Ranya's Ramblings

Indianapolis Union Station is a station served by Amtrak's Cardinal train and numerous intercity buses, most notably from Greyhound.  History Indianapolis Union Station was the second ever Union station in the United States, built in 1853 by the Madison and Indianapolis railroad. The original station building eventually became too small for the demand faced, and a newer large station building was built in 1888 with the leadership of the civil engineer Thomas Rodd. A large train shed built in a similar style to the likes of Newark Penn was built for the station in 1900.    There once was a time where one could get to fifteen different states with one train from Indianapolis station, with trains going to Chicago, Saint Louis, New York City, and Miami, as well as many destinations in between. Those days are no more. The fall of American passenger rail hit Indianapolis Union station  hard , and it never truly recovered. The most recent example of this is with...

Huntington, WV is a station served by Amtrak's Cardinal train. The station is located at 8th Avenue and 10th Street in Huntington's South Side neighborhood.  History Huntington, WV's history as a town is directly intertwined with the railroad. Originally, Huntington was the terminus for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, and was a community planned from the ground up for this purpose. The original C&O depot was built in 1871. Multiple other railroads came to Huntington to compete with the C&O, including the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O). This depot was replaced in 1913 with a more grand building.  Rail traffic to Huntington decreased following the US rail industry's bear collapse in the 1950s. As though it was a sign of the station's fate, The late 1960s was the time when Amtrak into existence, and with that the Amtrak Station Standardization Program. This meant that a new passenger station was to be built, in the same style as many others around th...

Miquon is a station on SEPTA's Manayunk-Norristown Line. The station is located at River and Manor Roads in the village of Miquon, PA, itself located within Whitemarsh Township, PA. Four Manaynk-Norristown Line trains a day end at Miquon, and the station is often used as a turnback point in various situations, having more operational importance than the average station along the line.  History Miquon station seems to have been built as an infill station sometime around 1880, and named Lafayette. At some point, a shelter was added. In 1921, the station was renamed to Miquon. Besides things like signal upgrades, not much has changed since then.  Tour Train The station  Miquon station, while quaint, is not accessible. Validator Parking One of Miquon's only real amenities is parking, but it's not even the most well suited for this compared to other stations along the line.  The old depot Due to terra...

Manasquan is a station on NJT's North Jersey Coast Line. The station is located at 227 Main Street in Manasquan, NJ.    History Manasquan originally was established by the Central Railroad of New Jersey in 1876, with the original depot being replaced 20 years later by the one at Spring Lake. The Spring Lake station was originally built for the Philadelphia Exposition in 1876, much like the original Manasquan station. This second depot burned down in 1996, and was replaced by the depot that's here now. The current depot was built in 2004.   Tour Northbound train I feel like anyone who's been a long time fan of mine can already tell this station is awful within just this photo.  Southbound platform Track ballast Why are the tracks so far away from the station? When I got off the train, it was a scary ordeal to get onto the track ballast that's below platform height and then immediately cross train tracks. What do you...