Amtrak Saddest Stations? <POLL QUESTION>

While stations with platforms can be in sad shape, they can't be nowhere near as sad as stations, whistle stops, without platforms. Boarding or alighting at a train in ballast of rocks has got to be the worse experience ever for any passenger.

I'm not sure I agree to be honest. There's a few places where I'd be ok with that.

It doesn't strive for much.. so it can't fail very much.It's not a great station, but it's not necessarily "sad".

Stamford was not designed with the center Island Platform,the original build out only had platforms
on track 3 (5 was stub ended)and track 4,there was a 6 track(stub ended) for the New Canaan shuttles (never used by them),
that tended to be the home of the wire train back then.
As more Amtrak trains stopped at Stamford,ConnDOT finally added the center island platform.

dumpster.penguin wrote:Someone needs to nominate Schenectady, New York.

I might be a few years out of date, perhaps it's been redone recently in emeralds; but Schenectady was a station of great contrast between the sad indoors (street level and stairway to platform) and the relatively pleasant open-air platform itself. Indoors, the seats were torn and broken, the doors and walls in disrepair, the propaganda posters reminiscent of the cold war era, a portion of the space appeared to be in disuse, not even the water damage to the ceiling was first-rate. The ascent to the track level was harsh and dilapidated. Even the parade of supplicants at the ticket window were sadly unaware of what ticket windows do. And among the bums hanging out was an incompetent who needed simple help and simple words, and received both from a ticket-window clerk, in a way that suggested it was not an infrequent occurrence. Which somehow heightened the sadness of the place.

BTW, the Schenectady station is being replaced and I believe the new one will be in place sometime in 2017.

I haven't seen it in four years, but the Deming, NM "station" was (is?) pretty sad. The original station (shared by SP and ATSF) has been moved to a location away from the tracks and restored. It is now a transit bus station and community center. The station that replaced it is a shed with three walls and a roof, and a bench. I heard (but haven't seen) the Lordsburg station was similar, but without the bench. If it is gone, I doubt if it is missed.

Lordsburg used to have a nice wood frame depot.

Les

If there's a shelter at Deming,it's painted like the ballast UP dumped when they built the 2nd main track was built,
the saved/restored station is sited along the old ROW to Columbus NM.
Lordsburg's station was replaced by a shelter built to SP's standards/colors,but after UP's construction blitz thru NM,
it was Demo'ed out of the way,the town is almost a ghost town,with 3 truck stops,Port of Entry(Weigh station) tourist info
center and a CBP facilty.
Other than the 2nd track thru town,CBP had a 2nd tower installed to check for "riders" on the freights.

Stamford is awful. There's no comfortable place to sit. Penn Sta NY at least has a club and a few restaurants.

Back Bay Station is a hell hole. Literally. The smoke underground there could kill you.

Unfortunately, I can't change the poll; some of my picks were clear "losers".

Here's an article on Ohio stations that pertains to the subject, at least: WKSU

Brief, fair use quote:

Some Northeast Ohio Amtrak stations are rated among the worst in the U.S.
Amtrak says improvements should be coming for Cleveland and Elyria passengers

...
“That station, if you want to use that term, burnt down in 2013 and they just continued running the trains there. So if you’re picking up a train in Elyria and it’s running late, you’re just going to have to stand there.”

Amtrak officials say they have plans to relocate the facility into an historic train station down the street.

Meanwhile, Capps lists Cleveland’s nearly 40-year-old station in his “fail station” group, which also includes Detroit’s. The Cleveland station was moved from Tower City Center’s train terminal to the current location after RTA moved its operations into Tower City.
...

Hartford, CT ought to be on this list. One track, one platform on a rickety viaduct; waiting room and ticket windows moved out of the historic Union Station building into the basement next to the bus parking area.

Having used that station a lot in my year in Hartford, yes. All of your points are valid.

I enjoy the quirks of New York Penn. Having spent many hours getting to "explore" it, you find all kinds of little trinkets of history and just neat things you can't find in any other station around the world. Once the west end is finished (which will be pretty soon) flow will be much better. The problem outside of the LIRR section is lack of ways to get to track level. This won't be as much of a problem, IF people adjust.

South Bend is just so very depressing. I took the LSL for 8 months straight, every weekend, from CHI to Depew (BUF) and I always felt a little melancholy when we'd pull up next to that shack, especially in the middle of winter. It's literally just an open-faced shack, not even a seat. Heck, the most far-flung Metra stations out where I live in the north 'burbs of Illinois at least have some bolted down chairs.

When i first started riding, I thought Depew was sad; once I saw some of the other stops, I realized that Depew is a veritable paradise by comparison - indoors, heated/cooled, vending machines, an actual ticket agent. And of course, now that I live in Chi, I'm somewhat partial to CHI.

Gare

The saddest I've ever actually used was Depew, NY about 1993. Newark Penn is pretty good from early morning till nearly midnight - much better set up for passenger flow than NY Penn ever was and enough room so the main cafe can be comfortable and unhurried most of the day. But when traffic falls off and the security guards herd all passengers into the on-platform shelters it's clear that it isn't my grandmother's Newark Penn.

Gare_NY wrote:South Bend is just so very depressing. I took the LSL for 8 months straight, every weekend, from CHI to Depew (BUF) and I always felt a little melancholy when we'd pull up next to that shack, especially in the middle of winter. It's literally just an open-faced shack, not even a seat.
Gare

With all due respect, you may be mistaking the track-level shack for the actual station which was built across the adjacent South Shore tracks. The station itself is still in operation with heat, lights, attendant, bathrooms, and checked baggage (I think). Having been in South Bend many times (grew up there) and Detroit recently, the SOB station is far nice than Detroit. It's about twice the size, has a matching set of benches/chairs, fresh paint, bigger parking lot, and functioning vending machines. It will never be mistaken for anything other than a malaise-era depot that replaced a grand union station, but it worked fine at one time for 2x/day Amtrak and 4x/day South Shore trains.

Shack (auxiliary building at track level)


Station


Another good pic from 1971


All pics from trainweb http://trainweb.org/usarail/southbend.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;