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Washington to Danville on The Crescent – US Rail Journeys Series 3 Episode 13
Washington to Danville on The Crescent continues my journey into the evening on The Crescent as we travel towards New Orleans.
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Washington:
We change locomotives in Washington and say goodbye to the Amtrak Cities Sprinter (Siemens ACS-64) that has brought us from New York. There is a delay before our our GE Genesis power arrives and we leave Washinton behind schedule.
As we pass through the Federal centre of Washington again the shadows start to lengthen because it is now late afternoon.
Alexandria:
Our first stop after changing locomotives. I’m heading in the opposite direction to my journey yesterday. The line forks just south of Alexandria and we take the line towards Manassas.
Manassas:
The station dates from 1914 when it was built by the Southern Railway. Today it is a station on the Virginia Railway Express Manassas Line, as well as a stop for the Cardinal, Crescent, and Northeast Regional train routes.
The station appears on the cover of Manassas‘s 1972 self-titled double album and it also appears in the music video for the Steve Winwood song ‘Back in the High Life Again’.
Culpepper:
Culpeper station was built by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad in 1904. The Cardinal and Crescent and two daily Northeast Regional trains stop here.
In 1985 the Norfolk Southern Railway tried to demolish a portion of the station but a citizens’ committee was formed to save the building. In 1995, the town got a $700,000 renovation grant under the Virginia Department of Transportation Enhancement Program. The renovated building opened to the public in 2000.
Charlottesville:
Charlottesville Union Station is used by the Cardinal, Crescent, and daily Northeast Regional passenger trains. It is Amtrak’s third-busiest station in Virginia apart from the Auto Train station in Lorton.
The station is in walking distance of the University of Virginia, which is the major employer in the area.
The station dates from 1885 and nearly 64,200 Amtrak journeys started or ended here in 2021.
Lynchburg:
The three storey Kemper Street station, which is built into a hillside, dates from 1912. The top floor is on Kemper Street while at the bottom, on the opposite side, are the platforms.
A a redevelopment project, budgeted at over $3 million, took place after years of continued use and neglect when Lynchburg City Council realised that renovations were necessary.
In April 2002 the newly restored Kemper Street station opened. Nearly 28,500 passengers used the station in 2021.
Danville:
We’re running about 50 minutes late when we reach Danville station, a historic railway station dating from 1899. In 1915, when the track was moved 133 feet to the northeast, the station was jacked up on rollers, and then crews used mules and stump pullers to roll the building. They reached the new site without cracking a single brick!
Over 3,700 journeys started or ended here in 2021.
Next up:
If you enjoy these podcasts please join me in a couple of weeks as I continue my journey south on The Crescent towards New Orleans.
Links:
To visit the Amtrak website please follow this link.
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Music:
AKM Music licenses Steam Railway and Happy Times for use in this podcast.
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