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. |
^ 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. http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...Trains/066.jpg http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...Trains/057.jpg A couple of other UK station facades: Waterloo, London http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...ains/033-1.jpg Bristol Temple Meads http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...Trains/023.jpg |
Today at Jim Thorpe, PA, the Reading & Blue Mountain had the former Reading Railroad #425 out to run some Fall leaf excursion trains.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_mF8OApz9VpQ/St...0/IMG_3213.JPG http://lh4.ggpht.com/_mF8OApz9VpQ/St...0/IMG_3215.JPG |
^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.
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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. |
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Great shots Rob
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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. |
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:previous: Cool!
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:previous: Nice bulliver, trains aren't always clean, the sky isn't always blue.
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Thanks Harry! Not in Edmonton anyway...
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I really like that photo, too. The light is unusual, and the composition shows off the massiveness of the beast.
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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 http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...Trains/062.jpg The Intercity 125 was always my favorite, my first memories of rail travel are on these. |
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Some pics of Paris suburban network
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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. |
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