Lorton station is a railroad terminal in

Lorton, Virginia Lorton is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 18,610 as of the 2010 census. History Lorton is named for a village in the Lake District National Park, Cumbria, in England. Joseph Plasket ...

. It is the northern terminal for

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

Auto Train ''Auto Train'' is an scheduled daily train service for passengers and their automobiles operated by Amtrak between Lorton, Virginia (near Washington, D.C.), and Sanford, Florida (near Orlando). ''Auto Train'' is the only motorail service in ...

which operates between this station and Sanford station in Florida. When

Auto-Train ''Auto Train'' is an scheduled daily train service for passengers and their automobiles operated by Amtrak between Lorton, Virginia (near Washington, D.C.), and Sanford, Florida (near Orlando). ''Auto Train'' is the only motorail service in ...

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 The Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad was a railroad connecting Richmond, Virginia, to Washington, D.C. The track is now the RF&P Subdivision of the CSX Transportation system; the original corporation is no longer a railroad compan ...

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. The current station, which opened in 2000 as a replacement for the original Lorton Auto-Train station, features a large, modern waiting area designed in a modern

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style, with high glass walls, a small gift shop, a snack bar, and a children's

playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people ...

. There is one long low-level platform (which is long) designed for

boarding and 6 vehicle ramps for boarding vehicles onto the 20+ autoracks that are on the

. This station is one mile south from the

Virginia Railway Express Virginia Railway Express (VRE) is a commuter rail service that connects outlying small cities of Northern Virginia to Union Station in Washington, D.C. It operates two lines which run during weekday rush hour only: the Fredericksburg Line from ...

Lorton station. No other Amtrak trains stop at either station.

Image gallery

File:Auto Train Platform.jpg, Contemporary platform at Lorton station. Superliners are lined up at the left File:Auto Train Autoracks Rear.jpg, Autoracks are lined up on the right. File:Auto TrainAutoracks Front.jpg, Autoracks lined up at their loading ramps

References

External links

Detailed station and Auto Train info

{{Amtrak Virginia stations Amtrak stations in Virginia Auto Train Railway stations closed in 1981 Railway stations in the United States opened in 1971 Railway stations in the United States opened in 1983 Transportation in Fairfax County, Virginia