Jim’s Site contains an expanding series of lists aiming to record all passenger stations and stopping places for various railway and tramway systems throughout the world. This includes relocated and restricted use stations (e.g. for private use, workmen, sports events, armed forces, etc), where information has been found. Information is given either on an “all time” basis or for a particular date or period. All lists give stations and stops in geographical sequence for each line.
He also has a lot of cool trivia
A. Some favourite station names:
USA:
Old Armchair Bridge
No Name
Champagne Fountain
Garden of the Gods
Call of the Wild
Haunted House
Foody
Rough & Ready
Shoe Heel
Horse Thief
Young Man’s Butte
UK:
Bat & Ball
Flowery Field
Hall i’ th’ Wood
Westward Ho!
Messrs Sanders & Co.s Orchid Sheds
Canada:
Road to Herb Lake Gold Mines
Ha! Ha! Junction
South Africa:
Jumbo Halt
Phillipines:
Singalong
B. Longest Station Names
Baltimore & Ohio South-Western & Cleveland Cincinnati Chicago & St. Louis Junction (69 letters – USA)
Longest single word:
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychrwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (58 letters – Wales) However, this is a fabricated name to encourage tourism. Timetables only show Llanfairpwllgwyngyll.
Minami-Aso-Mizono-Mareru-Satohakusui-Kogen (37 letters, Japan).
Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta Halt (28 + 4 letters, India)
C. Shortest Station Names
Contenders:
I can find no station names composed only of a single letter or number. The village of “Y” in France, the world’s shortest place name, unfortunately never had a railway station. There are many stations only referred to by numbers, but the number always follows the words “Station No. ….” or “Stopping Place No….”
There are many station names composed of 2 letters. “Ii” in Hawaii is my favourite.
D. Statistics
(all time passenger routes, including lines now closed to passengers, excluding metros, tramways and modern light rail systems and interurban railways). * AAR maximum total (1920: 252,845) plus additions for extra state by state mileages in earlier and later years and 1% allowance for lines closed/opened before/after state maximum mileage
Passenger Route Mileages World: 850,000 miles (1943 Rly Year Book 790,000 + 10% lines closed before/opened after )
USA:
All time 260.000 miles (RRs) *
16,000 miles (Interurbans)
Today 26,000 miles (23,000 Amtrak + 3000 commuter lines)
UK:
All time 21,250 (21,000 NR + 250 LT)
Today 10,500 (10,250 NR + 250 LT)
Passenger stations and stops:
World:
All time 300,000 (tentative guess!)
Europe:
All time 100,000 (75,000 Dr Koch 1931 + UK + closed/opened before/after + halts not included)
USA:
All time 100,000 (RRs, assuming average 3 miles between stations/stops)
35,000 (Interurbans, assuming 2 stops per mile)
Today 1,600 (500 Amtrak + 1,100 Commuter, excldg Metro, Light Rail & Heritage)
UK:
All time 12,000 (Based on Quicks Chronology, 16 x 2 x 372 pages)
Today 2,800 (2,500 NR + 300 LUL/DLR, excldg other Metro, Tramways & Heritage)
Most common station name in USA:
The contenders are:
Riverside
Springfield
Summit
Taylor(s)
PenneyVanderbilt 