To spray that giant silverfish or cockroach or whatever it is… Again we have missed what a classic train station look like…I will be using St. Paul when and if it gets Amtrak.
It looks reasonably practical and isn’t too bad. How does one define a “classic” train station: Norman style like Chicago Grand Central, Neo-Classical like New York Penn Station or Chicago Union Station, or modern like Milwaukee of 1965? When you consider that it will serve primarily light rail and suburban trains, there isn’t much a need for a cavernous waiting room or concourse, which would be expensive to heat and cool.
Looks fine to me.
Railroad stations tend to follow the architecture of the day. This one seems to be along those lines.
Hey Bonaventure, you know you’re right, that thing DOES look like something out of a Japanese monster movie! “Bugzilla” maybe?
Tree, you are correct, this station follows the architecture of today - UGLY!!! Bugzilla is an apt name for the beast.
That is a rather odd looking structure. I think the new stations on New Jersey transit are great looking. They are modern yet still have a traditional railroad station appearance ( Secaccus Jct, Pennsauken transfer station).
Never one to be hobbled by “because that’s the way we’ve always done it”, I like it.
Too many people think of rail as obsolete technology, left over from the old days. Modern looking trains and stations and modern operations are a good thing. Innovate or die. Like I tried to tell General Custer: “Get a couple dozen Gatling guns or they are going to get you”.
I cannot get an image of the Minneapolis station from your link, Bonaventure. Is this the station you are writing about? If it is, Amtrak considers it a classic. I suppose it is in a sense although I do find it kind of underwhelming.
http://www.greatamericanstations.com/Stations/MSP
John
James,
I’ve only seen the outside of the Secaucus station from the train but I did find a picture of it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Njt4.jpg
After many years of getting to New York Penn Station by going to Hoboken and taking the PATH to 33rd Street and walking a block I would have been happy with a ladder between tracks at the transfer point. The station is a lot better than a ladder. Also, I am a fan of Dunkin Donuts. There is one inside the station. Coffee and a bagel on the train is a pleasant amenity.
John
No, actually, I think THIS is the one he had in mind…
I like modern design in railroad stations, if well done, same as older designs. Here are google images of the once great and now restored St. Paul Union Depot:
The Minneapolis Great Northern Depot:
That ‘depot’ is a proposal for the ‘Light Rail’(see the trolley cars) in Downtown Mpls. Amtrak will be vacating the ‘Midway’ station yet this year and will be using the old St Paul Union Depot…
Jim
The newspaper illustration is the view from above, from a plane or helocopter or whatever. The light rail or bus passenger on the ground will see something very different, and it is not really possible to tell from this artist impression-from-above renderring. It may be great or awful, hard to say.
Who pulled the wing off a giant dragonfly?
Hopefully, it will be functional, which is what matters the most.
Bugzillla needs to be hit by a sharknado
People in Minneapolis know about good architecture. That’s where the Guthrie is. But I suspect this new station will be judged by its ability to keep waiting passengers warm until their train arrives.
Function certainly can take precedence over form. Considering that the Amtrak station will be fully in St. Paul, I doubt that anyone taking Amtrak will worry about the appearance of the multimodal station in Minneapolis.
Bonaventure,
This time I was able to see the new station. I see what you’re saying.
John