Lorton station (Auto Train)
Lorton station is a railroad terminal in Lorton, Virginia. It is the northern terminal for Amtrak's Auto Train, which operates between this station and Sanford station in Florida. When Auto-Train was originally established in Lorton in 1971, the station house was still under construction. Until it was completed sometime between 1972 and 1975, it consisted of tents and pre-fabricated houses and trailers, and the parking lot was still paved only with gravel. When it was completed, it included a former caboose and boxcar previously owned by the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad that was converted into a gift shop. As with the rest of Auto Train, the station closed in 1981 and was reopened in 1983 when Amtrak acquired the service.
Lorton, VA | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
General information | |||||||||||||
Location | 8006 Lorton Road Lorton, Virginia United States | ||||||||||||
Coordinates | 38.7084°N 77.2207°W | ||||||||||||
Owned by | Amtrak | ||||||||||||
Platforms | 1 side platform | ||||||||||||
Construction | |||||||||||||
Parking | Short-term only | ||||||||||||
Accessible | Yes | ||||||||||||
Other information | |||||||||||||
Station code | Amtrak: LOR | ||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||
Opened | 1971 | ||||||||||||
Closed | 1981–1983 | ||||||||||||
Rebuilt | 2000 | ||||||||||||
Passengers | |||||||||||||
FY 2022 | 269,381[1] (Amtrak) | ||||||||||||
Services | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
|
The current station, which opened in 2000 as a replacement for the original Lorton Auto-Train station,[2] features a large, modern waiting area designed in a modern Art Deco style, with high glass walls, a small gift shop, a snack bar, and a children's playground. There is one long low-level platform (which is 1,480 feet (451 m) long) designed for Auto Train boarding and 6 vehicle ramps for boarding vehicles onto the 20+ autoracks that are on the Auto Train.[3][4][5] This station is one mile south of the Virginia Railway Express Lorton station. No other Amtrak trains stop at either station.
Image gallery
- Contemporary platform at Lorton station. Superliners are lined up at the left
- Autoracks are lined up on the right.
- Autoracks lined up at their loading ramps
References
- "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2022: Commonwealth of Virginia" (PDF). Amtrak. June 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
- Photography from the collection of Harv Kahn (1971–1981 Auto-Train railfan site)
- Weinstein, Donald; Warner, David & Sutton, Harry (2008). "Auto Train Travel Tips". On Track On Line. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- "Lorton Auto Train Terminal". Travelblog. 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- "Lorton, VA (LOR)". Amtrak. 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
External links
Media related to Lorton station at Wikimedia Commons