way station vs railroad station

way station and railroad station both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
way station	Yes	No	No	No
railroad station	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, railroad station is a hypernym of way station; that is, railroad station is a word with a broader meaning than way station:

way station: a small railway station between the principal stations or a station where the train stops only on a signal
railroad station: a terminal/node where trains load or unload passengers or goods

Other hypernyms of way station include railroad terminal, railway station, train depot, train station.

way station (noun)	railroad station (noun)
a small railway station between the principal stations or a station where the train stops only on a signal	a terminal/node where trains load or unload passengers or goods
a stopping place on a journey