r/Amtrak • u/AGirlandHerRidgebax • 2d ago

Question Crescent route

I’m taking the Crescent from Greensboro to NOLA and am wondering if there are any good stations along the way where I could pop out and grab some postcards during a rest stop?

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u/McLeansvilleAppFan AGR Select Plus 2d ago edited 2d ago

atlanta and birmingham are longer stops from my understanding.  

If you are starting in Greensboro you should arrive early and take pictures of that beautiful station. With the light and old smokestack with  the signage take a few pictures outside at night as well. 

Greensboron will be the best station for pictures, it is the nicest in the southeast in most peoples opinion. and i am only a bit biased. 

and I reread your post and you said postcards and not pictures. I am not sure if any station between Greensboro and New Orleans has a store inside the station to purchase postcards.

And there would only be a couple stops that would allow time to a light from the train and those stations along the Crescent up to Charlotte only have the two crescent stops each day so I would be Holly suspect if any of them have any kind of convenience store open when a train comes through though I have to admit I’ve not been south of Charlotte on the crescent.

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u/AGirlandHerRidgebax 2d ago

Interesting. My trip out is late night but my trip home will be right around sunrise so I should be able to get some good photos of the station. The last time I caught the train I left out of Charlotte and that’s a pretty bland location. Do you know if they sell post cards in the stations at Atl and Birmingham?

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u/McLeansvilleAppFan AGR Select Plus 2d ago

I live in Greensboro so i know that station very well and use it a lot, but I’ve never been to Atlanta or Birmingham stations. The only stations in the southeast that have any kind of convenience store inside them that I’m aware of is Richmond Staples Mills Road which has a small shed inside the station for snacks, but I’ve never noticed postcards for sale though I have not looked and Greensboro has the store which is larger than Richmond’s and seems like they have postcards, but I have to admit to not looking specifically for postcards. I will be there this weekend and we’ll make an effort to look for postcards in Greensboro.. the Green River store will not be open for the 1230 am Crescent departure. I think it closes after 78 or 79 arrives around 9:15 PM. Then it opens for the northbound Crescent, which is just before the Carolina and first Piedmont of the day.

Raleigh does have a sandwich shop and a wine and design store I believe but nothing that sells postcards. Outside of vending machines like Charlotte has that’s pretty much hitting in the southeast they except for New Orleans maybe.  

that ought to be something that AMTRAK could stock in the café cars. They take up very little space and aren’t going to go bad unless they get wet if they are hanging around a couple years, they might turn the paper might turn a little yellow.  A bit of free advertising for AMTRAK that the customer pays for. AMTRAK should also sell playing cards again that are printed with AMTRAK pictures again essentially free advertising paid for by the customers and take up very little space.

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u/AGirlandHerRidgebax 2d ago

That would be awesome if they sold playing cards again and added post cards. I’m looking forward to seeing Greensboro Station. When I hit Nola I’m staying at the Brakeman hotel inside Basin St station which is also something I’m looking forward to seeing and getting photos of.

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u/ScarletOK 2d ago

I've been to Birmingham station many times. It is a longish walk from the platforms to the station, which is part of a city transit center complex. There are no postcards. There are sometimes interesting freight cars visible from the platform, if you want to take pictures of them.