Riverside Station



Riverside Station is an old, deserted train station in the game Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and the only known stop the Excess Express makes between Rogueport and Poshley Heights; the train typically stops at this station so it can be refueled before its commute continues. Following its abandonment, a large swarm of Smorgs have taken up residence amid the station's dilapidated interior. The station proper contains a hub area, an elevator, a clock room, and an old office and archives in the station's basement. While Mario and his team were travelling to Poshley Heights to find the Garnet Star in Chapter 6, an unknown person (possibly the Smorgs) lifted the station's drawbridge, which the Excess Express needs to cross; a Riverside worker informs Mario of the dilemma and gives him a key, granting him access to the otherwise locked station. From there, Mario must access the station's basement to obtain the Ultra Boots. Using his newly acquired boots, Mario must hit the switch inside the station to reactivate the drawbridge, allowing it to fall back into place so the Excess Express can continue its commute. The Smorg horde stowed away on the train shortly after the dilemma was resolved and attacked the train the next morning, but was eventually defeated by Mario and his team.

As aforementioned, the station seems all but abandoned (sans the many enemies inhabiting it) and without any signs of upkeep, despite having two known workers. There was once a river that flowed beneath the bridge here (hence the name "Riverside Station"), but it dried up at an undisclosed time before Mario's arrival and the area has since become a pasture. The station's decommission was quite possibly a result of the Smorg infestation or other enemies that invaded.

The in-game map description reads, "A station the Excess Express must stop at in order to refuel. Long ago, a river flowed beneath the suspension bridge, but it has since dried up. The view of the setting sun from here is unrivaled, according to locals."

Enemies

 * Goomba
 * Poison Pokey
 * Spiked Parabuzzy
 * Spike Top
 * Ruff Puff

Formations
For enemy formations in Riverside Station, see here.

Area Tattles

 * "This is Riverside Station. It's one of the places where the Excess Express stops. This place is famous for its scenic beauty... It's the sunsets, you know. Just one more of the many pleasures Excess Express passengers get to enjoy."
 * "We're inside Riverside Station. It's an old brick building with natural warmth. Its antique elevator is totally charming, too. I am in LOVE with that thing! You think it works, though? I'm not that fond of getting trapped in elevators..."
 * "We're inside Riverside Station. This place has been out of use for a while, I think. I love those solitary lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling. It's so shabby chic."
 * "This is the other side of the big clock. Lots of endlessly moving gears... A lonely clock, counting out the endless progression of hours, heard by no one..."
 * "We're on the outer stairs. A door at the bottom leads to an underground office. But listen, Mario... Don't spend time worrying about posters that blow away in the wind. Let's just take in this killer sunset for a while before our next bad-guy appointment."
 * "This is the Riverside Station garbage dump. Talk about an annoying place to navigate! And it smells like rotting Goomnuts... It's amazing how much people throw away. There should be a door to the underground office somewhere down here."
 * "This is the Riverside Station office...but there doesn't seem to be anyone here. Hey, and now that I think of it, why would they put an office down here anyway? ...Or was I not supposed to bring that up?"
 * "This is the Riverside Station records room. They file all station business here. ...Or at least I think they do. Yup, these are probably files. Not to change the subject... But did you know you have to hit some switches a certain number of times? Yeah, that kind of came out of left field, but I was just wondering if you knew that..."

Trivia

 * The face of the station's clock tower is only visible during cutscenes, and displays the time based on that of the GameCube's internal clock.
 * The Excess Express only arrives at sunset regardless of what time the player visits the station.
 * Even after the player lowers the drawbridge, the train will always stop at Riverside Station on subsequent journeys between Rogueport and Poshley Heights.
 * The ordinary Goombas in the records room have several oddities that may indicate they were added very late in development: they are an early-game enemy and much weaker than other enemies encountered in the station, they do not thematically fit in with the area like the other enemies do, and despite being located in the records room, they use a battle background depicting the hallway upstairs. No enemies are found in the hallway, so the background may possibly have been leftover from a cut battle with Beldam and Marilyn in this chapter and repurposed for the Goombas.
 * The interior of Riverside Station has no music, only ambient sounds. However unused background music intended for Riverside Station can be found within the game's files.

Tulpenbach