The latest issue of Trains has a good article by Kevin Keefe on Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station. He believes that it is America’s finest railroad station. Keefe also mentions nine other stations that compete for greatness.
30th Street is a great station. But I give Los Angeles Union Station my vote for the greatest station in the U.S., irrespective of its lace of Corinthian columns.
I am keen to hear what others think about the article and their nomination for America’s greatest station.
I agree, it’s hard to find a station more attractive than LA Union Station.
Era, area, and sentiment will go a long, long way in determining what any individual calls “the finest”. If you’ve never been there, than how are you to choose. 30th St. has to be the winner in the east despite South Sta. Boston, GCT in NYC and Union Sta. in DC if only because it is still what it used to be and always has been. Then, geography takes over, and you will pick by what is closest to your home imagination or what railroad(s) you like best. For me, GCT, despite being only a commuter station today, still carries itself as the proud hostel of the Golden Age of Rail far overshadowing 30th St. Hoboken Terminal in its restored and modernized version is still the only remaining Citadel to entering Gotham by having to leap the waters of the North River. But, yes, as you go west from there, again 30th St. looms its headhouse as being the only one still standing and in the glory of railroad use between Hoboken and, what, Chicago? considering the condition and uses of all those temples in between.
There is no question in my mind that LA Union Station is as fine of a railroad station any where in the world! There may be others that equal it but none surpass it. I have spent a life time in and out of stations around the world LA seems the simplest, with great beauty [but what does an old man know!]. I have always felt that there is a belief that nothing west of the Mississippi quite equals the glories and culture of the east so I was not surprised when I read the article.
Over the past 25 years I have been in and through every station mentioned in the article with the exception of King Street. And I may get that done this summer. I am planning to fly to Portland and take a Cascade to Seattle.
30th Street Station is a great station. There is no doubt about it, and I can understand why Keefe nominated it as number one in the nation. Come to think about it, I have been in 30th Street Station at least once a year for the last five years. That’s not too bad for a Texan.
King Street is very nice, I was in it in Dec. 2009 and it was going under restoration so I could not get a full view. I would suggest that if your going to check it out you come to LA and take the Coast Starlight! I promise you a trip you won’t forget and if you get a bedroom you have access to the Parlour Car and that harkens back to the grand day of railroading. As I have far more days behind me than I have ahead of me [72 yrs. old] I think one of the finest stations was the now long gone Oakland Mole. There was nothing like leaving from the Ferry Building in San Francisco, getting off the boat and walking up to the SP/UP Streamliners [The City of San Francisco and many others heading north and east]. I would love so see a book written on the “Mole” or at least a well documented article. [This might include some discussion of the Southern Pacific ferry boat fleet.]
King Street is very nice, I was in it in Dec. 2009 and it was going under restoration so I could not get a full view. I would suggest that if your going to check it out you come to LA and take the Coast Starlight! I promise you a trip you won’t forget and if you get a bedroom you have access to the Parlour Car and that harkens back to the grand day of railroading. As I have far more days behind me than I have ahead of me [72 yrs. old] I think one of the finest stations was the now long gone Oakland Mole. There was nothing like leaving from the Ferry Building in San Francisco, getting off the boat and walking up to the SP/UP Streamliners [The City of San Francisco and many others heading north and east]. I would love so see a book written on the “Mole” or at least a well documented article. [This might include some discussion of the Southern Pacific ferry boat fleet.]
LAUPT is a nice station. But greater than 30th St? Oh, no, no, no, no, no…
In fact, I would pick Penn Station Baltimore and Penn Station Newark over LAUPT. They just exude “traininess” and the journey from Concourse to platform is part of the experience. LAUPT has a lousy journey from waiting room to platform.
Trains NAILED this one…
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder said the old lady as she kissed the cow.
LAUPT does have a long walk to the trains. However, unlike 30th Street, once a passenger is release through the gates, she can usually proceed to her train and board it.
At 30th Street, at least on the occasions that I have been there, one has to line-up at the top of the stairs to await release to the platform. Then, after he is released to proceed to the platform, he has to line up again, about where he thinks the car door will be when the train stops. The procedure is awful.
Of course, this does not have anything to do with the architecture of the station. Or does it?
Not the arcitecture of the station as the operation philosophy of the Pennsylvania Railroad and its successors…so the architcuture was designed with that in mind. Although I do remember being able to access platforms at NYP without a ticket and without locked gates and guards. GCT used to be more stringent but now access is pretty well abled across the mezzanines on both levels; it may have to do with being commuter rather than long distance trains (make up time, access time, privacy for the first class passengers).
The difference is in the very nature of the stations: LAUPT is a terminal station and the train is parked awaiting departure when you are allowed on the platform while 30th Street is a through station and the train is still approaching the station when you are allowed on the platform. Any commuter knows that picking the spot where your train will stop is a bit of a guessing game.
Knowing where to stand is a guessing game, to some extent here, but it need not be. In train stations in Germany, platform signs show clearly where to board whichever car you want to enter. Result: no guessing and short dwell times.
JOLIET UNION STATION!
Joliet Union Station Is One Classic Piece Of Art. The Last Time The Station Was Touched Was More Than Three Decade From The Past And Had Been Built Around The Late 1800’s.
Joliet Union Station Would Host The Metra Rock Island District And The Metra Corridor District Which Joliet Union Station Would Host Amtrak Lincoln Service And Some Other Train.
The Station Would See One Union Pacifc Coal Train On The CN Track. The Station Would See One CN Train From A Yard From Downtown To The Enormous BNSF Downtown Kansas Train Yard. The Station Would See One CSX Train And More Than One Iowa Interstate Train As Well As More Than One Hundred BNSF. Some Union Pacific And Some Norfolk Southern.
I Went There More Than One Time As A Railroad Enthusiast And Within An Hour I Had Catched About Seven Trains.
The Station Has A Grand Room With Chandaleers And An Old Classis Stair Case With A Plat Form That Had Not Been Touched Since 1975 Which The Entire Station Has Not Been Touched Since The Late 1800’s When The Station Had Been Built But Some Minor Needed Constructed Had Been Involved.
I think the article was terrific and Kevin made the right decision. But Hoboken should not have been left out. The Oakland Mole is no more, and Hoboken is its best existing equivalent.
I have a love for Hoboken Terminal, 30th Street and also Grand Central. I think 30th Street is a good choice for Finest Railroad Station.
I think this is a good place to comment on the new Audio Walking Tour that is offered at Grand Central Terminal. This tour started only a couple months ago and I had the opportunity to try it yesterday. For $5 the tourist receives a headset and digital player that one can wear around the neck. You are also given a map with different locations labelled on it. As you walk from location to location you enter the location # on the keyboard and the narration tells about the particular area that you are in. The tour can last anywhere from 1/2 hour to half a day. The visitor sets their own pace. Next time any of you go by Grand Central stop in and take the tour. You are bound to learn things you didn’t know before and the $5 price tag is one of the best bargains in the city.
Though the article didn’t allow it in the running because it was no longer a train station, for sheer beauty on the outside and in, the Cincinnati Union Terminal has to be at the top.
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And it does still have an Amtrack or two running through it…and numerous CSX & NS freights.
Just to let you know, your writing style is off-putting to readers! Capitalizing Each Word Is Not Only Eye-Catching, It Is Strange On The Eye, And Distracting! You lose your train of thought (no pun) just trying to read it, much less comprehend it.
With a country as large as this is there is room for two or maybe more great stations. But O’Keefe’s reason for the “why not” of LAUPT is way off base and almost childish. The only reason he could find was the Spanish styling. Sorry that is the style in CA. (BTW I’m not a native either but a transplant from eastern parts)
The station in Philadelphia is Superb where it is at and the station in Los Angeles is Superb where it is at. The Eastern style would look terrible in CA and vice versa.
No more cheap shots O’Keefe!
I was very happy to see the 30th street station get the recognition it deserves. I completely agree with the choice.
Kevin Olsen
I’d have to cast my vote for St. Louis Union Station “back in the day” when it was still used as a train station. It’s still open as a hotel and shopping mall, but no trains.
For one that is still being used I’d have to say Los Angeles Union Station. I’ll never forget the nice overstuffed chairs to sit in, a nice upgrade from hard benches. I’ll see the Station on TV shows or movies and I always look to see if the chairs are still there and they are. I also like Grand Central Terminal in NY with it’s big circular ticket booth.