Stations

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Thanks for all of the input. I was talking about
public timetable stations lists. I guess I will 
have to find some people who were around back in
the days on my next trip, sometime this summer...

Thanks for all of the answers

Leslie Eversole

-----Original Message-----
From: nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org
[mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org]On Behalf Of
nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 1:05 AM
To: N&amp,W Mailing List
Subject: Re: Stations


At 11:20 PM 1/16/05, Leslie wrote:

According to the timetable, when a location was listed
as a station, what exactly does that mean? There are
places listed as stations that I don't know if there
was a physical building or not? What was the minimum
criteria to be listed as a station? Places like
Ritter-WVa, or Carlos-WVa, or Bartley-WVa.  There were
tipples in all of these places, but what qualifies as
a station? A lean-to where passengers waited? A full
fledged station with an agent?

Thanks
Leslie Eversole


Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 21:20:58 -0500 
To: "N&W Mailing List" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> 
From: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
Subject: Re: Stations 

Leslie

You have asked a rather difficult question.  It is
sort of like asking for a average. There are at least
three ways to figure railroad stations and 
averages.

Basically, a railroad station is a location where a
common carrier holds its self out to receive or
deliver freight, passengers etc. under rules on 
file with the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). 
There may have been station building with or without
an agent but this had no bearing in being a station
designation.  To be a actual station it had to be
published as such in the Open and Prepay Station list
that was on file with the ICC.  The Open and Prepay
Station list was reissued every year and supplemented 
from time to time to add or eliminate a published
station. All common carriers published their stations
in this list including any restrictions such as 
carload freight only etc. By being a station the
carrier maintained a full line of rates to and from
this location on all commodities even though the 
published rate may have been only a class rate.  Guess
the one thing common to most stations is a track or
industrial siding off the main line where 
freight could be unloaded/loaded. Think you will find
that some passenger only stations had a small shed 
next to the main line where one would wait for the
train and flag it down. So I would define a Station as
a location published and on file with the ICC where a
carrier is required to provide some level of common
carrier service.

The second type of station is an operating station
found in employee timetables etc.  They were used by
operating departments and generally designated by mile
post.  These post may or may not have reflected the
actual miles to or from the location posted on the
marker. Some of these points were legal stations
covered above and others listed were only towers,
passing tracks and sidings with no official standing
beyond the department of the carrier.

The third type of station were accounting department
stations. I recall on the N&W they used different
station numbers and did not reflect the official
station number published in the Open and Prepay
station list.  These list were only for use by the
accounting department and no official standing beyond
the department of that carrier.

Jim Blackstock


January 17, 2005

Hello, Jim, Leslie, and others:

I'll supplement Jim's excellent answer with a couple
of points.  First, Leslie, are you referring to an
employee timetable or a public timetable?  If a public
timetable, the "stations" shown would have had a
platform and usually a waiting shelter or station
building.

If your reference is an employee timetable, your
definition is found in the operating rules book. 
Generally, a station is a place named in the employee
timetable.  That doesn't sound like much and may
appear to be a circular reference, but its
significance is that it is a location given a name and
a specific milepost placement.  A dispatcher could not
use a location name in a train order unless it was a
"station;" they had to refer to a milepost, such as
for slow orders.  I may not be absolutely correct in
saying, since I recall one train order I copied on the
RF&P that referred to bridges over Neabsco Creek or
North Anna River.  These landmarks were not
"stations," but were certainly known by train and
engine crews.  Anyway, for employee timetable
"stations," there was usually a name board on a post
at the location, at a minimum. 

GN&GM,

Frank



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