Boarding Procedure at Anniston

[Dovecote]

I have friends in a few weeks boarding in Anniston on a southbound trip. If someone could explain the boarding procedure at this station it would be appreciated. Specifically, is it double tracked at this stop? Is the station on the north or southbound side? Do sleeper and coach passengers board at the same trackside location? If not, at what location do sleeping car passengers board? Thanks for this input and any additional comments pertinent to the boarding in Anniston.

 

[George Harris]

Google Maps is your friend here. There is one single platform. It is on the nominal north side of the single main track, more aptly by the compass on the east side. The station faces 4th street. The railroad is more or less perpendicular to 4th street. In the street view it looks to be in very good condition with a fairly long concrete platform with shelter which has one end all but into the side of 4th Street. It all looks to restored to its condition when passenger service was taken very seriously by the Southern Railway.

I think you should be able to go to maps.google and get directions to it from where ever you are starting.

 

[Crescent ATN & TCL]

Sleepers will board next to the road crossing going south towards New Orleans. I will tell you this is the fastest station stop I have ever seen a train make. They are usually only there for 30 seconds. The city has an attendant on site for the city buses that also helps Amtrak customers.

 

[lepearso]

I've boarded at Anniston a few times. My advice is to be on the platform with your luggage in hand and ready to board at a moment's notice. The train rolls in at a good clip, stops quickly, boards quickly, then pulls out of town. The station underwent some cosmetic work a few years ago and looks better. Parking is limited...I heard someone say it's better to park at an area hotel and taxi over the station.

 

[Crescent ATN & TCL]

Back in the late 90s there was a conductor who used to throw the stool out with the train still moving and be on the ground before the train stopped. Then he would call highball and run down the platform throw the stool up in the door and jump on. It was a sight to see when he was working since he was no spring chicken and doing all those acrobatics at the station. He later retired and things returned to normal practice for stops in small stations like ATN.

 

[Dovecote]

Thanks for all of the responses. So if I summarize correctly, the train makes one quick stop with sleeping car passengers boarding at one location and coach passengers towards the opposite end of the consist. If someone could please confirm it would be appreciated.

 

[battalion51]

As best as I can tell that platform only appears to be about five cars long, so I'd be fairly surprised if they tried to pull that off in one stop. As long as they have a paid reservation they'll be fine since they'll be looking for them in specific. Keep your eyes peeled on the boards as to whether the trains are in "winter mode" with the sleepers on the rear or "summer mode" with the sleepers up front. As of right now the trains appear to still be in "winter mode," in which case if you don't see someone step down from the sleeper when the train stops you'd want to approach the Conductor and ask. If it's in "summer mode" you'd be on the first stop no matter what.

 

[MattW]

I believe the usual seating configuration for the Crescent south of Atlanta is for passengers to occupy the front-most coach and fill backwards as needed so they can close coaches not in use. In theory at least, the Crescent should be able to pull off Anniston in one stop as 5 cars would be coach-cafe-diner-sleeper-sleeper, or two coaches and one sleeper, or some other odd combination. There's no hard and fast rule either that says coach passengers can't walk through another coach to reach their assigned coach. It's probably dependent on the passenger loads, and the on-board crew that day how they do it.

 

[NW cannonball]

Thanks for all of the responses. So if I summarize correctly, the train makes one quick stop with sleeping car passengers boarding at one location and coach passengers towards the opposite end of the consist. If someone could please confirm it would be appreciated.

Board at the nearest open door. The conductor can figure out sleeper vs coach after you board. With these small-town quick-stops the main thing is to get aboard - not to worry which door.

Get aboard ASAP. You got your ticket -- just get on the train anyhow.

 

[Crescent ATN & TCL]

There is only one stop, I habe e never seen them double spot at Anniston. They only open the coach closest to the cafe and the sleeper closest to the diner. Now to know where the cars will stop you have to know what time of year it is. Which since sleepers have to be on the rear in the winter I wish they would leave them that way year round. It makes it much easier to be in the right spot at the right time.