Historical Discussion: Cities with two or more Amtrak stations

[railiner]

Off the rails! Don't forget Miami! It has the old station just short of the airport, and the main station at MIA International Airport, a part of the intermodel system at the airport... which is not in use. Was scheduled to go into use in 2017. Amtrak refused to sign the contract with Florida Department of Transportation after millions were spent to built it!

https://wsvn.com/news/special-repor...t-near-mia-with-taxpayer-dollars-goes-unused/

"If you build it they will come", eh?
Maybe not...it sounds like Amtrak may not have ever agreed to move into the new facility when it was planned...the Florida DOT is not forthcoming about that fact when asked by the reporter...

 

[railiner]

Not yet mentioned is Lynchburg, VA, where the Crescent and Hilltopper/Mountaineer used different stations. (They WERE both Amtrak trains, for a little sliver of time in 1978-79.) Does Salt Lake City count, when the Rio Grande Zephyr was still a separate entity? (If it does, perhaps early-70s Atlanta counts, when Southern and the Georgia Railroad used separate stations.)

Prior to Amtrak, there were a whole lot more places that had two or more stations. If you're only adding stations that existed for non-Amtrak trains, during the Amtrak era, you can also add Chicago's La Salle Street Station for the Rock Island trains to Peoria and Rock Island...not counting the commuter electric trains for the IC and South Shore, or the remnant of Dearborn for the N&W Orland Park local....

Then there was Cleveland, where Amtrak moved out to the lake shore, but the remaining Conrail local to Youngstown, really a commuter train, still ran from the Cleveland Union Terminal. Other places with separate commuter stations included Baltimore, Amtrak at Penn, and B&O at Camden; Pittsburgh, Amtrak at Penn, B&O at Grant Street, and P&LE at Smithfield Street. Maybe include Trenton, Amtrak at Penn, and Reading at West Trenton...
You might stretch the comparison to show Amtrak's thruway buses in San Francisco's Transbay Terminal, while SP commuter trains used Fourth and Townsend.

 

[NS VIA Fan]

Then there was Montreal’s Windsor Station hosting the Adirondack, while the Montrealer went to Central Station.

When the Adirondack used Windsor Station in Montreal it also stopped in Westmount (2 miles west) and Montreal West (5 miles) . Here's the Adirondack at Westmount in January 1979.

And an FYI.....your soon to be Vice President, Kamala Harris is a graduate of Westmount High.

 

[jiml]

When the Adirondack used Windsor Station in Montreal it also stopped in Westmount (2 miles west) and Montreal West (5 miles) . Here's the Adirondack at Westmount in January 1979.

And an FYI.....your soon to be Vice President, Kamala Harris is a graduate of Westmount High.

View attachment 20243

Loved those huge windows. Those trains were perfect for the Adirondack scenery and Hudson River views further south.

 

[Seaboard92]

Amtrak era
-Petersburg, VA comes to mind in the early Amtrak period before the cutoff to the SAL at Collier, VA opened.
-Galesburg, IL for trains on the former Burlington Route (current station), and the Santa Fe (now rerouted).
-Montreal, QC some used Gare Windsor others used Gare Centrale
-Chicago, IL in early Amtrak days everything used it's standard terminal.
-Boston, MA with South and North Station

And that is all I can think of. Now if we're talking VIA then with the directional running of the Canadian there are at least six or seven stations like that.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I could be mistaken, but didn't Seattle have a brief period in the early days when King Street and Union Station both still had Trains arriving/departing.

And Ft Worth still had Trains using the T& P Station ( now the TRE Terminal)and the old Santa Fe Station next door to the current Intermodel Station. ( now an Entertainment Venue)

San Diego still has the Old Town stop and the ex Santa Fe Station downtown.

And while they're not all in the LA City Limits, I'd say that Union Station, Anaheim,Fullerton, the Burbank Airport Stop ,Van Nuys, and Simi Valley could be considered LA Stations.

 

[20th Century Rider]

I could be mistaken, but didn't Seattle have a brief period in the early days when King Street and Union Station both still had Trains arriving/departing.

And Ft Worth still had Trains using the T& P Station ( now the TRE Terminal)and the old Santa Fe Station next door to the current Intermodel Station. ( now an Entertainment Venue)

San Diego still has the Old Town stop and the ex Santa Fe Station downtown.

And while they're not all in the LA City Limits, I'd say that Union Station, Anaheim,Fullerton, the Burbank Airport Stop ,Van Nuys, and Simi Valley could be considered LA Stations.

Many large sprawling cities have second stops within the urban area... such as STL trains stopping in Kirkwood and Alton; CHI trains stopping in Naperville, Hammond, Joliet, etc etc. Amtrak station coverage is indeed extensive. Also do consider interline ticketing agreements with local trains... some run by Amtrak.

 

[Chatter163]

Off the rails! Don't forget Miami! It has the old station just short of the airport, and the main station at MIA International Airport, a part of the intermodel system at the airport... which is not in use. [/URL]

By "the old station just short of the airport," you mean the current Amtrak station in use since the 1970s, correct?

 

[Devil's Advocate]

(now incorporated into Minute Maid Park)

I wonder how many realize it was a functioning train station before being converted into a tomb themed entrance.

Operations were consolidated in the through station; as a Houstonian I could wish that they had consolidated into Union Station instead! [...] Somewhere in there is probably the core reason why the small-town bus terminal (okay, that's my opinion of it) was kept.

Like many decisions of the era it was probably driven by short term thinking. Although perhaps understandable it has also left Houston with one of the most depressing stations in Texas. In some ways we're lucky compared to y'all but I'd still love to have a second (preferably suburban) station considering the current location is a clumsy adjunct building behind the main station with no connecting transportation or parking for Amtrak customers. Incidentally the old International & Great Northern station still stands but most of the yard and house tracks were ripped up long ago. Not impossible to imagine passenger rail service may return some day but we're still several steps away from that with a hostile Chamber of Commerce that seems oddly determined to prevent most passenger rail initiatives from succeeding.

 

[20th Century Rider]

By "the old station just short of the airport," you mean the current Amtrak station in use since the 1970s, correct?

Yup... the one in Hialeah that is a 22 minute drive from the Airport... still in use... while the one at the MIA intermodal center at the airport is not.

 

[20th Century Rider]

I wonder how many realize it was a functioning train station before being converted into tomb themed entrance.


Like many decisions of the era it was probably driven by short term thinking. Although perhaps understandable it has left Houston with one of the most depressing stations in Texas. In some ways we're lucky compared to y'all but I'd still love to have a second (preferably suburban) station considering the current location is a clumsy adjunct building behind the main station with no connecting public transportation or parking for Amtrak customers. Incidentally the old International & Great Northern station still stands but most of the yard and house tracks were ripped up long ago. Not impossible to imagine passenger rail service may return some day but we're still several steps away from that with a hostile Chamber of Commerce determined to prevent most passenger rail initiatives from succeeding.

View attachment 20247

Like you and so many others would like to see the grand old RR stations of the past come back to life. The recently renovated NYC station is a good start!

 

[Palmetto]

Just for clarity: Miami has two stations: MiamiCentral downtown which is used by Brightline [and TriRail in the future], and the Miami Airport station. The current Amtrak station in not in Miami; it's in Hialeah, which therefore also has two stations: Amtrak's and TriRail's.

 

[Palmetto]

"If you build it they will come", eh?
Maybe not...it sounds like Amtrak may not have ever agreed to move into the new facility when it was planned...the Florida DOT is not forthcoming about that fact when asked by the reporter...

IIRC, Amtrak stated that FDOT did not consult them about the length of its trains. If not, that explains a lot.

 

[brianpmcdonnell17]

Just for clarity: Miami has two stations: MiamiCentral downtown which is used by Brightline [and TriRail in the future], and the Miami Airport station. The current Amtrak station in not in Miami; it's in Hialeah, which therefore also has two stations: Amtrak's and TriRail's.

Actually, the current Amtrak station is not in Hialeah. It is in the census designated place of West Little River.

The Miami Airport station is not in Miami either; it is in an unincorporated area.

 

[Palmetto]

Actually, the current Amtrak station is not in Hialeah. It is in the census designated place of West Little River.

The Miami Airport station is not in Miami either; it is in an unincorporated area.

Interesting. I also live in a CDP, but all services are rendered by Miami, and the nearest post office has a Miami listing. So for all intents and purposes, it's Miami. New York City's boroughs are similar; when I lived in the Bronx, the area was Eastchester, but the address was the Bronx.

The address given for the Amtrak station in Hialeah is 115 E 21st St., Hialeah. It's curious that a location would be listed as being in two separate cities. I've never heard of West Little River until you mentioned it, and it's never in the news. Hialeah is a different story in that regard.

 

[railiner]

Official US Postal Service addresses do not always coincide with actual municipal, or corporate limits...this disparity used to cause people to have trouble finding my former home in Okeechobee, depending on how the address was entered, and in which GPS map app they employed.....

 

[railiner]

-Chicago, IL in early Amtrak days everything used it's standard terminal.

Not quite everything...The only ones still in use for Amtrak trains when Amtrak began were Union Station and Central Station. The Super Chief and Texas Chief moved out of Dearborn immediately. The former New York Central trains (Detroit), that had been using La Salle Street moved over to Union Station.

 

[railiner]

Loved those huge windows. Those trains were perfect for the Adirondack scenery and Hudson River views further south.

I liked it even better when these were pulled behind the engine....

https://www.american-rails.com/images/DH17SBADRINEARAMT.jpg

 

[jiml]

I liked it even better when these were pulled behind the engine....

https://www.american-rails.com/images/DH17SBADRINEARAMT.jpg

My absolute favorite locomotive of all time too!

 

[railiner]

My absolute favorite locomotive of all time too!

I was referring to the dome cars behind the "PA"...but yes, the ALCO's were neat. I did however, prefer the GM 'E's...to my eye, their car bodies were just more aesthetically styled...and I loved the chant of the 2 stroke EMD diesels over the 4 stroke ALCO's...

 

[PaTrainFan]

I was referring to the dome cars behind the "PA"...but yes, the ALCO's were neat. I did however, prefer the GM 'E's...to my eye, their car bodies were just more aesthetically styled...and I loved the chant of the 2 stroke EMD diesels over the 4 stroke ALCO's...

Not to get off topic (Hope I don't get into trouble!) but the old PRR E units in Tuscan red couldn't be beat, before or after. ;-)

 

[jiml]

I was referring to the dome cars behind the "PA"...but yes, the ALCO's were neat. I did however, prefer the GM 'E's...to my eye, their car bodies were just more aesthetically styled...and I loved the chant of the 2 stroke EMD diesels over the 4 stroke ALCO's...

I knew what you meant, but couldn't get past the great shot of the PA leading out of Montreal. The problem is that when I was a kid (and maybe a young adult) we had no E-units to look at. (CP had a couple, but I never saw one up close.) I grew up with the marvellous sound of FPA's/FA's and thought they were the greatest thing ever until I saw the D&H PA-1 in the flesh. It was like an FPA-4 on steroids! And the sound it made accelerating...

I'm also very partial to Amtrak P30CH's. Same type of eccentric, noisy, smoke-billowing monsters.

 

[NES28]

Should Amtrak move to Brightline's Miami Central Station, instead of the Airport? I believe that all of the necessary track connections have been constructed.

 

[jis]

Should Amtrak move to Brightline's Miami Central Station, instead of the Airport? I believe that all of the necessary track connections have been constructed.

Brightline might have a few things to say about that. Why do people think that Brightline is dying to have anything to do with Amtrak?

 

[NS VIA Fan]

I was referring to the dome cars behind the "PA".........

Wonder if that's the Dome the D&H altered the paint scheme on? They repainted the red stripe to yellow to more closely match the blue & yellow D&H scheme. When an Amtrak official spotted the Dome in Albany.......Colonie quickly repainted it back to red!