Burlington
  next stop to theleft Greensboro, NC  Carolinian   Durham, NC next stop to theright 
 Piedmont 
Home<Amtrak<Burlington, NC

Burlington restored train service in the Amtrak area starting on May 12, 1990 when North Carolina began sponsoring the Carolinian to restore service between New York, Raleigh and Durham. Trains originally stopped at a platform in the same location as the current platform (or possibly on the opposite side of the single track) and a temporary modular building was used as the train station. Burlington, NC was originally named company shops when it was founded in 1857 as the halfway point between Charlotte and Goldsboro (towards the coast beyond Raleigh).

On August 19, 2003 the current Company Shops Station was dedicated. The station is inside a former locomotive maintenance shop and engine house that was built circa 1870. In 1895 the line was long-term leased by the Southern Railroad and the shops were faded out of existence with most of them (except for the current building) burning down in 1914. Today this one building has been restored. It is a huge two story brick building shared with the Burlington Police Department's Criminal Investigations Unit is on the Second Floor and offices for the North Carolina Railroad Company (mostly leased to Norfolk Southern but still owned by the state under its original charter). Passengers entering the station from the street or the platform are immediately greeted by the small exhibits of the North Carolina Railroad Company. These exhibits consist of the replica of the front of a steam locomotive and a modern Norfolk Southern locomotive coming out from a couple walls. In the middle of the room is a diorama model of the Company Shops when they were bustling in the 1870s. A few exhibits give the history of railroads in North Carolina and how the state was a very late adopter to modern transportation. Beyond this exhibit hall is a wide vestibule with a couple seats and doors that lead out to the platform. A sign tells passengers to please check in with the station attendant before boarding trains. This requires right and walking through the passenger waiting room. This room has non-descript white walls and wooden benches with standard Amtrak posters. A Quik-Trak Machine is all that's provided for ticketing. A desk with an office beyond is home to the station's NC Station host who when I visited at least wasn't bothering the lock the doors out to the platform.

The only legal entrance to the platform itself are doors out to it that lead to a very small covered outdoor waiting area with benches before the actual platform is reached. This platform is 400 feet long with a tactile warning strip and has a simple, grey canopy structure that covers the middle-third of the platform. On each end of the structure are simple grey with white text Burlington signs.

The western end of the platform is nearly at the grade-crossing of Main Street. The only thing to keep people off the platform here is some ballast and a No Trespassing sign. Webb Avenue is parallel to the tracks opposite the platform with some grass between it and the station and also no fence. Accessing the 'restricted access' platform would be extremely easy by trespassing. The company shops station is surrounded by parking lots with 25 Amtrak Parking spaces and more for the buildings.

Across Main Street from the station is the original erected in 1892 large brick Victorian station. It was moved in the 1970s or 1980s from being trackside when Webb Avenue was moved and straightened. The Victorian station is owned by the Parks Department of Burlington. In front of it is a small red caboose Norfolk and Western Caboose #518654. It contains another small railroad exhibit.
All Photos Taken on 16 July, 2014

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Getting off the Piedmont, the wheelchair lift in its enclosure (not the standard, current design)
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Burlington sign at one end of the platform canopy
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The Baggage/Lounge Car starts to leave the station and cross Main Street
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An F59PH Bringing up the rear of a Peidmont Train #73 leaves
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The blur of F59PH #1893 'City of Burlington' leaves Burlington
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F59PH #1893 'City of Burlington' crosses Main Street bringing up the rear of a departing Peidmont
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The exhaust of overpowered Piedmont #73 with two F59PH Locmootives and four North Carolina Heritage Cars
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The crossing gates of Main Street go up, Peidmont Train #73 has left
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One end of the canopy at Burlington with a sign
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Looking from the platform to the Company Shops Station
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The diarama of Company Shops Circa 1870
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The corridor to the restrooms
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The North Carolina Railroad Company Exhibit
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The doors into Room 101: Passenger Waiting Room
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Three wooden benches and only a Quik-Trak Machine for ticketing the office in the back is for the NC Station Host, not an Amtrak agent with no access to money
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There is a lone soda machine and some candy machines for food
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Plaque from the North Carolina Railway Company
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Streetside of the station
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Home<Amtrak<Burlington, NC
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Last Updated: 30 July, 2014
This website is not affiliated with North Carolina Amtrak, their official website is here. A source I have used countless times while compiling this section is Amtrak's Great American Stations as well as Timetables.org where all historical train information comes from.
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