Waldo station is a former train station in
Waldo, Florida
Waldo is a city in Alachua County, Florida, United States. According to the 2010 census the population was 1,015, up from 821 in 2000.
History
The first major U.S. federal highway in early territorial Florida, Bellamy Road, was constructed in ...
along the
CSX
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
S-Line. It serves
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 ...
's
Thruway Motorcoach
Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, tran ...
bus system and previously served trains for Amtrak and other rail operators. The station is located at the interchange of
US 301
U.S. Route 301 (US 301) is a spur of U.S. Route 1 running through the South Atlantic States. It runs from Biddles Corner, Delaware at Delaware Route 1 to Sarasota, Florida at U.S. Route 41. It passes through the states of Delaware, Mar ...
and
State Road 24 in Waldo, Florida.
History
The original Waldo train station was built by the
Seaboard Air Line Railway
The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , which styled itself "The Route of Courteous Service," was an American railroad which existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime rival, t ...
as a two-story structure with a large freight room, and was a divisional headquarters. In 1930, the top floor and part of the freight room were removed, and in 1963, the old building was replaced by the current structure. The station served the SAL's
mainline in Florida. Trains included the
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
-
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
and
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
''
Silver Meteor
The ''Silver Meteor'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between New York City and Miami, Florida. Introduced in 1939 as the first diesel-powered streamliner between New York and Florida, it was the flagship train of the Seaboard Air Line ...
'' and ''
Silver Star
The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an e ...
,'' which operated in a more limited stop context in Florida, and the trains operating on the same route, ''Palmland'' and ''Sunland.''
In 1971, most passenger service in the United States was transferred to Amtrak, and the ''Silver Meteor'' retained its stop in Waldo. Throughout the latter part of the 20th century, Amtrak would move trains off and onto the S-Line. Some of these trains include the ''Silver Meteor'', ''Silver Star'', ''
Floridian'', and ''
Palmetto''. Finally, Amtrak revived the ''
Silver Palm'' along the CSX S-Line in 1996, where it would keep its name, sleepers, and diner until 2002. In 2002, the train would be renamed back to ''Palmetto''.
[Amtrak Timetable effective April 29, 2002, p. 33 http://timetables.org/full.php?group=20020429n&item=0033] Two years later, the ''Palmetto'' was truncated to
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...
on November 1, 2004, prompting Amtrak to revive ''Silver Star'' service to Tampa along the CSX A-Line shared by the current ''
Silver Meteor
The ''Silver Meteor'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between New York City and Miami, Florida. Introduced in 1939 as the first diesel-powered streamliner between New York and Florida, it was the flagship train of the Seaboard Air Line ...
'', and part of the suspended ''
Sunset Limited
The ''Sunset Limited'' is an Amtrak passenger train that for most of its history has operated between New Orleans and Los Angeles, over the nation's second transcontinental route. However, up until Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it operated betwe ...
'', and finally ending passenger service to Waldo. Today, the station only serves as a stop for
Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach bus service between
Jacksonville
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...
and
Lakeland.
References
External links
*
Waldo Amtrak Station (USA RailGuide – TrainWeb)
Waldo
Waldo may refer to:
People
* Waldo (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
* Waldo (surname), a list of people
* Waldo (footballer) (1934-2019), full name Waldo Machado da Silva, Brazilian footballer
Places Canada
* Waldo, ...
Waldo
Waldo may refer to:
People
* Waldo (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
* Waldo (surname), a list of people
* Waldo (footballer) (1934-2019), full name Waldo Machado da Silva, Brazilian footballer
Places Canada
* Waldo, ...
W
Waldo Station
Waldo station is a former train station in Waldo, Florida along the CSX S-Line. It serves Amtrak's Thruway Motorcoach bus system and previously served trains for Amtrak and other rail operators. The station is located at the interchange of US 301 ...
Railway stations closed in 2004
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1963
1963 establishments in Florida
{{Florida-railstation-stub