My sister left for Charlotte, NC today on Amtrak's Carolinian. She was going down to help her in-laws for a couple of weeks. I went to the station to see her off as well as get a few pictures.

1. This is Amtrak's Richmond, VA Staples Mill Road station. Open since 1975, it was the replacement for the location on Broad Street in Richmond. Today it serves all Amtrak Regional Trains staring and terminating here or in Newport News, VA as well as The Silver Star, Silver Meteor, Palmetto, and Carolinian.



2. Amtrak 188 arrives with Northbound Amtrak Regional Train 194. This Train was a couple hours late.



3. Amtrak 44 arrives with the Southbound Carolinian (Train 79). This one was on time.



4. This is a shot of Greendale Tower. Before Central Automated Control, These towers would be located along the main lines where more than one track is located. This one is at the point where RF&P's Acca Yard begins.



This is one of two stations here in Richmond. The other is at Main Street Station in Downtown Richmond. They serve all Amtrak Regional Trains starting and terminating in Newport News, VA.

Opened in 1975...that would explain the stylish vinyl-uh, I mean 'imitation leather' benches inside. I've been there a few times; rode north to NYC on my honeymoon, south to Charlotte to visit family once (5 hours late arriving, thanks CSX slow orders!), and picked up my aunt from Philly for a visit. My wife knew exactly why I wanted to get to the station even though my aunt's train wasn't due for another 90 minutes...

Talking about Richmond, have you had a chance to visit CSX ACCA Yard?

Here are some pics I took a while back:



http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/h...2010-medium.jpg

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/h...2011-medium.jpg

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/h...2020-medium.jpg

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/h...2022-medium.jpg

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/h...2023-medium.jpg

I've been or seen Acca Yard several times. Most of them was from I-64. I've also caught a few trains myself at that station as well. Four of those times was going to Washington, D.C. The first time was in 1977 when the Newport News to Boston train was called The Colonial. In 1989 and 1990, I caught the Virginian. This train started in Richmond. The last time was in 2000 with the regional train that started in Richmond. The only time I caught a southbound train was not an Amtrak train at all. In 1983, I rode a special Norfolk and Western 611 train to Norfolk, Virginia from here. It was apart of a series of National Railway Historical Society convention excursions that was held here in Richmond that year.

I've seen it, but like the Major it's mostly been from the stretch of I-64 that runs alongside. When I lived in the Ginter Park section of Richmond in '98-'99 I used to commute past there every day, hoping for a glance at the resident oddball, 4615 - like the 4617 that is CSX on each end but C&O in the middle, 4615 was CSX on each end but Seaboard System on its flanks.

A couple of years ago my wife found out that Acca's Family Day event was open to the public, but it was not being advertised except by word of mouth. We got a nice look at the shop area and a 2-month-old GEVO that was on display and open for cab visits. They also had a GP40 pulling a widecab caboose on back-and-forth trips on one of the shop leads. Nice of them to open up like that, but I wish they would find a nice spot for an observation deck.

I currently live in Williamsburg, VA, and sometimes get up to Richmond, but CSX is really particular about non-CSX folks getting close to ACCA yard, so there really aren't any good placed for rail fanning these days....

Thankfull for me, I do my railfaning at either the Ashland or Petersburg train stations.

Yeah, I'm just fine with Ashland really, haven't tried some of the nearby crossings yet, but I've seen some good shots from Gwathmey Church Road and a couple others. We might have run into each other and not known it...haven't been out since the 2nd myself though.

I forgot that sometimes I see some interesting trains slowly move through Shockoe Bottom (downtown richmond, va) on multiple trestles next to and over the James River.

I would like to get out to the "center of the universe" Ashland, VA, one day, though