Schlimm’s post of “Sad Pictures”, and Ramrod’s “If you had the money …” made me curious as to what you all think about efforts (or the lack thereof) of saving railroad architectural sites, and which should be top priority. “If you had the money”, which would you acquire, and what would you do with them?
Michigan Central Station in Detroit and Buffalo Central Station are certainly good starting points.
I think that, “If I had the money …”, I wouldn’t buy a railroad but rather would buy and rehabilitate these 2 transportation/architectural gems.
And it would not be an easy job. In Oakland, California, the classic Southern Pacific 16th & Wood station has continued to languish, in spite of the efforts of the city, an adjacent developer, and an active non-profit. Some of the problems: poor neighborhood, and no longer feasible for rail (or any other transport) use. Aren’t those some of the same issues in Detroit and Buffalo?
But giving hope are the successes: Los Angeles Union Station, Kansas City Union Station, Washington Union Station, New York’s Grand Central.
All of East Broad Top’s facilities at Rockhill Furnace, PA. It may be unique in North America as a complete representation of a railroad shop/yard/station/headquarters of the turn of the 19th to 20th century.
The former Italianate-style IC station in Galena, IL is a gem, currently housing the chamber of commerce. But if and when the Black Hawk service resumes (service to Rockford starts maybe 2015, but the CN does not want passenger trains running on their now-busy line to Waterloo) it will be an attraction.
The problem you run into some times are the location of the property and a railroad’s insistence that the structure be moved off their property.
A few years ago there was a movement afoot to save an old Harvey House Restaurant and Hotel in Seligman, Arizona. BNSF wanted to demolish the building and some locals wanted to save it. Fair enough, BNSF replied, but you must move it off railroad property.
The thing that killed the idea was asbestos and lead paint used in the structure, plus the fact that it was reinforced poured concrete. Cost estimates of saving it ran into the millions of dollars, and with Interstate 40 bypassing Seligman they realized that it would not draw enough tourists to be worthwhile.
Add to Dragoman’s list of successful restorations the St. Paul Union Station, which is not only gorgeous but an active transit center, with light rail, bus and Amtrak; and Denver Union Station.
I second the EBT shops’ nomination - like a time capsule of early industrial techniques and equipment.
The shops at Cass were even better (IMHO), but were destroyed in a fire in 1972 (there were other fires at the mill itself in 1978 and 1982, and at the station in 1975). See for example:
The Michigan Central Station in Detroit has been bypassed when Amtrak started using a line to the NW of downtown to reach the CN line to Pontiac. The station is owned by a guy who buys distressed properties and lets them fall apart, although for MC station, the city has gotten him to do some clean-up.
That MC station was too much for Detroit from the get-go. I understand that there were entire floors of that building that were never used.
It should stand as the eyesore it is until Detroit turns itself around (will I see that? it would be nice). Then, in a safely covered event, blow it away (which I understand might be easier said than done, due to its construction). I don’t think it could ever be restored, for any use.
This thread brings to my mind these questions: 1. What’s the oldest extant railroad station in the United States? 2. Which station today holds the record for longest, continuous use as a railroad station?
As an aside, I remember walking in March, 1967 through B&O’s Camden Street Station and thinking that it must have looked this way in Lincoln’s time because it was so antique in its appearance and feeling.
It’s not on the scale as the type of stuff you folks are discussing, but that attractive Union Pacific depot in Columbus Nebraska that has been in the newswire lately seems appropriate to mention.
Particularly sad since it’s in excellent shape structurally and has a sound roof where as those two big NYC terminals, while in good shape not all that long ago, have long been left to neglect making an extremely difficult task almost impossible.
When was the station in Ellicott City built? As an interesting tidbit, the oldest surviving RR station in Florida (though no longer in use as a RR station) is at Lloyd, about 25 miles east of Tallahassee. It was built in 1858, and rebuilt in I believe 1946 after a major fire.
I think I travelled through the MC station back around 1976-77, when Amtrak still ran a train or two through Canada. It was late when we got in, and with a 1 year old, I had other things on my mind.
Utica (NY) Union Station just observed its 100th birthday. It was saved from oblivion by the county, which has offices in the building, including the motor vehicles bureau, so a lot of people visit it. It also houses Amtrak, buses, and the Adirondack Scenic RR, as well as a restaurant and a barber shop. The building is classic “golden age of railroading,” with plenty of marble and terrazzo floors. One feature that always gets folks is the heated waiting room benches.
The Syracuse station still stands, but has been repurposed by Time Warner Cable. There are no tracks there anymore, I-690 having been built over much of the ROW.
Another union station that probably ranks right up with Detroit and Buffalo in the deplorability factor is at Gary, Indiana. It was made of concrete, so would be hard to demolish. It’s situated right between the old NYC and the old B&O (the location would be better for train-watching than the one I camped out at last month), but there is no convenient parking, probably no safe way to get to trackside any more (the trains were “upstairs” from the waiting room), and it’s virtually inaccessible. There was talk about making it a welcoming center or something for the area (maybe the dunes to the east), but nothing was done on that. It is not far from the existing transit center, which includes the NICTD station. Demolition, if it were done, would be non-productive, because the land it occupies is virtually worthless to anyone save the railroads.
Gary is a tough one, but on a far smaller scale than the other two. Not sure exactly how it could be reused, but I wish they’d at least secure it from the elements. It might not have a place in 2014, but it’s a beautiful building with a facade and basic structure that is in great shape.
Expending a little bit of effort into protecting it might give it a chance someday down the road. I don’t think they talk about it, but I think that’s the goal with the Buffalo folks as well. They want it secured and are fighting a holding action in the hope that someday, it will get its chance.
They’d love a miracle to happen in the next few years, but I think the realist there realize that what they’ve been doing in recent years is with an eye towards hopefully the building being in the right place and time decades from now.
They’re just trying to protect it to hopefully get it to that day eventually.
A bitter pill – and so untypical of U.P. – was demolition of the brick depot in North Platte shortly after Amtrak. I suppose the idea was to get it off the tax rolls. Maybe also inoculation against Amtrak trying to restore service to the Overland Route one day. U.P. didn’t need the space for anything else; today it’s a park.
Besides being handsome, North Platte was famous for its informal canteen for the troop trains during World War II, by which the good ladies of the area met every train with baked goods and other treats.
Gary Union Station is probably not worth preserving for a variety of reasons. The building itself has no really distinguishing features, it has been deteriorating for decades (it was already in bad shape in 1969 when I boarded a B&O train to Chicago at that location), and it has a poor location hemmed in between the Toll Road and the U. S. Steel Gary Works. The last point is probably what makes any attempt at preservation difficult to justify.