More station talk: how about middle of nowhere stations

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The "biggest one" is Williams Junction, AZ. It is on private property, inside a locked gate and you must take a (free) van from the hotel to reach it. You can not drive yourself to it!
 
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Utica, NY

There still a station there, and it see Amtrak trains (Short and Long) but the city dry-up and left. Heck if it was not for the Federal and local courthouse nothing would be left at all. We the people of the upstate area are still looking for any signs of the community.
 
Check my profile picture. That is the "new and improved" waiting room for the Chemult station. Amtrak spent many thousands to rebuild the platform last year. They even put in heating elements to keep the ramp and platform clear of snow.

The station is within walking distance of a Pilot gas station/Subway and two hotels.

I'll be boarding there next Tuesday.
 
tomfuller said:
Check my profile picture. That is the "new and improved" waiting room for the Chemult station. Amtrak spent many thousands to rebuild the platform last year. They even put in heating elements to keep the ramp and platform clear of snow.

The station is within walking distance of a Pilot gas station/Subway and two hotels.

I'll be boarding there next Tuesday.
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Hi Tom! We'll be getting off at Chemult the day after Christmas. We will be getting off the train, and hopping right on the shuttle bus to Bend!

A few people *DO* live within shouting distance of the station. They work at the Deschutes National Forest office in town. Chemult is just a couple hundred people, though, and the nearest "real towns" are Bend, 65 miles north, and Klamath Falls, 71 miles south! It's real easy to be "in the middle of nowhere" in eastern Oregon.
 
Well though Alliance, OH isn't the "middle of nowhere", it should get special merit as within an hour are five of Ohio's most populated cities, none of which currently have Amtrak service. So from the perspective of somebody from Youngstown, Akron, or Columbus the city of Alliance is indeed "the middle of nowhere".
 
Just-Thinking-51 said:
Utica, NY

There still a station there, and it see Amtrak trains (Short and Long) but the city dry-up and left. Heck if it was not for the Federal and local courthouse nothing would be left at all. We the people of the upstate area are still looking for any signs of the community.
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Utica's doing poorly compared to Syracuse/Rochster/Buffalo, but Utica station has more ridership than the vast majority of stations on the Sunset Limited -- and more ridership than Rome. Utica's still a real city, unlike Maricopa, AZ, which never was...
I've taken a very nice trip to Utica -- I actually caught a connecting train from the Adirondack Scenic (which was close to full). There was a perfectly nice farmers' market running and a good restaurant across the street.

I think Williams Junction probably wins the "middle of nowhere" contest. But Maricopa, AZ is pretty middle-of-nowhere too.

There are a *lot* of stations on the Sunset Limited which are in miniscule barely-a-towns, several with no platform; these have been mentioned on the lowest-ridership-stations thread.

There's also Helper, Utah. The city was built because steam trains needed "helper" engines added at this point; the city has no actual function any more. The station would be in Price -- which the railroad runs through! -- but it was historically in Helper.

Wishram, WA is also pretty much the middle of nowhere. In fact, the "lowest ridership stations" list is a good way to spot stations which are in the middle of nowhere.
 
Sanderson, Texas fits the "Middle of Nowhere" Criteria! They even Tore down the Dilapidated Old SP Station! Now the Train Stops @ a Grade Crossing if any one is Boarding or De-Training @ this Flag Stop on the Sunset Route!
 
Williams Junction. When I rode back on the SWC, we dropped someone off at one of those silver power boxes on the side of the tracks, with the sign "Williams Junction" bolted TO IT. Didn't even SEE a station.
 
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the_traveler said:
The "biggest one" is Williams Junction, AZ. It is on private property, inside a locked gate and you must take a (free) van from the hotel to reach it. You can not drive yourself to it!
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Isn't that the station in the 'Amtrak Vacations' brochure used for self and escorted tours of the Grand Canyon?
 
NE933 said:
the_traveler said:
The "biggest one" is Williams Junction, AZ. It is on private property, inside a locked gate and you must take a (free) van from the hotel to reach it. You can not drive yourself to it!
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Isn't that the station in the 'Amtrak Vacations' brochure used for self and escorted tours of the Grand Canyon?
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Yes, it's the stop for the Grand Canyon Railroad. In order to get from or to "the stop", you must take the hotel van. They unlock the gate before the SWC arrives and turn on the platform lights. After the SWC departs, they turn off the platform lights and relocked the gate. Then they return to the hotel. Even the locals have to ride the van, if they get on/off at Williams Junction!
 
I have mentioned Williams Junction before and have used it several times. I think there is a gate, but I have never seen the van driver unlock it and I have gone in there with my car, just looking around, not parking. The station stop is really not very far from civilization, but probably gets the award as the spookiest place for a station. There is a short platform, with lights, which the driver illuminates. There are no other facilities, but one can wait in the van or bus. The spooky part is that it is a really dark forested location and the van ride for the mile or so through dirt forest roads has led some passengers to believe they have been kidnapped. The arrangement works quite well. Furthermore, the lobby of the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel makes one of the cushier places to wait for a train, even if one arrives for the eastbound in the middle of the night. It is also a good place to park one's car, at the hotel that is, definitely not out at the platform at Williams Junction.
 
Alpine Texas! A bustling community in Brewster County, population 5,328 souls. Its bigger than Sanderson and a lot bigger than Chemult.

I like West Texas as it never seems to end. Lots of small town like Sanderson and Alpine. Ever been to Van Horn? I stayed the night there once. Great Migas, homemade tortillas, salsa to die for, for breakfast!

Without the Amtrak, how would small cities like these survive? I can't help but think, more service to small towns would benefit all concerned.
 
oregon pioneer said:
tomfuller said:
Check my profile picture. That is the "new and improved" waiting room for the Chemult station. Amtrak spent many thousands to rebuild the platform last year. They even put in heating elements to keep the ramp and platform clear of snow.

The station is within walking distance of a Pilot gas station/Subway and two hotels.

I'll be boarding there next Tuesday.
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Hi Tom! We'll be getting off at Chemult the day after Christmas. We will be getting off the train, and hopping right on the shuttle bus to Bend!

A few people *DO* live within shouting distance of the station. They work at the Deschutes National Forest office in town. Chemult is just a couple hundred people, though, and the nearest "real towns" are Bend, 65 miles north, and Klamath Falls, 71 miles south! It's real easy to be "in the middle of nowhere" in eastern Oregon.
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That would be the Chemult Ranger District Office of the Fremont-Winema National Forest, not the Deschutes. Having worked on the Fremont-Winema for 30 years I am somewhat familiar with Chemult. Here is some info about the new station. I worked in Lakeview, Oregon which has a station but the last passenger service was 1937.
 
Wishram is located 12 miles from the former Pioneer stop in The Dalles, OR. (pop. 13, 783). A good percentage of the passengers bound to/from Wishram are in fact BNSF employees who commute to work to and from Wishram via the EB. Wishram is the site of a rail junction with the BNSF line that runs through central Oregon through Klamath Falls to Bieber, CA. There is a railroad yard at Wishram, and, as one might expect, there aren't a whole lot of housing options in Wishram. So, many BNSF workers use the EB to transport them to/from work. I know I have ridden the EB between Spokane and Portland and on almost every occasion, those passengers departing/boarding the EB at Wishram were indeed BNSF employees. A further bit of trivia: One of the last remaining beaneries owned by the railroad for its employees (and anyone else, for that matter) operated in Wishram until around 1987 or so.
 
Guest said:
Wishram is located 12 miles from the former Pioneer stop in The Dalles, OR. (pop. 13, 783). A good percentage of the passengers bound to/from Wishram are in fact BNSF employees who commute to work to and from Wishram via the EB. Wishram is the site of a rail junction with the BNSF line that runs through central Oregon through Klamath Falls to Bieber, CA. There is a railroad yard at Wishram, and, as one might expect, there aren't a whole lot of housing options in Wishram. So, many BNSF workers use the EB to transport them to/from work. I know I have ridden the EB between Spokane and Portland and on almost every occasion, those passengers departing/boarding the EB at Wishram were indeed BNSF employees. A further bit of trivia: One of the last remaining beaneries owned by the railroad for its employees (and anyone else, for that matter) operated in Wishram until around 1987 or so.
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In addition to the above tidbits of useless information about Wishram :lol: I posted above (OK, so I couldn't sign in because the Caps Lock was on. Darned picky forums!!!!! :p ) if one doesn't consider 13,000+ a bustling metropolis, the nearest cities of any appreciable size are Vancouver, 97 miles west; the Tri-Cities (Richland, Pasco, and Kennewick), 115 or so miles east, and Yakima, 87 miles north.
 
The most remote station that I have ever seen was Lamy, New Mexico - the last stop before Albuquerque (westbound). The stop is used for a shuttle van to Santa Fe, and it is located out in the middle of nowhere (desert terrain). It appears to have very little modern development around it.. It has the look and feel of the old Southwest, and it seems more like a location in a classic movie.
 
Lamy is a very small village of mostly residential housing and very little if any businesses. The station area does indeed have the feel of a movie scene. But it is located just off a major highway, US 285 if I recall, and is about 29-22 miles from Santa Fe.
 
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