood Springers so high. However, as one of the stations I have actually been to, I really loved that historic, old Glenwood Springs station.
Richard
Posted by Tanner929 (Member # 3720) on :
Like this post, have to work on this so many different styles.
Richmond Main St Station VA New Haven Union Station CT High Point, NC Westerly RI Wallingford CT Pennsylvania Station Newark NJ Pennsylvania Station Baltimore MD Washington DC Union Station Danville VA Greensboro NC Hamlet NC Chicago Union Station IL Kansas City Union Station MO Toledo OH Denver Union Station CO Albany-Renseleer NY Utica NY Montreal Central Station Los Angelas Union Station CA San Bernadino Station CA
Posted by amtrak92 (Member # 14343) on :
How did I forget Hamlet, after all it isn't far away
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
Rather than an entire list, I'll submit this, the one station that should be included on anyone's top 20 list.
Cincinnatti Union Station still serves as a station and deserves a place on any list.
Posted by Tanner929 (Member # 3720) on :
Was thinking of putting Cincinnatti in my list but took Kansas City over CIncy, for Stations living usefull lives while waiting for the trains to return. Perhaps Richmond Va's Union Station, know doing tiime as a Science Museum the platforms are in great condition not sure if its possible to re-rout the tracks from the Staples Mill Station. It is really amazing the construction and detail are just such works of art that not many towns and cities have the heart to tear them down. BuIt at a time when Buildings were advertising and showed strength and power company names where chisled in stone today there clamped on in plastic easily changable after the latest merger our buyout. I suppose when they were built travelers used them as we use airports you arrived, checked the bags in and had lunch or dinner and or make a connection.
Posted by amtrak92 (Member # 14343) on :
Yeah that is how I envision the past, when trains were used like planes. I think they still have some track at Broad St. Station, as I have seen photos of Amtrak units there, on the point of the AOE
Posted by Henry Kisor (Member # 4776) on :
How about the Top 20 WORST Amtrak stations, just to add a little levity?
Good candidates would have to be the one at Essex, Montana -- just a 50-foot slab of cracked asphalt -- and the AmShack at Granby, Colorado.
Maybe Alpine, Texas -- no platform at all, just a looooong way down to the step box on the slanted roadbed.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Aside from obvious ones such as New York Penn Station, and while to me it is quite OK, I'm afraid Stamford CT could go down with some around here as a "bad bad".
Suffice to say, it is a relatively new structure (20 yrs) but devoid of any aesthetics. Although Amtrak has a designated wait area, if you don't know exactly where you are going or are laden with luggage and children, enjoy life.
But the "max" I can imagine anyone having to be there is a half-hour; Corridor trains are almost always "more or less" on time, and with Metro North operating on half-hour frequency, that is the max a connecting passenger would need to hang around.
But it does have plusses; taxicabs, and municipal busses are "right there", and there is plenty of reasonably priced parking available in a connected garage. Hertz and Avis auto rentals are literally 'accross the street', but private vehicle passenger pick ups can be "sport'.
All told, hardly a facility to enhance the experience of a Long Distance train trip, but it does its intended job quite well.
Posted by Mike Smith (Member # 447) on :
The Houston station is definitely in the running for worst!
Posted by Ocala Mike (Member # 4657) on :
I've said this before and I'll say it again:
Ocala, FL. It has TWO rail lines crossing at a diamond with TWO platforms. Only problem - NO TRAINS!
As a rail station, it makes a fine bus station.
Posted by amtrak92 (Member # 14343) on :
Selma NC has three platforms. Two are used. 1 is not original but very cool. I haven't seen Ocala's yet
Posted by Jerome Nicholson (Member # 3116) on :
quote:Originally posted by Tanner929: Was thinking of putting Cincinnatti in my list but took Kansas City over CIncy, for Stations living usefull lives while waiting for the trains to return. Perhaps Richmond Va's Union Station, know doing tiime as a Science Museum the platforms are in great condition not sure if its possible to re-rout the tracks from the Staples Mill Station. It is really amazing the construction and detail are just such works of art that not many towns and cities have the heart to tear them down. BuIt at a time when Buildings were advertising and showed strength and power company names where chisled in stone today there clamped on in plastic easily changable after the latest merger our buyout. I suppose when they were built travelers used them as we use airports you arrived, checked the bags in and had lunch or dinner and or make a connection.
Amtrak's Cardinal stops at Cincy station, so I guess it qualifies as a "station". Unlike Richmond Broad Street. Last time a train called there was on Grandluxe's last Southern tour, when the AOE trainset backed in from Staples Mill.
Seattle's King Street? Maybe it'll be pretty after they ever finish restoring its interior.
Posted by Jerome Nicholson (Member # 3116) on :
quote:Originally posted by Henry Kisor: How about the Top 20 WORST Amtrak stations, just to add a little levity?
Good candidates would have to be the one at Essex, Montana -- just a 50-foot slab of cracked asphalt -- and the AmShack at Granby, Colorado.
Maybe Alpine, Texas -- no platform at all, just a looooong way down to the step box on the slanted roadbed.
Ugly? Just for a start:
Richmond Staples Mill NY Penn Houston Boston North (Fleet Center)
Posted by amtraxmaniac (Member # 2251) on :
I'm partial to the Western US-so here's my very provincial list:
1. Los Angeles Union Station 2. Chicago Union Station 3. Tucson 4. San Diego 5. Washington DC 6. Whitefish MT 7. Santa Barbara 8. Portland OR 9. Sacramento (have they finished restoration?) 10.Fullerton 11. Kansas City 12. Denver 13. San Luis Obispo 14. Bakersfield, CA 15. Barstow 16. The NEW Albuquerque NM Station 17. Martinez, CA 18. San Jose, CA 19. Seattle-King Street 20. Santa Ana
My beef with Seattle is that it looks spectacular from the outside and like a run down bus station inside! Is it still that way? Its been about 6 years.
Crappy Rathole station stops: 1. Stockton-San Joaquin Street-bad area, ugly building 2. Oceanside,CA-just plain UGLY 3. Fresno-even after the restoration 4. New Orleans-maybe because it IS the bus station. 5. Anaheim-this station tries too hard to be non assuming to the point of being so generic and low key, its distasteful. The land of the Mouse deserves a more glamorous gateway.
Posted by amtraxmaniac (Member # 2251) on :
I suppose I could add Oakland Jack London to the good list, but not in the top 20. Flagstaff, San Juan Capistrano, and Davis are decent as well.
Posted by Geoff Mayo (Member # 153) on :
How about adding some originality into the list? Wasn't the waiting area at Maricopa, AZ a converted rail car (definitely not anymore)?
If you want bus stops for trains, Dyer, IN has to be up there with the best (or worst, depending on how you look at it).
Posted by Tanner929 (Member # 3720) on :
Mmm the worst list has to go to cities that had or have great buildings but went with the Amshacks, which is why Staples Mill Road in Richmond Va is always high on any worst lists. And of course New York's Pennsylvania Station is always at the top of any list for "what was and what it is now." Stamford CT and its twin sister in Bridgeport are Concrete commuter stations which replaced old wooden structures these are functional for the Metro-North rider, park the car, grab a newspaper, coffee and a donut and zip down to the platforms. I can't put "flag stops" in a worse catagory, they are what they are, sort of real throwbacks. First part of list are just no thought designed stations the second part of the list are buildings that replaced great stations
Windsor Locks CT (not a flag stop but probably should be) Western NY Rochester=Buffalo Pennsylvania East of Harrisburgh Middletown, Mt Joy, Exton, Ardmor Pennsylvania West of Harrisburgh Hunington, Altoona, South Bend IN Berkley CA Staples Mills VA Hunington WV Topeka KS Birmingham AL Cleveland OH Houston TX Pittsburgh PA Detroit MI Minneapolis MN Boston North Fleet Center MA Back Bay Boston MA Pennsylvania Station NY Providence RI
Posted by Mike Smith (Member # 447) on :
Marshall, TX should be among the good ones.
Posted by Geoff Mayo (Member # 153) on :
To clarify my post (I would edit, but there have been postings since), I mean some station buildings that have originality in their design or use, such as the example I gave - I didn't mean that the lists so far weren't original! Sorry if any offence was caused.
Posted by TwinStarRocket (Member # 2142) on :
No worst list should exclude Benson AZ, Lordsburg NM, and Deming NM.
As for the ugly Amshack attributed to Minneapolis (actually in St. Paul), Amtrak is coming back to the magnificent St. Paul Union Depot in the future. There it will be connected by light rail to Minneapolis.
Don't forget Columbia, Florence in my state for the worst. Both are Amshacks
Posted by yukon11 (Member # 2997) on :
Worst Amtrak stations? For states that once were the hub of passsenger train activity, I would say many of the Amtrak stations in New York, Pennsylvania, and Michigan are nothing to get too excited about. Out west, I think that many of the Amtrak stations along the San Joaquin route should get dinged.
I have not been to the Amtrak Sacramento station in about 15-20 years. I don't know if the station has been cleaned up or refurbished. If not, I would have to put Sacramento as the #1 worst Amtrak station. The last time I was there, especially going through their rest room facilities, I felt in need of a malathion spray.
Richard
Posted by amtrak92 (Member # 14343) on :
Here are another two in my state, Yamasee and Charleston. Charleston for the amount of passengers isn't big enough,
Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
Not mentioned among attractive depots: 30th St Sta Philadelphia & Boston South are both pretty nice, and I thought Salem OR was a nice one (though I was not very impressed with Salem OR)!
Harpers Ferry doesn't seem to be much of a station, but the location is gorgeous.
Martinsburg WVA has that lovely roundhouse
Posted by SilverStar092 (Member # 2652) on :
My top 20 stations: 1. Los Angeles 2. Washington 3. Toronto 4. San Diego 5. Philadelphia 30th St 6. Whitefish 7. Williamsburg 8. Portland, OR 9. Albany-Rennsalear 10.Vancouver, BC 11.West Palm Beach 12.Lorton (AutoTrain) 13.Dallas 14.Chicago Union 15.Alexandria, VA 16.Denver 17.Baltimore Penn 18.Boston South Sta 19.Emeryville, CA 20.El Paso
Posted by George Harris (Member # 2077) on :
quote:Originally posted by amtraxmaniac: Crappy Rathole station stops: .... 3. Fresno-even after the restoration 4. New Orleans-maybe because it IS the bus station.
Fresno among the worst? How long has it been since you were there? Been there three or four trips in the last year, and thought it a nicely restored medium size city station. If it weren't for the dry Central Valley climate, its main problem would be that it is too small for the patronage. (Picture a Christmas holiday crowd of about 100 people off and 100 people on per train, and 6 trains each way per day - although I would be surprised if they were all that busy.)
New Orleans: Was last there about 20 years ago. When you recall that it was probably the last major city station built, opening in about 1953, and was a quite nice mid 1950's building at the time it opened, it was very sad to see how it had fallen.
Surprised that no one has mentioned Beaumont's non-station as being among the worst.
Posted by amtrak92 (Member # 14343) on :
Know a nice looking station, I won't rank it in the top 20, would be Dillon SC, the old ACL architecture really looks good.
Posted by rresor (Member # 128) on :
Well, I'm glad somebody got around to mentioning my hometown station -- 30th Street, Philadelphia. It's an Art Deco gem, and anyone who isn't moved by the war memorial statue doesn't have a heart.
Also -- Ann Arbor, MI is a Michigan Central gem. It also contains an excellent restaurant.
Posted by Railroad Bob (Member # 3508) on :
In the category of "bad stations Amtrak used to stop at but thankfully doesn't anymore..."
1) Thompson, UT (Route of 5 and 6) (Falling down white clapboard shack, and a Flagstop, to boot.)
2) Borie, WY (When 5 and 6 ran across Wyoming) (Concrete platform, openly exposed to -20 below in winter) --The stop for Cheyenne--
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
On an auto trip during 2K, I stopped off at the Green River UT station that is located well to the West of a rather desolate town. Suffice to say "not overly impressed".
However, I think that station did have a pay phone as all Amtrak stops had such back then. Obviously that requirement has been forgotten about nowadays (there used to be two of such at our METRA station - not anymore).
But guess what, I DO have a cell phone that was last used March 5 for both an incoming and outgoing call. This was because I dropped it and I wanted to see if it survived (it did). Otherwise, it is just a $13.73 "tax" (Verizon's minimum charge for no usage) that shows up each month and has to be paid.
Posted by sfthunderchief (Member # 7204) on :
quote:Originally posted by Henry Kisor: How about the Top 20 WORST Amtrak stations, just to add a little levity?
Good candidates would have to be the one at Essex, Montana -- just a 50-foot slab of cracked asphalt -- and the AmShack at Granby, Colorado.
Maybe Alpine, Texas -- no platform at all, just a looooong way down to the step box on the slanted roadbed.
Williams Junction? Slab with light pole.
Posted by sfthunderchief (Member # 7204) on :
quote:Originally posted by sfthunderchief: Williams Junction? Slab with light pole.
Yeah that's a bad one.
But it is really all they need since the Grand Canyon bus serves as the waiting room.
Not worth the expense to build a station there.
The original Santa Fe depot at Williams Junction was a very unique and modern building for the line. It was built in the early 1960s and eventually torn down in the mid 1980s. I've seen a photo of it before, and I wish there was an online photo I could share, but I can't find any.
The location is a real good one for railfanning high speed freights.
Posted by SilverStar092 (Member # 2652) on :
The worst big city station: Birmingham, AL. A tiny waiting room that looks like the entrance to a storage room under the railroad viaduct. Shared parking lot with trucks being filled with some kind of liquid from tank cars parked on the viaduct above. The old L&N station stood dormant for years a couple hundred feet away but has since been demolished. Shameful for such a big city.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
I had always hoped that Birmingham would eventually ressurect the L&N station.
Posted by Mike Smith (Member # 447) on :
OK, Birmingham "might" be worse than Houston...
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Mr. Silver Star, is this what you have in mind when you address the "old station"?
Was there another station built at Williams Junction? Would it have been in the middle of nowhere like the slab is now?
Posted by yukon11 (Member # 2997) on :
quote:Originally posted by Gilbert B Norman: On an auto trip during 2K, I stopped off at the Green River UT station that is located well to the West of a rather desolate town. Suffice to say "not overly impressed".
However, I think that station did have a pay phone as all Amtrak stops had such back then. Obviously that requirement has been forgotten about nowadays (there used to be two of such at our METRA station - not anymore).
But guess what, I DO have a cell phone that was last used March 5 for both an incoming and outgoing call. This was because I dropped it and I wanted to see if it survived (it did). Otherwise, it is just a $13.73 "tax" (Verizon's minimum charge for no usage) that shows up each month and has to be paid.
****************************** Mr. Norman: If memory serves me (and it probably doesn't) I thought there is or once was a pay phone in the parlour car of the Coast Starlight. Maybe it is no longer there...due to the fact so many people have cell phones. Are there pay telephones on any of the other Amtrak trains?
Richard
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
First, Richard, I was addressing a plain old land line pay phone, but to address your extension of the topic to include on-board public phones, it appears that Railfone is gone, gone gone (so is for that matter AirFone).
Posted by yukon11 (Member # 2997) on :
quote:Originally posted by Gilbert B Norman: First, Richard, I was addressing a plain old land line pay phone, but to address your extension of the topic to include on-board public phones, it appears that Railfone is gone, gone gone (so is for that matter AirFone).
*********** I know you were talking about a land-line pay phone. However, I think it might have been a good idea to keep the "railphone" on board. Not all people remember or think of taking a cell phone with them. Not everyone has a cell phone (I reisisted for a long time). For emergencies or semi-emergencies I think it would be nice to have a pay cell phone service on board).
Richard
Posted by Southwest Chief (Member # 1227) on :
Was there another station built at Williams Junction? Would it have been in the middle of nowhere like the slab is now?
That's the Williams depot, actually in the city of Williams. It's still there and used for the Grand Canyon Railway.
The Williams Junction depot was in the middle of nowhere exactly where the present day slab is now. I've explored the area and there are, or were, still some remnants of the original slab...although that could be gone now.
Doing some more digging I found out that the Glendale, Arizona depot was similar to the Williams Junction depot. And yes from the photo I saw of the Williams Junction depot I would agree that they are somewhat similar. Here is a link to the brief write up about it:
