Name That Station!

[Shanghai]

It has been a few days since we have had any action here, so I will post this

picture until amtkstn returns.

Who can name this active Amtrak station?

 

[Notelvis]

me - me!

Bellingham, WA.

 

[Shanghai]

me - me!

Bellingham, WA.

Yes - Yes. It is Bellingham, WA.

Your turn to post a photo.

 

[Notelvis]

With deep appreciation for MrFSS who just recently scanned some old color slides for me, I would like to ratchet up the difficulty level a few notches.

This is an inactive Amtrak station. It was served..... usually during the night but not always..... by a long-distance train which was outright discontinued (as opposed to being rerouted).

 

[LWBaxter]

A pure shot in the dark:

Valley City, ND

LWBaxter

 

[Notelvis]

No - not Valley City.......... though I like the spirit of that guess.

I will say that this station was served from the day Amtrak began so that means those stations along the route of the North Coast Hiawatha may be discounted.

 

[Shanghai]

Frisco, TX

 

[FriskyFL]

Frisco, TX

Frisco (named for the St Louis-San Francisco Railroad (the Frisco Line) has never had Amtrak service.

BTW, Frisco is now the home of the Railroad Museum that used to be located in Dallas Fair Park. (See http://www.museumoftheamericanrailroad.org/Home.aspx).

(We lived in Frisco from 1994 - 2004)

 

[Notelvis]

But a boxcar can go anywhere!!!!!

Not any station in Texas.

So here's what we know at this point -

1) This station was part of the Amtrak network on May 1, 1971 but is not now.

2) The train which served this station had it's schedule 'flipped' at least a couple of times so that stations en route that were served in darkness only did have some opportunity for day service.

3) This station lost service when it's train was discontinued..... not just rerouted.

4) This station was not served by the North Coast Hiawatha nor was it located in Texas.

 

[Ashland Train Enthusiast]

But a boxcar can go anywhere!!!!!

Not any station in Texas.

So here's what we know at this point -

1) This station was part of the Amtrak network on May 1, 1971 but is not now.

2) The train which served this station had it's schedule 'flipped' at least a couple of times so that stations en route that were served in darkness only did have some opportunity for day service.

3) This station lost service when it's train was discontinued..... not just rerouted.

4) This station was not served by the North Coast Hiawatha nor was it located in Texas.

This is a tough one... I like it!

The part that's the most difficult is that it's an Amshack, so chances are this isn't the original station that was served on A day, right?

Given all this, I'm going to venture a guess at Fort Wayne, IN

~ DCTE

 

[Notelvis]

Good guess but not Ft. Wayne, IN.

This is picture I took myself as a teen-ager in the mid-1970's after I conned my dad into getting off the interstate on a family trip so that I could take a picture of an Amtrak station. That's my dad's 1976 green Buick Regal in the photo - notice that the brake lights are lit and the car is still running. As soon as I get my picture it's back in the car and back on the highway because that's how we rolled in the 1970's, right?

I'll add that this is not an Amshack per se - it's more a case of the host railroad putting in a new office building out by the railroad yard and providing Amtrak with a small waiting room in one end of the building. The closest comparison that I can think of would be the yard office/passenger station by Pomona Yard in Greensboro, NC which is no longer being used for passengers with the renovation of the old Southern station downtown. The building in my photo was larger and a little nicer than that SR building in Greensboro.

Out of curiousity this morning I located this building still standing in a Google Earth image taken just a few months ago. I'm not sure if this building was in place on May 1, 1971 or not BUT it was not built specifically for Amtrak. It was built with the immediate (and probably long-term) needs of the host freight railroad in mind...... perhaps even with the notion that Amtrak might not still be around by the time the host railroad needed that additional space on the end of the building.

 

[LWBaxter]

Parkersburg, WV on the route of Harley's Hornet (Shenandoah) The train where Amtrak tested the economy bedroom design with two, or was it four? rooms in an amfleet car.

LWB

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Parkersburg, WV on the route of Harley's Hornet (Shenandoah) The train where Amtrak tested the economy bedroom design with two, or was it four? rooms in an amfleet car.

LWB

I don't think so. I think it was on the route of the Lone Star and the highway Notelvis was on must be ID-35.

 

[Notelvis]

The Shenandoah route and Parkersburg, WV are incorrect....... though a good guess as the Shenandoah did flip from a day train to a night train during it's lifespan...... and I once rode coach in it's roomettes in the rear equipped coach.

Swadian - if I were guessing I would also be giving lots of thought to the route of the Lone Star....... this station just has that vibe about it. I can tell you, however, that we were not making our family trip along I-35. I will also tell you that you're barking up the wrong tree with the Lone Star.

So NOW we know that -

1) This station was part of the Amtrak network on May 1, 1971 but is not now.

2) The train which served this station had it's schedule 'flipped' at least a couple of times so that stations en route that were served in darkness only did have some opportunity for day service.

3) This station lost service when it's train was discontinued..... not just rerouted.

4) This station was not served by the North Coast Hiawatha nor was it located in Texas.

5) This station was not served by the Shenandoah or the Lone Star.

6) This station was not located in any community served by I-35.

 

[kal-tex]

Tallahassee, Florida?

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I have no clue as to the station, but from your first post I've been thinking it's on the Sunset East route.

 

[LWBaxter]

The Hilltopper, Desert Wind, North Coast Hiawatha, Shenandoah are all eliminated because they were added after Amtrak day. I believe we have narrowed the train down to the Floridian, which did flip back and forth from a two days one night schedule to a two nights one day schedlule. The station must be south of Indiana as the train was rerouted several times across that state.

Anouther stab in the dark: Valdosta, GA which is on an interstate.

LWB

 

[Notelvis]

The Sunset East route is geographically close but was not part of the original Amtrak network May 1, 1971.

That said - I must congratulate Mr. (or Mrs) LWBaxter for remarkable deduction backed by a solid knowledge of routes Amtrak has operated over the past 40 years. Well played!!!!!!!!

This station is indeed Valdosta, GA and with it being located adjacent to the SCL freight yard on the edge of town, we were able to reach it from I-75 without having to drive all the way into town. I've still never really 'seen' Valdosta as my only other visit there was riding through in the middle of the night aboard the 'Floridian' shortly before it was discontinued in 1979.

I did have one other hint for this station and it was so good I'd like to share it anyway - that hint was "For a time during the 1970's Amtrak was not the only agency operating regularly scheduled passenger trains past this building." That other agency, of course, was the original 'Auto-Train' which passed through Valdosta with it's short-lived Louisville service.

OK - LWBaxter, it's your turn to post a station photograph!

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Wow, how did a Frisco car end up in Georgia?

 

[LWBaxter]

I suspect the only puzzle is the one in the picture. A not so useful hint: my father referred to the headhouse as the world's second ugliest building. Don't bother with an internet search as the worlds architects have been busy. LWB

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

St. Louis, Missouri.

 

[LWBaxter]

Swadian is correct. The National Limited is backing into St. Louis.

My father's description may be based on WWII era biases.

If Swadian doesn't have a photo available perhaps Amtrkstn has one ready.

LWB

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

I have pictures on film, but I don't know how to upload them, so I must pass.

 

[LWBaxter]

While we wait an extra credit non-AMTK depot that saw 14 trains a day in 1973.

 

[Notelvis]

14 trains every day or just weekdays?