Stations with curved platforms

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BCL

BCL

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Nov 16, 2012
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Bored and waiting for the 527 at Fremont-Centerville which is late.

The station as it exists now has a curved platform. The southbound direction has a full length platform that curves out. The northbound direction has a platform that's maybe two cars long. The curve is barely perceptible at the station building but is pretty sharp away from the building. This morning I saw someone who barely missed catching the 523. I've seen conductors noticing someone late and reopening the door, but with the curved platform I don't think that the conductor could see the guy.

This is the only station I've seen where the platform isn't straight. I suspect the original platform was straight but that the tracks were rerouted and the neighborhood developed around the curved track.
 
Although I don't think it's curved enough to be very noticeable from the outside, the Westerly (RI) station is built on a banked curve. It is barely noticeable on the near (station side) track, but when a Regional makes a station call on the far track, you really notice the banking! :eek:

I've never boarded from there on track 1, but have been aboard many times and have noticed the banking.
 
I guess I don't understand the question here. Yes, there are other stations with curved platforms, both here and departed. The missed train due to being late is an issue between person and train's conductor. Even if the conductor sees the person, I don't think he has any obligation to stop the train for him.

For a high level platform, there is the need to increase the offset between track and platform edge to allow for the swing out / swing in of the car end/middle. For a low platform (8 inches above the rail) this is not necessary unless the curve is really sharp.

Perhaps someone or several someones can come up with some of them.
 
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Davis, California. Very curved platforms (two in use, plus one on the now defunct Westside Line toward Woodland that the Starlight used until 1982.) The station is in the middle of a wye

*EDIT*

Here's a Google Maps areal view of DAV!
 
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Haha... should have remembered Davis. I used to get on there every week (and still do though I use Sac a bit more now!). Oxnard, CA has a bit of a curve at the end of the platform. The last (extra) sleeper sometimes sticks off the end on the CS depending on how the train pulls in. Metrolink doesn't have an issue though generally nor do the Surfliners.
 
I've never been to or seen the Davis station. I was actually in Davis recently, but my wife would have yelled at me if I'd made a side trip just to see an empty train station.
 
I know it's not Amtrak, but 14th Street/Union Square on the 4,5,6 subway in Manhattan.

"Please stand clear of the moving platform as trains enter and leave this station."
 
800px-Fremont-Centerville_station_2355_13.JPG
 
AudenHoggart said:
I know it's not Amtrak, but 14th Street/Union Square on the 4,5,6 subway in Manhattan.
"Please stand clear of the moving platform as trains enter and leave this station."
Click to expand...
The old South Ferry Station on the #1 line and the old City Hall Station on the #6 line were far worse than the 14th Street station, as they were both located on loops. City Hall was abandoned after cars started having center doors, while South Ferry was fitted with retractable plates much like 14th Street.

There are also other subway stations that have curves in their platforms, but those 3 are probably the worst.
 
I believe that there is a curve in the platform which the Cardinal uses at CVS.

In addition - Raleigh, NC has a curved platform...... the platform which the Crescent uses in Greensboro, NC is curved. Also a pretty nice curve on the platform at Harpers Ferry, WV as evidenced by this photo -

0044-M.jpg
 
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I doubt this is used for Amtrak, but I know stations on the Washington Metro with curved platforms had mirrors that allow the motorman/engineer to see the entire platform to ensure safety.
 
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Gfoley4 said:
I doubt this is used for Amtrak, but I know stations on the Washington Metro with curved platforms had mirrors that allow the motorman/engineer to see the entire platform to ensure safety.
Click to expand...
NYC actually has TV monitors at the conductors position that feed live video for the places on the platform that he/she cannot normally see due to the curves.
 
Gfoley4 said:
I doubt this is used for Amtrak, but I know stations on the Washington Metro with curved platforms had mirrors that allow the motorman/engineer to see the entire platform to ensure safety.
Click to expand...
Which stations would those be? Offhand, I can't think of any DC Metro stations that have noticeably curved platforms. The system was built to a design standard with 600' long platforms.

Amtrak, on the other hand, has a number of legacy stations with low level platforms on curves.
 
Hmm.. Gave it some more thought, and then looked up some photos to refresh my memory. Another west coast station with a curvy track layout is San Luis Obispo, which is more "S" shaped than just one curve. There are turns at both sides of the station, with the middle section of platform being straight.
 
Also not Amtrak, but San Francisco Muni Metro subway station at Castro Street is the only one in the system that's not straight. Of course!
 
afigg said:
Gfoley4 said:
I doubt this is used for Amtrak, but I know stations on the Washington Metro with curved platforms had mirrors that allow the motorman/engineer to see the entire platform to ensure safety.
Click to expand...
Which stations would those be? Offhand, I can't think of any DC Metro stations that have noticeably curved platforms. The system was built to a design standard with 600' long platforms.

Amtrak, on the other hand, has a number of legacy stations with low level platforms on curves.
Click to expand...
I ought to remember, but I don't. I probably have the track charts for the earlier lines boxed away somewhere from when I worked there. I think at least one, and maybe a couple of the stations between Union Station and Silver Spring where the line is between the railroad mains have curves, but they are of large radius. Otherwise, do not have any idea, particularly for the lines that were "maybe someday but not likely" at that time that are now running.

In general, the obsession was to have the tracks through stations dead straight for 750 feet (600 ft platform plus 75 ft each end) and, if underground, on a 0.35% grade, and, If above ground, on not more than that grade.
 
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