Riverside Station

File:Boarding dock.PNG

The train pulling into the 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. Following its abandonment, a large swarm of Smorgs have taken up residence amid the station's dilapidated interior. During the events of The Thousand-Year Door, an unknown person (possibly the Smorgs) lifts 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. Using his newly acquired Ultra 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.

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.

Enemies

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

Formations

For enemy formations in Riverside Station, see here.

Items

Item	Icon	Found In
Close Call P	File:Closecallp.gif	In the first room, it's on the ledge on the northwest walls.
Dried Shroom	File:DriedShroom PM2.png	In the maze area in the deep place, it's in the garbage can down the maze.
Elevator Key	File:Elevatorkey.gif	In the storeroom area in the deep place, it's on top of a ledge inside a cage in the storeroom.
HP Plus	File:PMTTYD Badge HPplus.png	In the sunset area, it's on a ledge on the northwest wall.
P-Up, D-Down	File:Pupddown.gif	In the maze area in the deep place, it's in a small cave inside the big maze.
Shine Sprite	File:PMTTYDShinespritesprite.png	Near the wall corner in the right of the sunset area in Riverside Station.
		On top of the stairs above the records shelf in the low-west room of Riverside Station.
Star Piece	File:Star Piece.GIF	To the north of the second room, it's behind the last gear.
Station Key	File:StationKey.gif	Outside Riverside Station, it's got from the Toad worker near the bridge.
Station Key		To the north of the second room, it's on the last platform in the gear room.
Thunder Rage	File:ThundahRageTTYD.PNG	In the sunset area, it's in an invisible block on top of the question block on the north side.
Ultra Boots	File:UltraBoots PMTTYD.png	In the storeroom area in the deep place, it's in a chest in the rooftop above the storeroom.

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.
• The battles with Goombas may have been added as an afterthought, as the background used for these fights depicts a room upstairs where no battles occur in the final game; this background may have been a leftover pre-release and unused content from Beldam and Doopliss' battle that was originally going to take place here.
• Even after the player lowers the drawbridge, the train will always stop at Riverside Station en route to Poshley Heights.
• Unused background music intended for Riverside Station can be found within the game's files.