Most unusual abbreviation for an Amtrak station

[DET63]

We've talked about stations that share a name, as well as towns that have two or more stations. But what 3-letter abbreviation for a station's name seems to be the most off-the-wall? Many airport IATA codes seem to have no connection to the names either of the airports or the towns they serve; are there Amtrak stations with similarly obscure codes relative to the names of the towns they serve?

Looking through the list at Wikipedia (as opposed to the lists at Amtrak.com), it appears that most stations' codes and names begin with the same letter. BED (for Bend, Oregon) is kind of cute, though it's only a Thruway stop, not an Amtrak station.

 

[espeefoamer]

A few are rated PG or even R. South Bend IN:SOB,Bakersfield,CA:BFD,Cumberland MD:CUM. In some cases,Amtrak should have been more careful in choosing a city code. :blink:

 

[JSmith]

I don't understand how Union Station in Toronto, Ontario got a W in its code (TWO).

 

[the_traveler]

Even though the station is listed as "Burlington-Essex (VT)", if you want to go to Burlington, and look up the code - it's "ESX"! :blink:

 

[transit54]

Even though the station is listed as "Burlington-Essex (VT)", if you want to go to Burlington, and look up the code - it's "ESX"! :blink:

Yes, however, I'd say the name, more than the station code is off. The station is in Essex Jct, VT, nowhere near Burlington (OK, it's only about a 15 minute drive, but if you're preparing to just arrive in Burlington, that's a rather unpleasant surprise). I can't tell you how many times I've been on the train with passengers who thought they were arriving into Burlington Union Station in downtown.

 

[saxman]

A few are rated PG or even R. South Bend IN:SOB,Bakersfield,CA:BFD,Cumberland MD:CUM. In some cases,Amtrak should have been more careful in choosing a city code. :blink:

There's also FAT for Fresno and SUX for Sioux City, IA airports.

I don't think Amtrak set all the station codes. I believe those are the same station codes the old railroads used back in the day even. I bet someone like Bill would know that.

Another weird station code that comes to mind is RVR, Richmond Staples Mill Road Station. Where did the 'V' come from?

Honestly I think most of Amtrak codes make sense. Its the airports that have some odd codes. But even if you do some research into airport codes, you'll find where it came from. ORD for Chicago O'hare was originally called Orchard Field, hence ORD. CVG for Cincinnati stands for Covington, KY. Even though the airport is not in Covington.

HOS and SAS also come to mind for odd station codes. Why not use HOU and SAT? I'm guessing it was because Houston had two stations. I'm guessing Houston Union Station was HOU and the SP station in Houston was HOS. Same for San Antonio?

 

[Bob Dylan]

A few are rated PG or even R. South Bend IN:SOB,Bakersfield,CA:BFD,Cumberland MD:CUM. In some cases,Amtrak should have been more careful in choosing a city code. :blink:

There's also FAT for Fresno and SUX for Sioux City, IA airports.

I don't think Amtrak set all the station codes. I believe those are the same station codes the old railroads used back in the day even. I bet someone like Bill would know that.

Another weird station code that comes to mind is RVR, Richmond Staples Mill Road Station. Where did the 'V' come from?

Honestly I think most of Amtrak codes make sense. Its the airports that have some odd codes. But even if you do some research into airport codes, you'll find where it came from. ORD for Chicago O'hare was originally called Orchard Field, hence ORD. CVG for Cincinnati stands for Covington, KY. Even though the airport is not in Covington.

HOS and SAS also come to mind for odd station codes. Why not use HOU and SAT? I'm guessing it was because Houston had two stations. I'm guessing Houston Union Station was HOU and the SP station in Houston was HOS. Same for San Antonio?

San Antonios airport is SAT, the SAS comes from the old SP s Sunset Station which is still there,although used as a party barn/music mecca while one of my unfav fives is the AMSHAK built next to it!

 

[Upstate]

I don't understand how Union Station in Toronto, Ontario got a W in its code (TWO).

At least it makes more sense than YYZ.

 

[the_traveler]

I don't understand how Union Station in Toronto, Ontario got a W in its code (TWO).

Since Toronto is TWO, I wonder if there is a ONE? :huh:

 

[gregoryla]

Honestly I think most of Amtrak codes make sense. Its the airports that have some odd codes. But even if you do some research into airport codes, you'll find where it came from. ORD for Chicago O'hare was originally called Orchard Field, hence ORD. CVG for Cincinnati stands for Covington, KY. Even though the airport is not in Covington.

Actually the Cincinnati airport is across the river in Kentucky, and closer to Covington than to Kentucky. The actual name of the airport is something like the Cincinnati - Northern Kentucky Airport.

 

[RTOlson]

Since Toronto is TWO, I wonder if there is a ONE? :huh:

According to this, ONE is the code for Onepusu airport in the Solomon Islands.

 

[jackal]

I don't understand how Union Station in Toronto, Ontario got a W in its code (TWO).

At least it makes more sense than YYZ.

Not sure whose fault it is, but somewhere along the line, Canada decided to preface all of their airport IATA codes with a Y.

Not the most authoritative, but an interesting discussion is here:

http://www.airlinequality.com/Interact/Q1_J00135.htm

 

[The Metropolitan]

I think RVR simply is a abberation of Richmond ViRginia. One wonders why not RVA, but so be it.

That said, Amtrak's codes seem far more logical than many airport codes. Sometimes, one must get used to a few discrepancies between airport and train station (Pittsburgh's PIT vs. PGH) but still the letters do imply the destination. I've lived in the Baltimore-Washington area all my life, and still have to look up which airport is Dulles and which is Reagan National (DCA vs. IAD) - thankfully, I've never had to fly from either.

 

[the_traveler]

That said, Amtrak's codes seem far more logical than many airport codes. Sometimes, one must get used to a few discrepancies between airport and train station (Pittsburgh's PIT vs. PGH) but still the letters do imply the destination.

What gets confusing sometimes is when the Amtrak station and airport have the same codes! :blink:

In July, I went from PVD to PDX. In a few weeks, I'm going from PDX to (almost) PVD. I flew westbound and am taking Amtrak eastbound. PVD is the code for both the airport and train station in Providence, and PDX is the code for both the airport and train station in Portland. (And to make it more confusing, the major hospital in Portland is named Providence! :blink: )

 

[Trogdor]

What gets confusing sometimes is when the Amtrak station and airport have the same codes! :blink:

How about Milwaukee, which has MKE for both the airport and the (downtown) train station. Then Amtrak adds a stop at the airport, and has to call it MKA.

 

[RailFanLNK]

I like my hometowns' LNK for Lincoln. Get LNKed!

 

[JSmith]

At least it makes more sense than YYZ.

Yeah, that makes even less sense, even with the explanation for the first Y. (Vancouver airport is YVR, which makes reasonable sense.) I guess they just name things kind of randomly in Toronto!

 

[jackal]

I've lived in the Baltimore-Washington area all my life, and still have to look up which airport is Dulles and which is Reagan National (DCA vs. IAD) - thankfully, I've never had to fly from either.

They're second-nature to me now, but I used to think of them as "DC-Arlington" (for DCA, since it's in Arlington County, or also -Alexandria for being near Alexandria) and "International Airport Dulles" (for IAD).

That said, Amtrak's codes seem far more logical than many airport codes. Sometimes, one must get used to a few discrepancies between airport and train station (Pittsburgh's PIT vs. PGH) but still the letters do imply the destination.

What gets confusing sometimes is when the Amtrak station and airport have the same codes! :blink:

In July, I went from PVD to PDX. In a few weeks, I'm going from PDX to (almost) PVD. I flew westbound and am taking Amtrak eastbound. PVD is the code for both the airport and train station in Providence, and PDX is the code for both the airport and train station in Portland. (And to make it more confusing, the major hospital in Portland is named Providence! :blink: )

I met a Sister of Providence once! She was up from Portland to visit our local Providence hospital, also part of the same organization. She was very nice, and I was very blessed to have encountered her!

 

[NS VIA FAN]

At least it makes more sense than YYZ.

Yeah, that makes even less sense, even with the explanation for the first Y. (Vancouver airport is YVR, which makes reasonable sense.) I guess they just name things kind of randomly in Toronto!

All Canadian airport codes begin with “Y” (actually “CY”) A few begin with “Z” (Zed) and most do not have any resemblance to the city name: Montreal is YUL, Halifax is YHZ, Moncton is YQM and Charlottetown is YYG. But a few do: YOW is Ottawa and YHM is Hamilton.