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 it was acquired by Amtrak.
Lorton, VA | |||||||||||
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![]() The waiting area at Lorton | |||||||||||
Location | 8006 Lorton Road Lorton, VA 22079 | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 38.7084°N 77.2207°W | ||||||||||
Platforms | 1 | ||||||||||
Construction | |||||||||||
Parking | Yes | ||||||||||
Other information | |||||||||||
Station code | LOR | ||||||||||
History | |||||||||||
Opened | 1971 | ||||||||||
Closed | 1981 (reopened in 1983) | ||||||||||
Rebuilt | 2000 | ||||||||||
Traffic | |||||||||||
Passengers (FY2014) | 274,445 annually[1] ![]() | ||||||||||
Services | |||||||||||
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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 from 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...
- ...while Autoracks are lined up on the right.
- Autoracks lined up at their loading ramps
References
- "Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2014, Commonwealth of Virginia" (PDF). Amtrak Government Affairs. November 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
- 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.