What is all this?

[Everydaymatters]

Am I the only one who doesn't know the station codes? I think SAS is San Antonio, but I'm really not positive. And where is KIN? LAX- Los Angeles, PDX-Portland, OR, CHI Chicago - now I'm really on a roll!

Is there some place where all of these codes are located so that they can be printed and taped to my desk? I know the Amtrak site has alpha listings, but not all on one printable page.

Maybe a list of the trains codes would be helpful as well.

 

[cpamtfan]

Am I the only one who doesn't know the station codes? I think SAS is San Antonio, but I'm really not positive. And where is KIN? LAX- Los Angeles, PDX-Portland, OR, CHI Chicago - now I'm really on a roll!
Is there some place where all of these codes are located so that they can be printed and taped to my desk? I know the Amtrak site has alpha listings, but not all on one printable page.

Maybe a list of the trains codes would be helpful as well.

They have them in the system timetable. You can order one from Amtrak.com (no charge ), or you could go to a staffed station Amtrak station at (I guess CUS would be best for you) and get one there. KIN is Kingston, Rhode Island, home of traveler .

cpamtfan-Peter

 

[JayPea]

KIN is the jumping-off place of the Traveler's travels, Kingston, RI. The system timetable I know has them listed. 3/4 of the time I have no idea where I put my system timetable so I've begun writing those codes down I don't know when I run across them. Makes it easier than trying to unearth my timetable and easier than running down the list of them. I'm all for easy these days. :lol:

 

[sky12065]

Am I the only one who doesn't know the station codes? I think SAS is San Antonio, but I'm really not positive. And where is KIN? LAX- Los Angeles, PDX-Portland, OR, CHI Chicago - now I'm really on a roll!
Is there some place where all of these codes are located so that they can be printed and taped to my desk? I know the Amtrak site has alpha listings, but not all on one printable page.

Maybe a list of the trains codes would be helpful as well.

I'm not sure you would really want to tape them to your desk, but try here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Amtrak_station_codes

 

[jmbgeg]

Am I the only one who doesn't know the station codes? I think SAS is San Antonio, but I'm really not positive. And where is KIN? LAX- Los Angeles, PDX-Portland, OR, CHI Chicago - now I'm really on a roll!
Is there some place where all of these codes are located so that they can be printed and taped to my desk? I know the Amtrak site has alpha listings, but not all on one printable page.

Maybe a list of the trains codes would be helpful as well.

I suppose it would be entirely too pragmatic for them to put them on the route schedule link on the web site next to each stop:

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServe...2206&ssid=3

 

[JayPea]

Am I the only one who doesn't know the station codes? I think SAS is San Antonio, but I'm really not positive. And where is KIN? LAX- Los Angeles, PDX-Portland, OR, CHI Chicago - now I'm really on a roll!
Is there some place where all of these codes are located so that they can be printed and taped to my desk? I know the Amtrak site has alpha listings, but not all on one printable page.

Maybe a list of the trains codes would be helpful as well.

I'm not sure you would really want to tape them to your desk, but try here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Amtrak_station_codes

That would require a lot of tape! :blink: It also doesn't differentiate in most cases between Thruway bus stops and actual Amtrak stations, I notice.

 

[the_traveler]

I find the most convenient place to find the codes is right on the Amtrak main page. Click on "Station List", as if making a reservation. All the station codes (train and Thruway stops) are there - in alphabetical order!

And yes, SAS is San Antonio.

KIN is Kingston, Rhode Island, home of traveler

 

[Everydaymatters]

Thanks, all. Yes, it would be too long to tape to my desk.

I never before noticed the City Code column in the System Timetable!

 

[user 1215]

Now, some of the abbreviations used here are NOT the city codes, but some self-indulgent acronyming. IE: Chicago can either be CHI (Amtrak's designation) or CUS (for Chicago Union Station).

Don't really know how SAS got the 2nd "S" as part of their code, but it's easy to remember if you think of the company "San Antonio Shoes"...

 

[jackal]

Now, some of the abbreviations used here are NOT the city codes, but some self-indulgent acronyming. IE: Chicago can either be CHI (Amtrak's designation) or CUS (for Chicago Union Station).
Don't really know how SAS got the 2nd "S" as part of their code, but it's easy to remember if you think of the company "San Antonio Shoes"...

In that vein, there's WUS (Washington Union Station) and LAUS (Los Angeles Union Station, formerly known as LAUPT, for Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal).

BOS could stand for "BOston South," given that BON is "BOston North"...

Airline city codes often conflict with airport codes, too. NYC is the generic term for "a flight into any one of New York City's airports," which could mean EWR (Newark--also the Amtrak code for the Newark airport stop!), LGA (La Guardia), JFK (duh), and possibly a few other airports in the area (possibly BDL, which is Hartford, CT).

CHI is airline-speak for Chicago, translating to ORD and MDW (O'Hare and Midway) and possibly some outlying ones in northern Indiana.

Come to think of it, I'm not sure what the city code is for Los Angeles, given that there are four airports there, one of which already has a pretty generic code for the city (LAX)!

But I digress...

(Edit: just discovered another one in this thread: NOUPT is, of course, New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal!)

 

[the_traveler]

Don't really know how SAS got the 2nd "S" as part of their code

To make it different from SAN - which is San Diego, CA. If the code for SAS doesn't make sense, why is Toronto, ON's code TWO? :huh: (There is not even a W in Toronto! ) Or for airports, why is O'Hare's ORD? :huh: (There is no D in O'Hare, or even Chicago! )

 

[MrFSS]

Don't really know how SAS got the 2nd "S" as part of their code

To make it different from SAN - which is San Diego, CA. If the code for SAS doesn't make sense, why is Toronto, ON's code TWO? :huh: (There is not even a W in Toronto! ) Or for airports, why is O'Hare's ORD? :huh: (There is no D in O'Hare, or even Chicago! )

ORD stands for O'Hare Field - which does have a d in it.

Louisville, KY is SFD - which is the old original name - Standiford Field. That's what it was called when I was growing up, there.

 

[DET63]

Now, some of the abbreviations used here are NOT the city codes, but some self-indulgent acronyming. IE: Chicago can either be CHI (Amtrak's designation) or CUS (for Chicago Union Station).
Don't really know how SAS got the 2nd "S" as part of their code, but it's easy to remember if you think of the company "San Antonio Shoes"...

I think of the San Antonio Spurs.

 

[DET63]

ORD stands for O'Hare Field - which does have a d in it.

ORD has nothing to do with the name O'Hare. The place used to be known as Orchard Place Airport/Douglas Field. It got its IATA code from that, even after its name changed to O'Hare.

 

[MrFSS]

ORD stands for O'Hare Field - which does have a d in it.

ORD has nothing to do with the name O'Hare. The place used to be known as Orchard Place Airport/Douglas Field. It got its IATA code from that, even after its name changed to O'Hare.

Interesting - I had always heard O'Hare Field.

 

[Upstate]

Now, some of the abbreviations used here are NOT the city codes, but some self-indulgent acronyming. IE: Chicago can either be CHI (Amtrak's designation) or CUS (for Chicago Union Station).
Don't really know how SAS got the 2nd "S" as part of their code, but it's easy to remember if you think of the company "San Antonio Shoes"...

I think of the San Antonio Spurs.

San Antonio Station perhaps

 

[DET63]

Don't really know how SAS got the 2nd "S" as part of their code

To make it different from SAN - which is San Diego, CA. If the code for SAS doesn't make sense, why is Toronto, ON's code TWO? :huh: (There is not even a W in Toronto! ) Or for airports, why is O'Hare's ORD? :huh: (There is no D in O'Hare, or even Chicago! )

Maybe Elmer Fudd came up with the Toronto station code by saying "Towonto."

Toronto's airport code is YYZ, which makes the train station code seem at least somewhat logical by comparison. The official name of the airport is Lester B Pearson International Airport, which has no Y's or Z's in it, AFAIK.

 

[Palmland]

I may be a curmudgeon, but why not just spell the name out? It only takes a few more keystrokes and eliminates the need for tables. Also makes it easier for the non hard core railfans.

 

[Everydaymatters]

ORD stands for O'Hare Field - which does have a d in it.

ORD has nothing to do with the name O'Hare. The place used to be known as Orchard Place Airport/Douglas Field. It got its IATA code from that, even after its name changed to O'Hare.

Interesting - I had always heard O'Hare Field.

Time has totally obliterated the reason for ORD. When I was a kid, back in biblical times, O'Hare Field was a military airport with a mile-long building (hanger). I remember going into the hanger a couple of times. It was at the northeast corner of what is now O'Hare Airport. The rest of the area west of Manheim Road was an apple orchard. When O'Hare Airport came into existence, the code for it was ORD for Orchard.

 

[Ryan]

Toronto's airport code is YYZ, which makes the train station code seem at least somewhat logical by comparison. The official name of the airport is Lester B Pearson International Airport, which has no Y's or Z's in it, AFAIK.

Fun way off topic fact - the Rush song "YYZ" opens with "YYZ" repeated in morse code. Alex Lifeson, Rush's guitarist is a private pilot and is from Toronto.

Many airport's IDs come from previous names - Newport News International in Virginia is PHF (formerly Patrick Henry Field).

 

[the_traveler]

I may be a curmudgeon, but why not just spell the name out? It only takes a few more keystrokes and eliminates the need for tables. Also makes it easier for the non hard core railfans.

It just to keep you guessing! :lol:

This week, I'm going PVD-PDX. In a few weeks, I'm going PDX-PVD. How am I going? :huh: I could have said that I'm going from Providence to Portland.

PVD is the code for both TF Green Airport in Providence, RI and the Amtrak station in Providence, RI. PDX is the code for both Portland International Airport in Portland, OR and Union Station in Portland, OR

BTW - I'm flying out and taking the train back! (Actually, I'm returning PDX-KIN [Kingston, RI which is ~30 miles south of Providence])

 

[Bob Dylan]

SAS is to distinguish it from the airport which is SAT/San Antonio Spurs is good!!!!GO!SPURS!GO!

 

[had8ley]

How about the grand daddy of them all~ MSY ~ for New Orleans. Probably got that name the day after Mardi Gras. Every year they rate how good Mardi gras was by the TONS of garbage that are picked up :lol:

 

[BigBlueBuddha]

I may be a curmudgeon, but why not just spell the name out? It only takes a few more keystrokes and eliminates the need for tables. Also makes it easier for the non hard core railfans.

Agree.

Who feels like deciphering a virtually unreadable mess like this: "I was going to BNG via POG, WDL, and STN on the EB. Eventually went to PDX where I got on the CS, which stops in CMO, before moving on to MTZ by way of DUN and KFS."

 

[the_traveler]

SAS is to distinguish it from the airport which is SAT

So how do you explain

• SAN - airport & Amtrak
  
• LAX - airport & Amtrak
  
• PDX - airport & Amtrak
  
• SEA - airport & Amtrak
  
• DEN - airport & Amtrak
  
• SLC - airport & Amtrak
  
• STL - airport & Amtrak
  
• MSP - airport & Amtrak
  
• PHL - airport & Amtrak
  
• EWR - airport & Amtrak
  
• PVD - airport & Amtrak
  
• BOS - airport & Amtrak
  
• ATL - airport & Amtrak
  
• TPA - airport & Amtrak
  
• etc...
  

:huh: