Name That Station!

[jebr]

None of the above. However, one of you is on the right route.

 

[amtkstn]

Princeton IL?

 

[jebr]

Incorrect. Here's another photo of the same station.

 

[Notelvis]

I think I've got this one -

Staples, MN?

I'll explain my reasoning (which has to do with the second photo) if I'm right.

 

[jebr]

You are correct! Staples, MN it is! Now I want to hear how you figured it out.

 

[Notelvis]

It was the Northern Pacific logo visible on the sign in the second photo....... and the Empire Builder route timetables on the table.

The present-day Empire Builder operates on former NP tracks between St. Paul and Fargo instead of the original GN route through Wilmar. If the Empire Builder, a former GN train, is going to be stopping at a former NP station, it's most likely going to be St. Cloud or Staples......... and I thought that you would likely go with the more challenging one - Staples.

I'll post another station photo in just a few minutes...... gotta find one I want first.

 

[Notelvis]

Getting just a little tricky - THIS is an inactive Amtrak station. Does anyone recognize it?

 

[dnsommer2013]

I zoomed in on the things on the table in the second Staples, MN photo, but the details were too blurry! You could make out the timetable words? Wonder if my screen is deficient!

 

[Notelvis]

I zoomed in on the things on the table in the second Staples, MN photo, but the details were too blurry! You could make out the timetable words? Wonder if my screen is deficient!

I could tell that the train name was two words......... the main clue was the Northern Pacific logo on the sign about Amtrak passholders calling for reservations.

 

[dnsommer2013]

A very keen observation, Mr. Holmes! (As in Sherlock Holmes!)

 

[jebr]

It was the Northern Pacific logo visible on the sign in the second photo....... and the Empire Builder route timetables on the table.

The present-day Empire Builder operates on former NP tracks between St. Paul and Fargo instead of the original GN route through Wilmar. If the Empire Builder, a former GN train, is going to be stopping at a former NP station, it's most likely going to be St. Cloud or Staples......... and I thought that you would likely go with the more challenging one - Staples.

I'll post another station photo in just a few minutes...... gotta find one I want first.

Very well done. Isn't Detroit Lakes also a NP station, though? (Though that station's waiting area is nowhere near as nice as Staples. The sink wasn't even working there. Oy...) I also chose Staples because I had visited it last month and wanted to show it off. (I had also done St. Cloud earlier.) I do like the Staples station quite a bit.

Anywho, I'm guessing Laramie, WY on the old Pioneer route.

 

[railiner]

Getting just a little tricky - THIS is an inactive Amtrak station. Does anyone recognize it?

Could that be Laramie? If correct, someone please post the next one...thanks...

 

[Notelvis]

jebr is first with the correct answer.

This is Laramie, WY which was served by the old San Francisco Zephyr first and then the rerouted Pioneer later.

I took this photo during an impromptu 'fresh-air' stop by an eastbound California Zephyr on the Wyoming detour in about 2004. It was a pre-scheduled detour due to trackwork in Colorado and I had intentionally planned the trip to coincide with the detour having not ridden through Wyoming before that.

 

[dnsommer2013]

That was a good one! Thanks! I was stumped!

 

[jebr]

I'm pulling a Ryan and going to the sky for this next station.

 

[railiner]

jebr is first with the correct answer.

.

Sorry....I didn't see that at the bottom of jebr's reply when I first read it..... :blush:

 

[dnsommer2013]

Rantoul?

 

[trainman74]

Looks like too much of a desert to be Rantoul (or anywhere in the Midwest) -- my guess is Victorville, California.

 

[jebr]

Looks like too much of a desert to be Rantoul (or anywhere in the Midwest) -- my guess is Victorville, California.

Closer, but not correct. Same time zone, though.

 

[JayPea]

Winnemucca?

 

[jebr]

Winnemucca?

Close! But not quite...

 

[JayPea]

How about Elko then?

 

[jebr]

Correct! You're up.

 

[JayPea]

Try this one from the bottom of the deck:

I will tell you this is an active station with two trains a day, both at night, and I when I took this photo our train was over 3 hours late into this station.

 

[JayPea]

I should say two trains a day scheduled for this station during the night.