Name That Station!

[jebr]

Kewanee, IL

 

[Notelvis]

Kewanee, IL is correct. Here's another photo of a building which I can't help but liking....... but it looks out of place in Western Illinois.

It's your turn Mr. jebr!

 

[jebr]

Here should be an easy one.

 

[Bob Dylan]

IINM it's Denver! Since I can't Post Pics it's Open to anyone that has one if I'm Correct!

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

That could be DEN but what are those J4500s doing?

 

[jebr]

It is Denver! This was taken at the end of June during the wildfires in western Colorado. Amtrak had an unscheduled detour between DEN and SLC, and thus had to bustitute people between Denver and Glenwood Springs (Grand Junction west had to be routed to SLC and then come back from there.)

 

[CHamilton]

Okay, I'll jump in for Jim.

 

[LWBaxter]

Kelso, WA?

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

It is Denver! This was taken at the end of June during the wildfires in western Colorado. Amtrak had an unscheduled detour between DEN and SLC, and thus had to bustitute people between Denver and Glenwood Springs (Grand Junction west had to be routed to SLC and then come back from there.)

OK, thanks for explainiing the Js.

 

[CHamilton]

Kelso, WA?

Sorry, not Kelso.

 

[railiner]

Salisbury, NC is correct........ also the destination of Southern Railway train #4 shown at Asheville, NC in my avatar picture.

Your serve Shanghai -

Could you tell me more about that train? I dont know anything about it.

Sure. At the risk of getting carried away, here goes - Southern Railway trains #3 and #4 were the early 1970's remnant of Southern's 'Asheville Special' trains #15 and #16. In the picture here train #4 is approaching the Asheville passenger station from the yard. It's probably right about 9:00am as the train is scheduled to depart at 9:15am and is carded for 4 hours to make the 139 mile run to Salisbury.

The 'Asheville Special' ran from Greensboro to Asheville via Winston-Salem and Barber Junction carrying a through sleeper to/from New York. The New York sleeper was handled by the 'Crescent' northbound and by a secondary train called the 'Peach Queen' southbound.

In that dismal period from the mid-1960's up until Amtrak day Southern was ruthless in their efforts to eliminate as many passenger trains as they could and to minimize operating costs as much as possible with those that remained.

By late 1969 the Asheville train had it's eastern terminus shifted from Greensboro to Salisbury which shortened the length of it's trip by about 45-50 miles in each direction. It also lost the New York sleeper. Also during this period Southern 'simplified' the numbers assigned to it's handful of remaining passenger trains. The 'Crescent' and the 'Southerner' formerly trains 37/38 and 47/48 became the 'Southern Crescent' #1 and #2. The Asheville train became #3 and #4..... numbers which became available when the last remnant of the 'Royal Palm', a Cincinnati-Somerset, KY stub was discontinued. The secondary Washington-Atlanta train was named the 'Piedmont' in both directions becoming #5 and #6. The final passenger train which Southern operated into the Amtrak era was a single coach Washington-Lynchburg remnant of the 'Birmingham Special'. This train became #7 and #8.

Of course all of these except for the 'Crescent' were discontinued one-by-one in 1975 and 1976.

So....trains #3 and #4 operated tri-weekly (Sun, Tue, Fri) connecting for points north with #5 and #6 at Salisbury. By Amtrak day #5 and #6 were also on a day schedule so a sleeper wasn't really neccessary. Typical consist was a single FP-7 (usually either #6133, #6141, or #6147), a combine baggage/coach, a coach, and a dome coach which Southern acquired thirdhand from the N&W..... it was originally owned by the Wabash. Always thrifty with their resources, Southern would sometimes use those FP-7's for power on a local freight from Asheville to the Champion Papers mill in nearby Canton, NC on the days the passenger train was not running. I can recall seeing them switching the yard in Canton in early 1975 long after the freight service F-7's were gone.

In June 1975 the 'Piedmont' was discontinued south of Charlotte and rescheduled to break the connection with #3 and #4 in Salisbury. Ridership fell on the Asheville train to the point that it normally operated with just the combine and the dome after that. Of course #3 and #4 were already up for discontinuance by this time and they made their final runs on August 9, 1975.

I'll add that I am partial to trains #3 and #4. They were the first 'real' passenger train I ever rode. They are where I first had the chance to ride in a dome coach. Essentially, I am not old enough to have experienced the last years of privately operated passenger trains in the late 1960's BUT because Southern initially did not join Amtrak, I was able to ride their trains 3/4, 5/6, and 1/2 in the 1970's. This gives me a point of reference when talking to rail enthusiasts a little older than I am who did have the chance to ride pre-Amtrak passenger trains.

And as a final note - a reporter for the Asheville newspaper covering the discontinuance of trains #3 and #4 wrote a story of riding the last #4 from Asheville 30 miles to Old Fort, NC. Most of the assembled media got off the train there causing a local bystander to ask "What's going on? Is the Governor on that train?" The reporter claims to have answered "A passenger train just stopped in Old Fort. From now on that's going to be bigger news than the Governor."

Salisbury, NC is correct........ also the destination of Southern Railway train #4 shown at Asheville, NC in my avatar picture.

Your serve Shanghai -

Could you tell me more about that train? I dont know anything about it.

Sure. At the risk of getting carried away, here goes - Southern Railway trains #3 and #4 were the early 1970's remnant of Southern's 'Asheville Special' trains #15 and #16. In the picture here train #4 is approaching the Asheville passenger station from the yard. It's probably right about 9:00am as the train is scheduled to depart at 9:15am and is carded for 4 hours to make the 139 mile run to Salisbury.

The 'Asheville Special' ran from Greensboro to Asheville via Winston-Salem and Barber Junction carrying a through sleeper to/from New York. The New York sleeper was handled by the 'Crescent' northbound and by a secondary train called the 'Peach Queen' southbound.

In that dismal period from the mid-1960's up until Amtrak day Southern was ruthless in their efforts to eliminate as many passenger trains as they could and to minimize operating costs as much as possible with those that remained.

By late 1969 the Asheville train had it's eastern terminus shifted from Greensboro to Salisbury which shortened the length of it's trip by about 45-50 miles in each direction. It also lost the New York sleeper. Also during this period Southern 'simplified' the numbers assigned to it's handful of remaining passenger trains. The 'Crescent' and the 'Southerner' formerly trains 37/38 and 47/48 became the 'Southern Crescent' #1 and #2. The Asheville train became #3 and #4..... numbers which became available when the last remnant of the 'Royal Palm', a Cincinnati-Somerset, KY stub was discontinued. The secondary Washington-Atlanta train was named the 'Piedmont' in both directions becoming #5 and #6. The final passenger train which Southern operated into the Amtrak era was a single coach Washington-Lynchburg remnant of the 'Birmingham Special'. This train became #7 and #8.

Of course all of these except for the 'Crescent' were discontinued one-by-one in 1975 and 1976.

So....trains #3 and #4 operated tri-weekly (Sun, Tue, Fri) connecting for points north with #5 and #6 at Salisbury. By Amtrak day #5 and #6 were also on a day schedule so a sleeper wasn't really neccessary. Typical consist was a single FP-7 (usually either #6133, #6141, or #6147), a combine baggage/coach, a coach, and a dome coach which Southern acquired thirdhand from the N&W..... it was originally owned by the Wabash. Always thrifty with their resources, Southern would sometimes use those FP-7's for power on a local freight from Asheville to the Champion Papers mill in nearby Canton, NC on the days the passenger train was not running. I can recall seeing them switching the yard in Canton in early 1975 long after the freight service F-7's were gone.

In June 1975 the 'Piedmont' was discontinued south of Charlotte and rescheduled to break the connection with #3 and #4 in Salisbury. Ridership fell on the Asheville train to the point that it normally operated with just the combine and the dome after that. Of course #3 and #4 were already up for discontinuance by this time and they made their final runs on August 9, 1975.

I'll add that I am partial to trains #3 and #4. They were the first 'real' passenger train I ever rode. They are where I first had the chance to ride in a dome coach. Essentially, I am not old enough to have experienced the last years of privately operated passenger trains in the late 1960's BUT because Southern initially did not join Amtrak, I was able to ride their trains 3/4, 5/6, and 1/2 in the 1970's. This gives me a point of reference when talking to rail enthusiasts a little older than I am who did have the chance to ride pre-Amtrak passenger trains.

And as a final note - a reporter for the Asheville newspaper covering the discontinuance of trains #3 and #4 wrote a story of riding the last #4 from Asheville 30 miles to Old Fort, NC. Most of the assembled media got off the train there causing a local bystander to ask "What's going on? Is the Governor on that train?" The reporter claims to have answered "A passenger train just stopped in Old Fort. From now on that's going to be bigger news than the Governor."

Interesting history.....IIRC, SR briefly ran a "Skyland Special" excursion train (steam powered?), with the dome car somewhere in there....do you remember the details on it?

 

[Notelvis]

The 'Skyland Special' you're thinking of was a selected weekends only 60 mile RT excursion from Asheville down the famous loops to Old Fort which Southern ran in 1975, 1976, and into 1977 I believe. It ran with a pair of FP7's, six or eight coaches including the dome, and a covered but otherwise open gondola car. Offering this train was the bone Southern tossed to the NC Regulatory Agency in order to secure permission to discontinue the regular Asheville-Salisbury train.

On my laptop at home I have a few photos from one of these trips. If I have a chance tonight I'll come back and post one of those.

There was also a pretty nifty brochure for the train printed on the same card stock as Southern's passenger timetables from the 1970's. It featured a nice sketch of FP7 #6141 hauling that dome coach behind it. It kept referring to the dome as the 'bubble car'...... ugghh.

Now the serious Southern afficiandos remember the 'Skyland Special' as an overnight Asheville-Miami train which operated down Saluda Mountain and through Columbia, SC. It had a Charlotte section until the early 1950's and was ultimately discontinued in the late 1950's. If this train existed today it would sure make trips to visit my mother-in-law in the Orlando area more tolerable! Leave Asheville around supper time, eat supper, sleep, wake-up, have breakfast, and step down from the train in Winter Park, FL....... sounds much better than more of I-95 to me!

 

[Ryan]

Okay, I'll jump in for Jim.

That looks really, really familiar, but I can't place it. Definitely looks like the picture was taken from Superliner height.

 

[CHamilton]

That looks really, really familiar, but I can't place it. Definitely looks like the picture was taken from Superliner height.

Yes, Ryan, that is correct

 

[cirdan]

Okay, I'll jump in for Jim.

That looks really, really familiar, but I can't place it. Definitely looks like the picture was taken from Superliner height.

Princeton IL?

 

[Notelvis]

How about Streator, IL?

 

[CHamilton]

How about Streator, IL?

Sorry, not Streator. Here's a hint: A landmark for this stop is not on the station, but on a building nearby.

 

[Notelvis]

An absolute stab in the dark here - Garden City, KS with the landmark being the grain elevator across the tracks?

 

[CHamilton]

An absolute stab in the dark here - Garden City, KS with the landmark being the grain elevator across the tracks?

Good guess, but not Garden City. Hint 2: The town's one train is scheduled for daylight in one direction and in the evening the other way, although the schedule has been pretty badly disrupted in recent months.

 

[Notelvis]

OK - sounds like a station on the route of the Empire Builder. The landmark hint doesn't help but the timetable clue is making me think Rugby, ND.

 

[CHamilton]

OK - sounds like a station on the route of the Empire Builder. The landmark hint doesn't help but the timetable clue is making me think Rugby, ND.

Correct! Here's the landmark I was thinking of -- unfortunately, the pic is not mine.

 

[Notelvis]

Love the landmark -

Here's my contribution - should be easy. This building still exists but is no longer the passenger station for this city -

 

[Shanghai]

Kansas City, MO

 

[Ryan]

I *knew* that station looked familiar!!!

 

[Bob Dylan]

**** (Shanghai) is Correct, that's KC for sure! The Master does it again!