Amtrak Stations of the Southeast

[JRQ]

Thanks for the addition, I really have never even been to it, so I had no idea lol. I have been to richmonds and I can say it is gorgeous. The Lynchburg station looks great btw.

[TampAGS]

Originally Posted by JRQ

Thanks for the addition, I really have never even been to it, so I had no idea lol. I have been to richmonds and I can say it is gorgeous. The Lynchburg station looks great btw.

Yeah, I had no idea either.. I had only seen the same photo of Lynchburg that you posted. Then I got of the train there and was like, " !!"
It looked nothing like what I'd been led to expect from that picture. After my initial surprise wore off, I began to realize Lynchburg had a pretty cool little station. The brightness of all those lights is awesome, especially how they reflect off the trains.

What sucks about Lynchburg is that it's as close as you're going to get by train to Roanoke, which was actually my final destination on that trip. It's ironic that a city as rich in rail history as Roanoke is should have no passenger trains.

Richmond Main St. Station is stunning. Hopefully I'll see it in person some day. It is a damn shame that most of the trains get routed through the Staples Mill Rd. Station. It is pretty wretched by comparison..

[TampAGS]

Orlando Amtrak Station
Built 1926 originally for Atlantic Coast Line.
(Not to be confused with Orlando's Church Street Station, which is just to the north and though not in railroad use, houses an antique train.)

Front Exterior (Still with old Seaboard signage)


Interior - Passenger waiting area (photos taken on Christmas Eve, hence the decor)



Platform - Main Gate


Platform - Looking South


Footage of the Orlando station and Amtrak #97 & #98, the Silver Meteor:


And its sequel: Meteor-lando II
(Includes ride through downtown and past Church Street Station)

All photos & videos are my own.

[TampAGS]

DeLand Train Station
The DeLand, FL station was built in 1918 by the Atlantic Coast Line.


Originally known as "DeLand Junction", the station is near a spur running into downtown DeLand. At one time, there were as many as two additional stations along that spur. It was rare for a town of less than 6,000 people to be served by three stations for the same railroad.


The station serves as a transfer point for Thruway Motorcoach service into Daytona Beach. It is the only such service in Florida provided by a taxi-cab.


The station is currently served by four daily trains: the northbound and southbound units of Amtrak's Silver Service trains, the Silver Star and Silver Meteor.



The craftsman-style building received a $425K restoration in 1996 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Video footage shot at DeLand is below.
YouTube: DeLand x 3

All photos & video are my own.

[pdizzle]

Charleston's Union Station:
unfortunately destroyed by fire in 1947

image hosted on flickr



Charleston's other railroad facilities survive:











Here's a link to information and pictures of pretty much every station in South Carolina

[HeartofFlorida]

Originally Posted by I-275westcoastfl

How do they do that? Is there a loop somewhere?

There's a wye that Amtrak pulls into and reverses before backing into Tampa Union.

Amtrak SILVER STAR: "Backtrack" through Tampa

[HeartofFlorida]

Lakeland, Florida:


Old Station

This is the only picture I could fin of the old Seaboard Station that Amtrak used until the new station was later constructed. The abandoned terminal still exists today and is a great place for railfanning.


New Station (approximately 1 mile east of old station)

Looking North across Lake Mirror at 2-story terminal.


Looking west at Amtrak platform from Intown Bypass. The Platform is located in the middle between the Amtrak terminal (left-center), and the Lakeland Police department (right-center).



From this view, you can see the underpass in which Amtrak passengers can be dropped off to access the 2nd level (lobby, ticket area, platform) via a long staircase or elevator.

[TampAGS]

Originally Posted by HeartofFlorida

There's a wye that Amtrak pulls into and reverses before backing into Tampa Union.

Amtrak SILVER STAR: "Backtrack" through Tampa

Though the above video captures the journey made in reverse through Ybor City, it doesn't feature any footage from the wye itself. As noted earlier...

Originally Posted by TampAGS

... there's footage from onboard the train of the "three-point turn" it makes at the wye at about 5:10 of this video:

Plus, it starts with some nice footage of the Sebring Amtrak Station, and provides glimpses at the former train depot of Avon Park (now a museum) and the Amtrak station in Lakeland.

And speaking of Lakeland...

Originally Posted by HeartofFlorida

Lakeland, Florida:

From this view, you can see the underpass in which Amtrak passengers can be dropped off to access the 2nd level (lobby, ticket area, platform) via a long staircase or elevator.

The underpass through the station's lower level also serves as the "platform" for passengers of Amtrak's Thruway Motorcoach service.
To gain a proper perspective of the station's size in the above photo, picture a modern, standard size passenger bus parked inside of it, with ample clearance.

Lakeland's is the newest of Amtrak's Florida station buildings (and will remain so until Sanford's new Auto-Train terminal is completed), and is somewhat unique among Amtrak's stations nationwide in that it has two station codes: LKL and LAK. This is due to the fact that trains stop in Lakeland as they are headed to Tampa, and again after they leave Tampa.

[TampAGS]

...And just a short ride down the tracks from Lakeland, we find this station:

Winter Haven, FL
Built 1947 by Seaboard Air Line. (An earlier building served opposite the tracks from the 1920's)



There's around two and 1/2 minutes of footage from Winter Haven Station,
beginning at 2:30 in the following video (which also features Tampa's Union Station):




Amtrak Cypress Gardens Station?


Winter Haven has for decades offered double-billing of its little station to include a local attraction and piece of Florida history that lies 3 miles from the depot.

Cypress Gardens is Florida's original theme park, opening in 1936, and featuring Southern Belles in full regalia, water-skiing acrobats, and breathtaking foliage.


Photo: Photobucket user leu242

Photo: Photobucket user leo6018

Photo: Photobucket user bjz0819

Recent years have seen it billed an "adventure park", adding standard amusement & thrill rides. This was at the expense of traditional exhibits, such as the garden model railroad.


Photo: Photobucket user woofboy111

[Coldspring]

Originally Posted by pdizzle

Charleston's Union Station:
unfortunately destroyed by fire in 1947

image hosted on flickr



Charleston's other railroad facilities survive:











Here's a link to information and pictures of pretty much every station in South Carolina

Do you have any renderings of the new Intermodal Transportation Center for Charleston..which is in North Charleston? It is suppose to have AMtrak, Greyhound and CARTA there.. .I think it will be one of the first of its kind in SC

[HeartofFlorida]

Originally Posted by Coldspring

Do you have any renderings of the new Intermodal Transportation Center for Charleston..which is in North Charleston? It is suppose to have AMtrak, Greyhound and CARTA there.. .I think it will be one of the first of its kind in SC

I couldn't find any renderings yet.....

All I came up with were pictures of the site:

[TampAGS]

It isn't an Amtrak station, but then nothing is in the eastern Gulf region these days...

Enterprise, AL
Depot built in 1903 by the Atlantic Coast Line. I'm not sure when the last passenger trains called here. Today the building houses a museum. The adjacent rails are still in use for short-line freight operations by the Wiregrass Central Railroad.




Photos are my own.

[Joe the Photog]

Sorry to revive an old thread. But here are several Amtrak depots of the south east. First up are a few of my takes of the fabulous Main Street Station in Richmond.

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


Hamlet, NC

image hosted on flickr


In the above shot, they have moved the old station from it's original placement across the tracks and are now renovating her. In the shot below, she's been fully restored.

image hosted on flickr


Somewhere in my collection of slides, I have an older shot before the move and the restoration.

Camden, SC

image hosted on flickr


Columbia, SC

image hosted on flickr


Amtrak runs through my area late at night. It's hard to shoot when trains are in Columbia now because of Amtrak's photography policy and becuse it could be as late as 4 a.m. when they come through.

[TampAGS]

Originally Posted by Joe the Photog

Amtrak runs through my area late at night. It's hard to shoot when trains are in Columbia now because of Amtrak's photography policy and becuse it could be as late as 4 a.m. when they come through.

Speaking of nighttime shots, here's video from a northbound Silver Star's stop in
DeLand, Florida.

Video is my own work.

[Hot Rod]

Originally Posted by shane453

OKC's Santa Fe Depot is kind of plain art deco on the outside, with some new shops opening at street level.



image hosted on flickr


However, I think the interior is pretty stunning Native American inspired art deco which is really interesting.

OKC's Amtrak is nice on the inside and the outside is starting to look better now that there are tenants.

But personally, I think OKC's other train station (not in use) is way better. Any pics of Union Station out there?

[uptn1bx2hrlm5blyn]

New Carrollton Amtrak Station in New Carrollton, Maryland. The Satation also Serves METRO Rail Subway/Bus, Commuter(MARC) Rail, and Greyhound Bus. Its about 10 miles from DC and a half mile from I-95/495 and US 50.....

[desertpunk]

LOL at that "Amshak" in Durham! The Miami project is very impressive as are the restorations of so many older train stations in the South. I'm very much looking forward to the day when HSR is rolling through the region and cities begin building new temples to the rail gods.

[miami305]

Originally Posted by skysdalimit

You're right, I'm sorry, our rail system is amazing. My bad.

Yes, we should all be so proud that we tore down our old, majestic rail stations and replaced them with 2-bit one platform stopovers. We have not taken care of our rail system, plain and simple.

I'm not ashamed of being an American, I'm actually extremely patriotic and I think Europe has a lot to learn from America too, but it doesn't mean I can't be ashamed of our rail system. It's pathetic. And I don't know what line you were living off of in London, but when I visited my friend in Hatfield (north of London) the trains were excellent with regular service and plenty of room for passengers.

I currently live in the Netherlands. The train system in Europe is extremely punctual and the stations are generally clean and easy to navigate. In the 6 months I've lived here, I've only experienced one delay, and that was for an overnight train in Italy.

So, yeah, of course if someone points to a picture of Charlotte's train station and asks "Is that YOUR train station?", of course I want to say no and wish to think a station of a major southern city couldn't be so dreadful. Currently, yes, I am ashamed of my city's Amtrak station. But it doesn't mean I'm ashamed to be a Charlottean. I'm just looking forward to our new multi-modal station to be built near Gateway.

So if you're satisfied with irregular and over-priced train service, then go ahead and criticize me for wanting something better. I'm going to do everything I can to vote for people who will improve America's train infrastructure and vote for transit referendums. It's people like you who are holding back extension and progression of our nation's railways. Have fun basking in mediocrity.

Agreed. European Train Stations/Rail is 100 yrs ahead of the USA....I think we need to start looking into our nation's railway system...lot of improvement still needs to be done....I am so happy that my city, Miami, is building a brand new multi modal station near the airport....and that the state of Florida is really looking into creating and expending our railway system....we need to catch up with Europe and Asia when it comes to our nation's railway system.

[miami305]

Originally Posted by Hia-leah JDM

Behold the grand Amtrak station of Miami, Florida!

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


This will be a new transportation hub fo local and national rail including Amtrak. Its under construction near the airport.

Amazing...I can't wait for this project to be completed....smart to have it near the airport, it will connect the existing Miami Metrorail, Metromover and Amtrak into one main Station (Union Station).