Largest city in each state not service by a rail line.

[dvferyance]

I thought this would be an interesting fact which is the largest city in each state that is not serviced by a rail line? I believe the largest in Wisconsin would be West Bend although it was once serviced by a rail line up until about 2003. Does anyone know what the largest one would be in their state?

[pianocello]

Des Moines. Iowa is severely underserved by passenger rail. In fact, the largest city that has a rail line going through it is Burlington (pop. 25K--18th in the state).

As far as rail of any kind, I think the largest city without a line is Marion.

[hotdogPi]

Manchester NH, as far as I know, has no passenger rail (I think it still has freight). Amtrak goes nowhere near Manchester, and Manchester does not have its own train system.

Manchester is the largest city in New Hampshire.

[oscar]

Are we counting light rail? Or rail lines operated just as tourist attractions?

In Hawaii, there is no freight rail anywhere, except perhaps internal lines within military bases. Honolulu is working on LRT, and had (if not taken over for the LRT project) a tourist rail line in the SW corner of the metro area. A similar tourist line is in the west end of Maui.

Unless you exclude the in-progress LRT in Honolulu, Hilo (population > 43,000) wins the prize for Hawaii.

In Alaska, heavy freight/passenger rail serves all the big cities except Juneau (population > 32,000).

[SP Cook]

If you are talking about freight service, West Virginia has an extensive system due to coal, so you have to go all the way down to the "city" of Spencer, with a huge population of 2,322. 

Passenger service would be the state's 3rd largest city, 31,429 resident Parkersburg,

[jp the roadgeek]

New Britain has the 8th largest population in CT, and is the highest not served by a passenger rail line (although many consider the station in nearby Berlin to be the de facto New Britain station). Four of the top 6 (Bridgeport, New Haven, Stamford, Norwalk) are directly on the Northeast Corridor.  Hartford has Amtrak branch service but will soon have commuter passenger rail service, while Waterbury and Danbury have branch service of Metro North. 

[The Nature Boy]

In Maine, Lewiston (2nd largest city in the state) lacks passenger rail.

Similar to NH, Vermont's largest city (Burlington) also lacks passenger rail. Though Essex Junction, 25 minutes away, functions as the defacto station for the city.

[Buck87]

Ohio's largest city, Columbus, lacks passenger rail, and it just might top the list nationally in this category

Though if you're talking any type of rail (as in freight) than that would be an interesting thing to try and look up

[freebrickproductions]

As far as passenger rail goes. 3 of the four largest cities in Alabama (Mobile, Montgomery, and Huntsville) aren't served by any kind of passenger rail. Not sure what the largest city here in Alabama is without an active rail line of any kind though. as just about every town of a decent size tends to have one. Maybe Centreville, AL though?

[DaBigE]

I thought this would be an interesting fact which is the largest city in each sate that is not serviced by a rail line? I believe the largest in Wisconsin would be West Bend although it was once serviced by a rail line up until about 2003. Does anyone know what the largest one would be in their state?

While the line going thru town was removed in 2004, a dead-end line still services an industrial park on the far southern side of the city.

[DTComposer]

If we're talking passenger rail, then for California it would be Long Beach (does have light rail and freight lines).

San Francisco has heavy passenger rail (Caltrain), light rail, subway and freight lines, but no connection to Amtrak.

As far as any rail line, it's not a single city, but I'm thinking the Monterey Peninsula.

[AlexandriaVA]

Suggested terms of reference:

Passenger rail=a station with regular passenger service.

Freight service=an industrial spur or siding capable of supporting freight operations

[Pink Jazz]

We don't have commuter rail in AZ, but if light rail and streetcars count, the largest city without such service would be Chandler (fourth largest city in Arizona).  As for freight trains I am not sure, since practically every Phoenix suburb has freight train tracks either from UP or BNSF.

[dvferyance]

Ohio's largest city, Columbus, lacks passenger rail, and it just might top the list nationally in this category

Though if you're talking any type of rail (as in freight) than that would be an interesting thing to try and look up

Sorry if I didn't make this clear enough I was really intending this to be about the largest city in a state without any kind of rail line. But if you want to talk about the largest cities without passenger rail I would be open to it. Madison WI is not served by passenger rail however the Amtrak Empire Builder does have a stop in Columbus which is only 25 miles to the NE.

[coatimundi]

In California, Murrieta and Temecula - which are pretty close in population - both have no railroads. I think those are the largest cities. Inglewood, which is a little larger, I think may not have any rail either.

[andrewkbrown]

Ohio's largest city, Columbus, lacks passenger rail, and it just might top the list nationally in this category

Though if you're talking any type of rail (as in freight) than that would be an interesting thing to try and look up

Until someone can find a larger city in Ohio, I say Xenia, with a population of 25,000 would be Ohio's largest city without any railroad lines. It's former 2-3 rail lines have all since been converted to rail-trails.

[lepidopteran]

If you are talking about freight service, West Virginia has an extensive system due to coal, so you have to go all the way down to the "city" of Spencer, with a huge population of 2,322. 

Passenger service would be the state's 3rd largest city, 31,429 resident Parkersburg,

Actually, the largest WV city would be Wheeling (pop. just over 28000), unless you count about 10 feet of overgrown-with-weeds tracks that just enter the southern city limits.  Wheeling used to have at least 2 lines, but they've all been dismantled.  One B&O route, which used to be visible from I-70 at multiple points between the Wheeling Tunnel and Washington, PA, was ripped out rather hastily circa 1987.  I suspect it was a "shoot first, ask questions later" type of abandonment.

There are active tracks just across the Ohio River, though.

[cjk374]

Louisiana:

No passenger service: Shreveport, Monroe, Alexandria.

No freight rail:  Houma, Thibodaux, Winnsboro, Ferriday/Vidalia,

[lepidopteran]

In Maryland, the state capital, Annapolis, is the winner with a population of about 38,000.  No trackage whatsoever; much of the Baltimore & Annapolis RR that did serve the city at one time is now a bike trail.

However, you could formerly include Frederick, the second largest city in the state with over 60,000.  There's an abandoned line that runs right in the middle of a downtown street.  But a section to the south was reconstructed maybe 15 years ago for commuter service and at least one freight customer.  (Rare to see a disused railroad rebuilt nowadays.)

[dvferyance]

I thought this would be an interesting fact which is the largest city in each sate that is not serviced by a rail line? I believe the largest in Wisconsin would be West Bend although it was once serviced by a rail line up until about 2003. Does anyone know what the largest one would be in their state?

While the line going thru town was removed in 2004, a dead-end line still services an industrial park on the far southern side of the city.

It appears that the line does run into the city limits just a we little bit. I know the 2 major Milwaukee suburbs without any rail is Franklin and Muskego.

[tdindy88]

Indiana's largest without passenger service would certainly be Fort Wayne as the nearest Amtrak station is 20 miles to the north in Waterloo.

Largest without a railroad would be Carmel. The only railroad through that city became the Monon Trail years ago.

[mgk920]

Here in Wisconsin, the largest muni without a common-carrier rail passenger station is indeed Madison.  Among the top ten munis in population in the state, only Kenosha, La Crosse and Milwaukee have active stations.

As for freight service (discounting suburbs), that's a tough one.  Antigo has no active railroads and may be the largest without, although Sturgeon Bay and Clintonville are also within that size range.  Two Rivers has a dormant rail line that extends into the city, but IIRC, it hasn't yet been used in the 21st century.

Mike

[Brandon]

Illinois has a very extensive rail system, both freight and passenger (Amtrak and Metra).  Thus, the largest municipality without direct (as in within municipal limits) rail service would have to be Bolingbrook.  Otherwise, the area without any rail whatsoever is pretty far down the list.

[jwolfer]

Anyntown of any significance that was founded before 1940 was on a railroad. Lots of towns were moved to be on railroad lines

LGMS428

[cl94]

In New York, Binghamton for passenger rail. Closest Amtrak station is Syracuse, commuter rail is Middletown. As far as any rail service, likely Gloversville (population 15,315) if we're talking cities/villages. There may be a larger town with no active rail.