RAILROAD SIGNALS of the U.S.
RAILFAN GUIDE to BALTIMORE
Railroad Stations and other RR structures
outside Maryland
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For a great website by Louis Van Winkle that covers railroad stations all over the U.S., check out: http://depotmaps.com/
DELAWARE
GEORGETOWN
Former Pennsy depot, recently remodeled in 2005.... the MD &
DE now owns the trackage.
WILMINGTON
Another former Pennsy depot of class
and greatness. This is supposedly available as a model, but I will have to
check with a friend of mine who reviews model kits to confirm that. A
couple of years ago I was taking pictures of the station and was stopped by an
Amtrak cop, who luckily, didn't want my cameras, just asked me to stop and go
away (taking pictures of "federal" buildings is prohibited in the post 9/11 era
- yes, even railroad stations!). This is one of the great stations still
around, like Philadelphia, Buffalo and Detroit (even tho they are not used),
Baltimore, Portland OR, and of course, Washington DC (sorry if I left your
favorite out).
GEORGIA
MARIETTA
Former L&N depot right off the square in Marietta.... good
area for antiques, and close to the "Big Chicken"! Lots of CSX action
passes by here too! The Georgia Northeast RR is a mile or so north of here
as an extra added bonus... and lots of pawn shops around too if you're into
them.
MICHIGAN
SUTTONS BAY
Unless you looked hard driving down the road, you would pass
right on by this cute little depot. The only reason I knew it was there is
because friends of my Aunt and Uncle lived directly across the street.
TRAVERSE CITY
Dunno anything about the depot, but at least it has been
restored and is used by several small businesses.
A dinner train (the Grand Traverse) used to operate out of here until a few
years ago.
If you come to town, the PETA (people eating tasty animals :-) people got the zoo closed down, but the Traverse Steam Train was still running, and is a worthwhile stop over, off the main road going thru town.
TRAVERSE CITY
Well, I will take some flack over this, cause it's not a
depot, but if you subscribe to Village Press' Live
Steam Magazine, this is where it comes from! (OK, so they added
and Outdoor Railroading to the title a few
years ago). They also put out a number of other magazines covering the
machining trade, among others. When I stopped by there, I was amazed at
the number of specialized magazines they work on.
NEW YORK
BATAVIA
On the left, a couple of postcards of
the NYC station in Batavia I found on EBay. I lived here in back in the
good ole days of 1964-1965, when the New York Central, Lehigh Valley, and
Lackawana came into town. Batavia is still home to CSX (altho there isn't
much left of the station), and a short line, the Depew, Lancaster, and Western.
To the right of the two postcards is a picture of the depot from 2006 when I
stopped thru town. A DLW freight is on the right. All the way to the
right is a scene from yesteryear on main street.
BUFFALO
What can you say... this old depot must
have been great back in it's heyday... fortunately, it's still with us, and
"they" are trying to figure out what to do with it. When I was there two
years ago (2006), there was a theater using some of the space to rehearse in.
it has been replaced by Amtrak with two stations, one in Depew, and a real sorry
excuse for one in the downtown Buffalo area.
DEPEW
Depew is now pretty much the main
station in Buffalo, residing about 8 miles or so east of the downtown area. Were still looking for my shots of the
station itself...... but it's nothing worth holding your breath over....
GRANVILLE
Here are some scans of postcards
collected by Phil F of Harrisburg, who grew up in Granville. If you Google
Granville, you may find references to Grandville also show up.
NEW ROCHELLE
New Rochelle is where I was born, way back in 1951. Nice
little town in Westchester County, just a stones throw outside New York City's
Bronx. During the early to mid 1900's, it was a popular place for Italians
to settle once they came through Ellis Island in NYC. Once we moved away
in the late 50's, we still came back to visit my father's parents, while my
mother's parents lived in the Queens alongside the New Haven, the same line that
came through New Rochelle and the above station is on. The line is
currently used by Amtrak and the Metro North commuter trains. Amtrak
replaced the last of the New Haven style triangular catenary about three or four
years ago. Metro North remodeled the station once they got rid of the old
low platform New Haven cars, and went to high platform cars.
NORTH CAROLINA
GASTONIA
This depot serves Amtrak. NS
parks their local adjacent to the station, and quite often, the train will
extend over I85.
SALISBURY
This nicely preserved station is a few
miles down the road from Spencer. very nice setting, well worth the trip.
SPENCER
Well preserved at the Spencer Shops is
this little gem, with an operating train order semaphore.
OHIO
BEREA
A nicely restored depot along the CSX
tracks, now used as a restaurant, called The Station....
good food and reasonable prices.
Update as of summer 2009 - the restaurant closed in Dec of 2008 and is for sale.
For a map and guide to the area and signals:
http://www.railroadsignals.us/guides/berea/berea.htm
PENNSYLVANIA
COLUMBIA
An old warehouse building fixed up pretty nice for the
Reading and Columbia RR.
HARRISBURG
The HARRIS tower in Harrisburg PA.
It opened earlier this year back in June, and is supposed to be open on
Saturdays between 10am and 4pm, but don't count on the hours if you are making a
trip specifically to see the tower, as I stopped by recently shortly after 3pm,
and it was already closed. It is just north of the Amtrak depot.
Also in the area is the Rockville bridge north of H'burg in Marysville, and
Enola yard, on the south side of I81 along US11.
For a guide to Harrisburg...
http://www.railroadsignals.us/harris/harris.htm and York to the south:
http://www.railroadsignals.us/york/york.htm
NEW CASTLE
A "stranded" depot CSX (ex B&O) tracks
are behind on the fill. Dunno anything about it, but it sure would be a
great place for a model railroad club, and/or a live steam club!!!
New Castle is also home to the New Castle Industrial RR,
and Kasgro, which specializes in large capacity railroad cars. Several of
the old Westinghouse cars for carrying transformers can be seen in their yard.
NEW CASTLE
This depot is located almost in the middle of the downtown
area.
NEW CASTLE
This depot is located in the downtown area, the front of which
houses a photo studio.
NORTHUMBERLAND
This station is now a restaurant,
having been purchased from Conrail in 1981. They built one addition to the
front of the station, and another to the right, placing two ex Pennsy passenger
cars on the outside of the addition. The food is good and reasonable, and
if you are in the area, you should make a point of stopping in for lunch or
dinner. Northumberland is about 50 miles north of Harrisburg and I81.
ORBISONIA
This depot has served the EBT - East Broad Top for many, many
years, and we hope for many to come.....
For my EBT map and guide, check this out:
http://www.railroadsignals.us/ebt/ebt.htm
TENNESSEE
CHATTANOOGA
Home of the Chattanooga Choo Choo, it is now a fabulous hotel,
and if you like, can stay in Pullman cars set up as "rooms". They also
have an operating trolley, and numerous signals, including wig-wags. Click
on the link to take you to my page with the signal stuff here:
Chatanooga Choo-Choo
KNOXVILLE
Another nicely restored depot, this one from the Southern
Railway.
KNOXVILLE
Adjacent to the site of the 1982 Worlds Fair is this restored
G&O station. It's not easy to get good photos of!
VIRGINIA
ASHLAND
This depot serves Amtrak, in this
unique, kinda in the middle of the street setting... the track runs up the
middle of two streets, giving it the look of street running! Located abut
12 miles south of Doswell, the two make an excellent case for getting off the
boring I95.
DOSWELL
Station and HN tower at the junction of the ex RF&P mainline
between Richmond and DC, and the ex C&O line which went west from Richmond.
To get here, take the Kings Dominion exit off I95. More info and a map at:
http://www.railroadsignals.us/diamonds/doswell.htm
RICHMOND
A most impressive and beautiful depot,
located in downtown Richmond, right next to I95. If you're anywhere near
Richmond, this would certainly be enough reason to go the extra distance.
Also in town is CSX former RF&P yard, and a RR museum just on the other side of
the river from this depot.
Also in Richmond is this "triple
crossing", where the RF&P, Southern Rwy, and the C&O once crossed over each
other. So far, the ground level track (ex Southern, now NS) remains, but
with the urban renovation that has been going on, how long will it last?
The middle level track (ex Seaboard Air Line) is also the one that goes by the
depot in the far right photo above. The top track, on a three mile long
viaduct on the north bank of the James River, comes from the small former C&O
yard on the east side of town, and if you can wait long enough for a train, the
pictures on it are spectacular! (better than the two above - I had just
gotten into the downtown area when this freight showed up - so I had no time to
find a good spot to take pix) The picture to the right is the river walk
that passes next to and under some of the sites to behold. For more info,
visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Crossing
SALEM
Nicely restored depot, not to far from the live steam
manufacturer, Mountain Car Company.
An earlier B&W map of the Salem to Christiansburg area is at:
http://www.railroadsignals.us/xing/miscgrade/nwmap1.jpg
STATIONS in CANADA
ONTARIO
NIAGARA FALLS
A station turned into museum in Niagara
Falls ONT.
ROCKWOOD
This depot is at the Radial Railway
Museum
New 8-17-2008
Last Changed: 25-Feb-2011
