Ashland

Story

Ashland is an Amtrak intercity train station in Ashland, Virginia, serving the Northeast Regional train. The station is also designated as Ashland's visitor center. The tracks are lined with a cobblestone median in the center of town, making it a popular train-watching site for rail fans.The station succeeds a former Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad station built in 1923 as a replacement for the station which was originally built in 1866 and rebuilt in 1890. The station was closed in 1967, but reopened in 1985.The Ashland station was racially segregated, like many railroad stations in the Southeastern U.S. until the 1960s. A single ticket booth in the center of the building used to serve both the white and black waiting rooms separately. The former black waiting room is now a museum filled with various RF&P railroad artifacts, including blueprints, model railroad trains, a bench that was once on display at the Smithsonian Museum, local newspaper and locally related magazine articles.RoutesNortheast RegionalNotable places nearbyRandolph-Macon CollegeHenry Clay InnHanover Bank Building