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[Robert Pence]

Excellent photos, Bedhead. I like the way you captured the hurried movement of travelers in the last ones.

It seems many of the stations overseas have great, spacious trainsheds with natural light. It's a stark contrast with most of ours in the US; dank, dark, low-ceilinged caves with grimy raw-concrete platforms that haven't seen a pressure washer in years, and dirty, litter-strewn track pits. US passenger rail is such a dismal joke, and even with dramatically-growing public demand and a supportive administration (at last!), there's a lot of strident political opposition to trying to bring it up to the standards maintained in many other countries.

For your viewing pleasure, may I present the 1911 Chicago Northwestern Station. It was razed and replaced by Ogilvie Transportation Center, a giant mirrored-glass jukebox, in 1984. I took this photo about 1980 on an unpleasant winter day; the original is a 35mm slide, Kodachrome, I think.

[Bedhead]

^ Fantastic building. I love the way the facade builds up from the sides to those imposing central columns, and the scrolls around the clocks.

British stations of the same period tended to have hotels built in front of them, so they didn't have the same kind of imposing presence of their American counterparts.

One of the grandest Victorian stations, St Pancras, was almost demolished in the 60s - the hotel that was built in front of it in the 1870s only functioned for about 50 years before it was made obsolete by central heating. It stood empty for decades, but a popular campaign saved it and it is now being refurbished. The station behind it has been restored and now Eurostar trains run out of it.





A couple of other UK station facades:

Waterloo, London



Bristol Temple Meads

[theWatusi]

Today at Jim Thorpe, PA, the Reading & Blue Mountain had the former Reading Railroad #425 out to run some Fall leaf excursion trains.

[Robert Pence]

^Beautiful machine, sleek and built for speed. I heard that the locomotive had been given up for dead several years ago because the cost of needed major rebuilding was too high. It's gratifying when someone resurrects one like that.

[harryc]

Originally Posted by Robert Pence

E...snip...

For your viewing pleasure, may I present the 1911 Chicago Northwestern Station. It was razed and replaced by Ogilvie Transportation Center, a giant mirrored-glass jukebox, in 1984. I took this photo about 1980 on an unpleasant winter day; the original is a 35mm slide, Kodachrome, I think.

Any shots of the main hall - that is what I remember most - It was a proper "welcome to the Big city".

[Robert Pence]

Originally Posted by harryc

Any shots of the main hall - that is what I remember most - It was a proper "welcome to the Big city".

Hmmm, let me see ... Oh, yeah! Here's what else I have from Northwestern, circa 1979-1980









Right after I shot this photo, I got thrown out with the admonition that photos were not allowed except by permit and when accompanied by a railroad official. Silly me, using a flash attracted attention. That was the first, but not the last time that I got scolded for taking photos in a station.

[Chicago Shawn]

Originally Posted by Robert Pence

Damn, that is some serious old school! Was this station not modernized at all until the construction of Citicorp Center (Ogilvie)? I never saw the interior in real life, as it was demolished before my time, so I really, really appreciate these photos. The interior doesn't appear to be as grand as Union Station though, so I don't feel quite as bad over the loss. I know Union Station also used to have a really ornate Grand Concourse that was leveled in the early '70s; any interior shots of that by chance?

[theWatusi]

Great shots Rob

[Robert Pence]

Originally Posted by Chicago Shawn

Damn, that is some serious old school!

[ ... ]

I know Union Station also used to have a really ornate Grand Concourse that was leveled in the early '70s; any interior shots of that by chance?

Funny you should ask. I didn't take this one; my aunt, Jeraldine C. Baumgartner, M.D., took it in the early 1950s when she traveled frequently on the Broadway Limited between Fort Wayne and Chicago. I have the Rolleiflex 3.5 twin-lens reflex that she used, and it still works nicely. This scan is from a print about 14x17 that she made then.



The old Chicago Northwestern Station (1911) (Frost and Granger) was several years older than Union Station (1913-1925). The design of Union Station was initiated by DH Burnham Company, but Burnham died in 1912 before the project was executed. The project was completed by successor firm Graham, Anderson, Probst, and White, which firm also designed Cleveland's 1930 Terminal Tower incorporating Cleveland Union Terminal.

[Robert Pence]

Please click the photos

[Bedhead]

Cool!

[bulliver]

^^ Best use of an animated gif I've ever seen

Here's CN 5385 rolling through Edmonton

[harryc]

Nice bulliver, trains aren't always clean, the sky isn't always blue.

[bulliver]

Thanks Harry! Not in Edmonton anyway...

[Robert Pence]

I really like that photo, too. The light is unusual, and the composition shows off the massiveness of the beast.

[the sage]

I can't believe I haven't seen this thread before, I was seriously into trains when I was younger and these photos rekindle some of that!

All the photos are great, I was particularly interested in the Michigan City ones showing the street running section of the line.

Bedhead - Loved this one



The Intercity 125 was always my favorite, my first memories of rail travel are on these.

[buswizard]

Philly is cool like dis:





observe the train # ^^^

[theWatusi]

****NOT MY VIDEO****
but pretty cool and worth posting

• Video Link

[Minato Ku]

Some pics of Paris suburban network

[Robert Pence]

30th Street Station, Philadelphia - 1991



Note how the entire area including the station, post office, streets, and parking lots, sits above a vast cavernous space occupied by electrified tracks.