I saw a thread in the Southeast forum of Amtrak stations in the Southeast. So let's see the stations/depots of the Midwest be they large, small, demolished, decommissioned, transformed, current, or future stations.
Cincinnati Union Terminal
- Construction started in 1928, officially opening in 1933.
- Cost: $41.5 million
- Mosaic Murals: 22'x110' long (+14 smaller murals)
- Avg. traffic: 218 trains/day
- 3 underground entrances: streetcars, buses, taxis
- In July 1958, Union Terminal was witness to the end of an era as the last mainline passenger steam train in the U.S., the Norfolk and Western #603, originated in Cincinnati.
St. Louis Union Station was at one time the largest and busiest train station in the world. It closed in 1978 and has been transformed into a tourist mall/hotel/entertainment complex:
The new station, known as Gateway Transportation Center, combines Amtrak, Greyhound, MetroLink and city buses.
St. Louis Union Station was at one time the largest and busiest train station in the world. It closed in 1978 and has been transformed into a tourist mall/hotel/entertainment complex:
.
I like Milwaukee's new terminal design. However, the terminal basically has no vendors there. The only food you can get comes out of a vending machine. Not good. Also, the train boarding system needs to be improved.
Union Station, Indianapolis. While this is not the original station, it was build on the site of America's very first Union Station. This station opened in 1888. Like many, it fell on hard times. It was renovated into a "festival marketplace" in the 1980's. This closed after Circle Centre Mall opened. Today, the station is used for offices, including architecture firm A2SO4, engineering firm RW Armstrong, and the local Mexican Consulate. It is also home to a Crown Plaza hotel that features a limited number of rooms housed in authentic Pullman sleeping cars, still sitting on the tracks. Amtrak serves the station with one train per day, and Greyhound uses the station for its terminal as well. Of particular note is the seven acre train shed on the rear, which originally housed 14 tracks, and is one of only a dozen such structures surviving in America today.
I suppose one should avoid romanticizing the often harsh and cruel realities of railroads, but it cannot be denied that, by today's standards, even the more modest stations of its prosperous age seem truly grand.
I love these stations.
I am not the biggest fan of art deco but I love the Cincy station. It reminds me of something out of Indiana Jones.
STL has an amazing station. You cannot go wrong with Romanesque.
Speaking of which, I am surprised there are not any images of the interior of Indy's station. It has the same shape as the image of the STL station interior.
BTW, Indy's first station opened in the 1840's after the horrible failure with the canals.
First one
STL has an amazing station. You cannot go wrong with Romanesque. Speaking of which, I am surprised there are not any images of the interior of Indy's station. It has the same shape as the image of the STL station interior. BTW, Indy's first station opened in the 1840's after the horrible failure with the canals.
Unfortunately, the head house appears to be closed to the public. At least I can't figure out how to get in there. Parts of the train shed are used for offices - I was there this week for the first time since the festival marketplace closed, actually. But it is not inspiring to photography.
and here's a rendering of the 18 story addition proposed for union station taking the building to a total of 26 floors. the structure was originally built back in the 20s with such an addition in mind, but it was never completed. and now that the economy is in the crapper, who knows if this proposal will ever see the light of day either.
Chicago has four downtown passenger terminals. LaSalle St. station is interesting because it spans Congress. I really like what they did with a post-modern take on Romanesque Revival that, because it is in a building labeled "Chicago Stock Exchange", also looks like a trading floor. Randolph St. station is invisible underground.
^ View of northern facade along Everett Street, between 4th and 3rd Streets (current site of We Energies Annex).
^ A northeastward view from the intersection of Clybourn and 5th Streets, looking toward the trainshed.
The Chicago & North Western Depot
^ A southeasterly view, looking toward the main streetside entrance at the foot of Wisconsin Avenue (current site of O'Donnell Park).
The railroads were forced to vacate their depots in the mid-1960s to facilitate planned freeway construction. Both railroads moved into a shared depot (posted earlier) elsewhere downtown. The Milwaukee Road's trackage leading up to its depot would have interfered with the flow of traffic from I-794 on/off ramps and reconfigured surface streets. The depot building itself was not going to be affected by freeway construction, and stood vacant for a very short time until a fire partially destroyed it, and was ultimately torn down completely. Across town, the Chicago & North Western's trainshed and lakefront trackage was slated for a freeway project that was ultimately never built (the Lake Freeway to Park East Freeway connection). Again, the depot building itself could have been spared, but the County could not find a buyer in time, and it was subsequently demolished.
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