Colleges by Rail (split from Eau Claire Rail)

[Gilbert B Norman]

Even if college meant "Ivy" to the rest in my family, it didn't to me (let's keep the "weeping and wailing" away from here).

Only Dartmouth (7 mi from WRJ) and Cornell do not have rail service; the other six do.

[ExCon90]

University of Kansas was served by ATSF and UP.

Nebraska-Lincoln was served by CB&Q

Both are now on the Amtrak vitamin plan: 1 a day.

I don't know how long this lasted, but the 1955 Official Guide shows the RI stopping the Imperial, Twin Star Rocket, and Texas Rocket at Lawrence on their UP trackage rights.

At the risk of starting another new topic, which university would have direct train service to the greatest number of places? I suppose that would be Northwestern.

[mtuandrew]

I don’t see why that would be a separate topic, ExCon. You could probably put NYU on the short list of destination-heavy colleges, along with University of Illinois-Chicago and Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken.)

[Jeff Smith]

BYU was served by D&RGW. It’s now on the Amtrak vitamin plan.

University of Wyoming was served by UP. Now, no service.

Amtrak goes to Provo? I thought it was SLC?

[Ken W2KB]

New Jersey Institute of Technology, formerly Newark College of Engineering. Newark Penn Station and walk or the City Subway for 3 stops, Newark Broad Street (DL&W) and walk about 3 blocks. Until April 30, 1967 the CRRNJ Broad Street Terminal and walk a few blocks or walk and subway two stops.

[Rockingham Racer]

BYU was served by D&RGW. It’s now on the Amtrak vitamin plan.

University of Wyoming was served by UP. Now, no service.

Amtrak goes to Provo? I thought it was SLC?

Provo is the next stop after SLC, going east. Then starts the climb up to Soldier Summit. On topic, Poughkeepsie, NY has Marist College [my alma mater] and Vassar. Then there's my other alma mater, Notre Dame, in South Bend, IN, along with St. Mary's and Holy Cross College across US 31.

[STrRedWolf]

Let me get technical here with Maryland.

If we count "within decent walking distance" (a few minutes) as "train stops directly at", then Amtrak stops at University of Baltimore and Bowie State University.

If we add "college/university provides shuttle service" then you get MARC and Amtrak servicing University of Maryland's Baltimore County, College Park, and University College campuses... Johns Hopkins numerous campuses in Baltimore... and another 10 colleges to boot.

Any more is "take a state transit bus".

[R36 Combine Coach]

LIRR serves many colleges and has published a "college guide" with college listings, locations and directions.

The PRR Main Line (SEPTA) has probably more colleges in a row in short distance: Haverford, Bryn Mawr, Rosemont, Vilanova.

The M&E Line (Lackawanna, now NJT) has Drew, Farleigh Dickinson and Seton Hall, while the Boonton Line (rerouted on the former Erie Greenwood Lake line) has Montclair State University as its main terminal and end of electric service.

[Jeff Smith]

My Alma Mater Iona has Amtrak and MNRR at New Rochelle.

[charlesriverbranch]

I'm surprised no one's mentioned the University of New Hampshire, which has an Amtrak (ex-Boston & Maine) station on campus.

Another northeastern college accessible via Amtrak is Bowdoin (Brunswick, ME).

[Arborwayfan]

A bunch more with current service at least to their city, in most cases walking distance.


I guess we can pretty much assume all the colleges in Boston, New York, San Francisco, Oakland, and other big cities with intercity rail stations and rail transit count.
U of Alaska (Alaska RR Fairbanks and Anchorage, within a couple of miles, city buses exist)
Wellesley (MBTA right across the street)
Mass Maritime (Buzzards Bay, summer weekends via the Cape Flyer)
University of New England (Amtrak Portland plus local bus; Biddeford Campus is 4.2 miles from Amtrak Saco)
UVM (Amtrak Burlington/Essex Jct plus local bus)
Bridgewater State U (Mass.)(MBTA on campus)
Northeastern (Boston; MBTA practically on campus)
Smith (Amtrak Northampton Mass).
University of Utah (Frontrunner via UTA Trax; Amtrak via UTA Trax, even though connections to and from eastbound Amtrak require hours of waiting and connections from westbound Amtrak would often require waiting most of the night)
Weber State U (Ogden; UTA Frontrunner + frequent city bus--Frontrunner runs 89 miles Ogden-Provo so I think it counts as intercity rail service, even though the connections to/from Amtrak are pretty iffy)
Southern Illinois U (Amtrak Carbondale)
U of Chicago (Metra and South Shore Line)
Rensalaer Polytech (Amtrak Rennsalaer, which i can't spell)
Rochester Inst of Tech and Univ of Rochester (Amtrak)
Carleton (St. Paul, Minn, Amtrak -- in the same way that Harvard and MIT and BU have Amtrak service)

[mtuandrew]

A bunch more with current service at least to their city, in most cases walking distance.

Carleton (St. Paul, Minn, Amtrak -- in the same way that Harvard and MIT and BU have Amtrak service)

Carleton and St. Olaf Colleges not so much, they’re about 100 miles south of St. Paul in Northfield. Same with St. John’s and St. Benedict’s (paired men’s and women’s colleges) west of St. Cloud, though there may be a bus connection?

For the Cities though, beyond the U of MN you have:
-Metro State U
-Augsburg
-Bethel
-Hamline
-Hamline Mitchell Law School
-Macalester
-North Central
-Northwestern (fka Northwestern Bible College)
-St. Catherine
-St. Thomas both St. Paul and Minneapolis campuses

They’re all more or less accessible by bus from St. Paul Union Depot, a few by LRT, and you could walk to Metro State if you were dedicated and wanted to climb up the notoriously long & steep 7th Street Hill (once a cable car route in 1890s St. Paul.)

[Tadman]

I used to ride the Chief to KU's law school all the time. It was a pretty easy ride and usually cheaper than flying. The best part was the timing - it was faster than driving because the route is far more direct.

On the other hand, the Cardinal did not stop in Oxford, Ohio. There was no way I was going to backtrack into Cinci at 3am to catch the M-W-F Cardinal and arrive in Chicago (probably late) the next morning and then backtrack again on the South Shore 2.5 hours to get home. That dog didn't hunt.

[Arborwayfan]

Indeed, Mutandrew, I meant Macalester, not Carleton. Got my Minn wires crossed.

[mtuandrew]

That’s MTU not Mut, only reachable via Thruway