I read references in Trains to depots and stations, but can’t work out if they are interchangeable, or there are some subtle differences that have passed me by. Over in the UK everything is a station, from a single platform to a multi-track terminus. There used to be “halts” defined, I think as not being staffed, but the halt/station distinction ended many years ago.
Many thanks
My guess would be. A depot is a terminal, and or major transfer place.
( Grand Central Terminal, Penn Station, NY, etc.)
A station would be a stop along the train route.
By the strictest US definition: a station is any point named in the Timetable; and a depot is a building.
Nick
Usually a crew will refer to a depot as there off duty point. A station is where passenger and detrained and intrained. Depot- crew, station-passenger.
As Nick said, a station is any point named on the employee timetable. John Armstrong, in an article on modeling the White Pass and Yukon, published a photo of a WP&Y station - a sign board on a post, next to otherwise totally unremarkable single track.
Depot comes from the French, a storage place. Since most early stations had buildings which, among other things, allowed for the storage of freight or supplies, the name attached itself to the building at the station.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with eki)
Back in the days when travel by train was much more common than it is now, calling the place where trains stopped a depot was quite common, even though crews did change at there. I had not been aware of the distinction that Anonymous made.
I’ve lived in the US most of my life and I have never heard the term “depot” used. However, I have seen it in books. The books are talking about places in the mid west or west.
Usually the word I have heard is “station” for any place a train stops including a terminal. Back when I rode the New Haven Railroad I remember conductors saying “Grand Central Station” although it is really a terminal. However, if you ride the train to Hoboken the announcement will be “Hoboken Terminal” which is accurate.
I grew up in New York, but lived in the mid-west since college days, and was trying to recall if I heard the word depot while still in NY. I checked some of of the NY places I was familiar with and found Bedford Hills station was at Depot Plaza, and Saranac Lake station was on Depot St. Maybe depot is more of an old time term.
Depot is a French word that means storehouse. To me, it seems pretty clear that its origins lie in the “depot” being, among other things, a “storehouse” for shipments that have arrived.
Yes, when I think of depot, anyway, I think in terms of a depsotory where things are stored while awaiting the next move, thus a building as opposed to the location. Station would designate and name the location where trains stopped or left from. A depot at the station would indicate a place where freight, mail, and express were handled and where passengers could buy tickets and wait.
The address of the Train Station in Salisbury, NC:
279 Depot St, Salisbury, NC 28144
Your right, Dave. I remember riding the DL&W with Phoebe to Salisbury. It was a strange trip. And, as I got off the train in my spotless white suit I got a big smudge when a coal shovel hit me in my backside.
Now now, John. You know she didn’t go to NC.
Of course I know the rest of the story is probably true.
Like I said, Dave, the trip was strange. When we got on at Hoboken I thought we were going to Buffalo. We pulled out of Scranton but instead of going to Binghamton we seem to have made a wrong turn. Anywhere, we we going along a river and I looked out and saw a station sign that said “Lambertville, NJ.” The train stopped, Phoebe took me out and we caught a cab to a small hotel next to a wishing well. Well, I’m embarrassed to tell you what happened there but the next day we caught the same train in Lambertville and went on not stopping until finally the train pulled in to Salisbury. Well, I was really captivated by Phoebe and she wanted to get off there and what else could I do? Right there on Depot Street was the Depot Hotel. We paid for our room and stayed I don’t know how long. And then all of a sudden we were back in Hoboken. Phoebe wanted the trip to be our secret and I’ve never told anyone about it except you so please keep it a secret. But I never got to Buffalo. And I never could get that black smudge off the seat of my pants.
A picture for your wallet to remind you of the trip.
Have you ever considered writing romance novels? Train themed, of course.
Depot was the Frrench word used by railroads to designate an important station in the 19th Century. The Coommodore Vanderbilt-built building that preceded today’s 100+ year old Grand Central Terminal was called Grand Central Depot. A station can be anyplace a train has a scheduled stop, from a simple road crossing with a sign to a large ediface like 30th Stret Station or Grand Central Terminal, both of which could have been classed as Depots in the 19th Century. A Terminal is a stub-end station where trains temrinate and originate and a station is a through station where at least some trains run through. Thus Pensylvania Station and Graand Central Terminal. Theere were exceptions with local usage, like Reading Terminal, which it was, and for some reason Broad Street Station, which was also a terminal. Then there was the Oakland Mole, instead of the Oakland Terminal, for the SP!
Grand Central Station refers to a Post Office as well as Subway Station.
I’ll have to talk to Phoebe about my new career writing novels.
“Grand Central Depot?” I refuse to believe it. What did old Corneil know about railroads?
For the most part, amomng the general population, “Station” and “Depot” are synonymous terms in the US generally used to refer to a current or former building used for the purpose of railroad passenger travel and/or freight shipment. Use of the terms can also vary by region and between generations. My dad might have called it a Depot; but I might call it a Station.
“Depot” I think of as a small town or mid-size city station, and big cities as having, e.g., Grand Cenrtral Station, Union Station, Penn Station, etc. But I’ve also used them interchangeably. Somehow “depot” seemed more common in the Midwest and “station” in the East, even for small communities’ commuter train stations.