http://www.flickr.com/photos/telstar/100478775/

But the formatting, at least as it appears in my browser (Firefox/Windows XP) is terrible — especially on this post!

I got very quickly lost, and had to scroll up and down the page for several minutes trying to figure out which pictures corresponded to which text.

You’ve got the text for Philadelphia next to the pictures from Columbus, the text for New Orleans next to the pictures for Philly, the text for Minneapolis next to the pictures for N.O., etc.

A little more care with the HTML would make this material much more coherent.

Every once in awhile, we actually see new stations which are very nice. Take a look at Saco, Maine’s station which opened a year ago, uses geothermal heat (nice and warm on the feet, since the heat comes through the floor), has a wind turbine for electricity (not functioning as well as hoped) and a roof made from recycled soda bottles, and is filled with locally crafted furniture. It’s the first green design train station in the US, and it’s one of the nicest small stations you will ever see in this country.

The point here is that this kind of architecture doesn’t come along much anymore. These days everything is built with one goal in mind: how can we build it as cheap as possible. And that leads to buildings like the hideous New Orleans station, which reminds me of post-WW2 German architecture, or perhaps Coldwar-era Soviet buildings. Large, poured concrete, with a slight and sickly nod towards ornamentation, usually in the form of pseudo columns that lend it more an air of a prison than anything else.

Yes, money is an issue. It always is. But perhaps we need to realize that it shouldn’t always be the driving force behind every decision. I’m a small business owner myself, and I’d happily cut into my own profits to a reasonable extent if I could rent a more expensive space in a building like the old Penn Station, rather than some generic modern business “park.”

Pamela has the right of it, I think. We’re too eager to move “forward” without really understanding if it’s progress at all.

Though no longer used for train travel, all the associated buildings as well as the main station are now being reused. In fact, a Marriott hotel modeled after the architecture of the station sits where the tracks used to be.

In the 1980’s, the tracks were relocated underground to the north and a new smaller station was built.

History and pictures can be viewed at:

http://www.artinruins.com/arch/?id=stillinuse&pr=unionstation#top6

All but the first two pictures, (the old Union Station which burned in 1896), are of the later station that opened in 1898.

Good news on the Buffalo Central Terminal….it’s being saved!

A not-for-profit preservation group bought the terminal back in 1997 and have slowly been working to restore it. Major stabilization has been undertaken and the building decay has lessened. It’s been alarmed and the vandals no longer have free rein to destroy the building.

As many of the original fixtures were stripped away and are scattered all over the world, quality reproductions have been created (such as the railings) and there are plans for more (such as replicating the Art Deco lighting fixtures). The original clock that stood in the main concourse has been brought back and it looks wonderful in its original spot. The preservation group does tours through the terminal to raise money and awareness. They hold events there such as an Octoberfest, model train show, etc. I just went through a tour there this past Sunday and thoroughly enjoyed seeing the inside of the building. I and the others learned about the historical past, plans for the future and took hundreds of photos to document the beautiful building. It’s fantastic the amount of Art Deco touches scattered through the building.

One thing that’s seriously being discussed is making the old terminal part of the area’s high speed rail plan. Being that it is located on the main line track (along with many other positives), the idea is gaining steam and now has some political backing.

http://buffalocentralterminal.org/

Thanks to Crooks and Liars for linking to this site!

It’s a beautiful building and I’m so glad it’s still standing. It’s a Marriott/mall right now, but at least it’s still something.

I grew up wanting to ride trains, but they retreated before I could get into using them. At least I got to see Chicago Union Station in 2001. Handsome, if not a bit overdone with the ceilings so high up.

As a matter of fact, isn’t part of the problem of operations of older facilities also dependent upon efficiencies of operation of said facilities? We often hear that larger buildings are harder to heat, very expensive to heat and maintain, and so forth.

During most of the time between 1975 and now, the site was used as a parking lot and mobile home campground and storage area. Today, there are condos on the site: .

Photos of the current train station, at 4th and Townsend/King, can be found via the station’s Wikipedia page, .

Of course, what all these stations need most is more trains. They are dreary now because they are served once or twice a day, or twice a night, like Cincinnati. If all Amtrak routes had two daily trains each way it would help them come alive.

Adding a more routes could make a good change. Reviving the Pioneer to Seattle would give more life to Denver’s Union Station. Putting in the proposed Front Range service Denver-Colorado-Pueblo-Albuquerque-Las Cruces-El Paso would bring even more energy to Denver, and to El Paso’s sleepy Victorian pile as well. Opening the route Atlanta-Birmingham-Jackson-Shreveport-Dallas-El Paso-L.A. would then make the El Paso station a living breathing thing. It would be urban renewal by rail.

http://bit.ly/QjesJ

Today, the Union Passenger Terminal is (essentially) one squat block. Size wise it probably isn’t larger than fifty yards across, and another twenty the other way. Rail and the Hound are the only travel options, and it doesn’t connect with any of the local bus routes.

Overall, the Louis Sullivan looks like a freight terminal as opposed to a passenger terminal.

Yes indeed, so much greatness has been lost. When we look back, it wasn’t so long ago when America was building, fueled by the immigration boom, the WWII victory, and so on… We had the wind at our backs, and we felt as though we were invincible.

Those were heady times. We should fondly remember them, and we should often reflect upon and study where we came from as Americans. Remember that solid, if young and boisterous creed, bent on building a greater future? Remember, it seems like yesterday, when we “invented” suburbs? We were so in tune with where we were going, there was little time to question it.

Alas, I don’t see that same spirit today. I would like to think the American spirit has risen to greater and loftier goals, but I don’t see it. The current trend toward socialism seems diametrically opposed to individualism, a “can do” attitude, and the freedom we so lustily sought just a brief time ago. We fought so hard to achieve our freedom… So much bloodshed.

I fear that we are lacking the spark and the impetus to continue to be even as great as we once were. I pray I’m wrong.

I do need to note a correction however. Though the “Now” station does represent the only rail station currently in Portland (which actually started as a bus station; rail service was added a few years ago), it is not on the site of the old Union Station (St John Street).

Here’s what is:

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&q=st+john+street+portland+maine&ie=UTF8&ll=43.652628,-70.279332&spn=0.003093,0.006968&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=43.652503,-70.279304&panoid=FANVdgMlzMDJvcB06JYOew&cbp=12,239.41,,0,0.98

Worcester’s Union Station is an example:

http://www.ci.worcester.ma.us/ocm/economic/union.htm

Now that the return to passenger rail seems all but inevitable, the all-freight lines are busy erecting barriers to the use of their rails for passenger traffic. The destruction of our grand termini was just part of the insurance policy.

The Broad St Station complex wasn’t well suited to 20th century land uses, as were many 19th century stations discussed, or even newer stations built into 19th century terminals/yards, with their huge yards at surface level. This was worsened by the fact that some city centers developed around the stations (a result of 19th century commerce being fueled by the railroads), heightening demand for the railroad property that subsequently became under-utilized as rail was replaced as a mode of passenger travel.

When you look at stations that continue to be (relatively) successful, such as Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station, they were well-planned operationally and land-use wise (ie use of air rights over yards, sub-surface approaches), even if Penn is a dingy shadow of its former self. In the case of GCT, very few people on Park Ave in the upper 40’s know they are over a very active rail yard.

Perhaps one of the most important lessons from the loss of Penn Station and the desire for a replacement in the Farley Post Office is that the building itsself can be as important as the under-lying (in this case literally) infrastructure.

Two of the other saddest stories, not mentioned as they’re not (yet) demolished, are Buffalo Central Terminal and Michigan Central Station - both continue to deteriorate in tandem with the cities around them.

One wonders how many of these would have survived had they had the kind of traffic that have kept other stations viable and an integral part of their cities.