Train Stations ─ Then and Now

Once the hub of the transport network driving the American economy, the grand structures created by the railroad barons have suffered a variety of fates. Many famous examples have been demolished in the name of progress. The notorious razing of Pennsylvania Station in New York brought howls of protest from the architectural conservation lobby, but Chicago also lost the Chicago and Northwestern Terminal. Atlanta had a grand Passenger Depot until it was reconfigured by General Sherman in 1864. Savannah demolished its own impressive Union Station in 1904, but nearby the Central of Georgia station lives on as the city’s visitor center and museum. Houston ripped up the rails at their Union Station and the platforms have been replaced by the Houston Astros' Minute Maid Park. The terminal building is still selling tickets—but now they’re for the game. Many Union stations continue as intended. Los Angeles’ Union Station dates from the 1930s and still displays its Art Deco detailing inside with Spanish Mission touches outside. Las Vegas, the destination for many an L.A. train, had a similar 1930s depot, but today the Plaza casino sits on the site. Like L.A., San Diego and Albuquerque were built in Spanish Mission style, others in Gothic or Greek Revival or Richardsonian Romanesque.

Ken Fitzgerald is a Dallas resident who has written and photographed features for railway periodicals over a period of 30 years. He is the author of Dallas: Then and Now.