From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishway stationˈway ˌstation noun [countable] American English 1 TTT old-fashioned a place to stop between the main stations of a railway2 a place where you can stop before going on somewhere elseway station to The refugee camps, however dreadful, were a way station to their dream.
Examples from the Corpus
way station• Six legendary singers gather in a way station after death.• For Farini the Great, the tightrope was only an adventurous way station on a roller-coaster journey through life.• In those days, the big waiting room looked like a Kurdish way station.• People thronged to the midnight service, as if the manger were the last way station on earth. 