Hamlet North Carolina

The Seaboard Air Line Railroad Station

It was raining the morning I pulled into Hamlet North Carolina on Amtrak’s Silver Star. We were running a “bit” late, as is common for Amtrak on the tracks of many freight lines, but not terribly late. As the train pulled up it stopped right by the depot to let a sleeping car passenger off. Therefore, I found myself in a fairly decent location to take this shot.

Hamlet North Carolina was a town of the post-Civil War south. It developed the obligatory cotton mills and a few lumber yards. More importantly, it became a “railroad town.” In this case, the railroad that brought life to the gathering of buildings that became Hamlet NC was the Seaboard Air Line Railroad. From an initial beginning of one crossing, the Seaboard soon expanded to the point where 5 different lines left Hamlet for Richmond VA, Wilmington NC, Atlanta GA/Birmingham AL, Charleston SC/Savannah GA, and Columbia SC. In its prime, Hamlet had 30 passenger trains a day leaving.

The town, itself, was incorporated in 1897. About the same time, this depot was constructed. It was designed in the “Queen Anne” version of Victorian Architecture, a popular choice for many railroad stations built during this period. It’s most prominent feature is a rounded corner tower, with a roof to match. The feature, often called a “Witch’s Hat,” was designed to give train employees and passengers better visibility of the various approaching tracks. This was an important feature in those pre-radio days, when often the only warning anyone had of an approaching train was the blowing of the whistle upon the train’s close approach.

Today, the station is served by 1 train a day each way, Amtrak’s Silver Star. Further, most days this train comes through during the darkness of the North Carolina night and thus the station is unseen by most of the passengers. The station also has a second use. It is the home for a railroad museum located in Hamlet.

Gordonsville Virginia

The Louisa Railroad (later the Virginia Central Railroad) Station

When a group of farmers and other interested business persons began building a railroad in Louisa County Virginia, they did so because they realized that it was impractical for them to depend on using the far-distant James River and Kanwha Canal system despite what the Virginia Legislature of that time was advocating. No, they knew that if they were going to have a way to ship goods to market, they would have to rely on that new-fangled technology called a “railroad.” And thus they started the Louisa Railroad, later re-named the Virginia Central. By 1841 they had built westward to the town of Gordonsville Virginia. There they constructed this building to serve as a passenger and a freight station (it is possible that the passenger portion of this station was torn down many years ago and only the freight portion of the structure survives). Over the next 15 years, and particularly during the Civil War, the structure was to see several important trains arrive and depart.

In the spring of 1862, the troops under the command of Robert E. Lee managed to force the Union troops under the command of George C. McClelland away from the gates of Richmond in a series of engagements now known as the Seven Days Campaign. In the subsequent re-alignment of troops, Lee sent his chief Lieutenant, Stonewall Jackson with a group of men and equipment, west on the Virginia Central railroad. Their destination, was this building, the Virginia Central station in Gordonsville.

Here they detrained and tarried a while until Jackson saw the Bluecoats gathering up north and went off to “whip ‘em” once more at the Second Battle of Manassas.

A year later and Stonewall was dead. Lee and his forces had moved north into Pennsylvania, and in a ferocious contest had been turned away at a place called Gettysburg. As a result of Lee’s tactics, another of his “Lieutenants,” James Longstreet, decided he had had enough of Bobby Lee, and implored the War Department, and President Davis, to send him and his troops anywhere but with the Army of Northern Virginia.

The Civilian Government gave in to his entreaties and ordered Longstreet and his Corps, to be transferred to the troops under Braxton Bragg which were gathering to counter the Union threat coming down upon Chattanooga TN. They were to make their transfer by “the cars.” The most direct route, via the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad through Bristol and Knoxville, was not a viable option due to the presence of Union troops, and Union sympathizers in East Tennessee. Accordingly, Longstreet and his Corps, troops and equipment, boarded the Virginia Central at the Gordonsville station and went east and then south over several roads, before finally turning west and again north at Atlanta. But they got to Bragg just in time for him to use them with devastating results at the Battle of Chickamauga.

Throughout the conflict, various Union Commanders recognized the importance of the Virginia Central to the Confederacy. Without the Virginia Central, foodstuffs from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia had only the vagaries of the James River and Kanawha Canal as a way of traveling to Richmond. Thus, much of the Virginia Central’s line, and many of the stations and other railroad-related structures, was destroyed, often more than once. Somehow, however, this building survived.

After the conclusion of the Civil War, the Virginia Central became the basis for Collis P. Huntington’s Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. Eventually, this station was replaced with another one further on down the track built to serve both those trains heading to East-West to Richmond and Charlottesville, and North to Washington DC. And the 1841 station was demoted and used for strictly freight. Eventually, the “new” station was demolished, but the 1841 building soldiered on.

A few years ago, it was purchased by a local preservation group and at the time this picture was taken they appeared to be working on stabilizing the building. Initially they had to move the station back from the active tracks, there is also the possibility that it may be moved yet again.

Hoboken New Jersey

The Lackawanna Railroad Terminal

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, today I post, a Green Station. Now, before some of you start adjusting your color settings, or accuse me of digital chicanery, let me assure you, this is a fairly accurate representation of the actual color of the station. I admit, it is a bit unusual, but indeed, even in the broad daylight without the benefit of colored floods (a la’ the Empire State Building), it is green.

This coloration is a result of the design of the work of the architect Kenneth M. Murchison (his work has been featured on a previous posting). He designed this station for the Lackawanna Railroad (technically and legally the railroad in question was the Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad, but it was normally referred to by just the one name) in 1907. He collaborated with Lackawanna Chief Engineer Lincoln Bush, also noted as the creator of the “Bush Train Shed.” In it Murchison used the then predominate architectural style which has been classified as “Art Nouveau.”

Apparently one of the main stipulations in the contract that Murchison had with the Lackawanna was that any structure he built for them in Hoboken had to be “Fireproof” (perhaps because the previous Hoboken Lackawanna Terminal had burned to the ground?). Accordingly, Murchison clad most of the exterior of the building in copper, which by now has “rusted” into the green that is seen today.

The station is technically not actually a “Terminal” rather it has always been more of a transfer point, or what we would call today an “Intermodal Facility.” Passengers coming into the station by train would, and still, debark and board a waiting ferry to complete their trip into Manhattan. In like manner, passengers coming from New York City by boat would, and still, alight here and board an outbound train.

In its inception, the Hoboken Lackawanna Terminal was built to serve both those commuting into New York from the surrounding New Jersey/New York/ Pennsylvania countryside, and those coming from more distant points such as Chicago. In the late 1950’s the Erie Railroad, which at that point was in the process of merging with the Lackawanna, closed out its Jersey City operations and moved them into this terminal. But this was only a temporary measure. In 1970, all inter-city operations out of the Hoboken Terminal ceased leaving only the commuter runs. These commuter operations, and this terminal were later taken over by New Jersey Transit, which continues to use the station to this day (however, the Bush Train Shed is now gone).

There have been two other recent changes. While there is still some ferry service from the terminal, and indeed probably some of the ferries involved in the recent rescue of the passengers from the Delta Airliner that landed in the Hudson recently were from this terminal, for many people this option has been supplanted by the PATH “tubes” which run over to 33th street in Manhattan. Even more recently, a surface “light rail” operation running along the New Jersey shore of the Hudson, called the Hudson-Bergen line, has been added. Thus, while it no longer hosts long-distance travelers, the station remains a true “Inter-modal” operation in the most modern sense of the word for thousands of commuters each day.

There are two further interesting notes concerning this station. First, owing to its Riverside location, the terminal building (shown) and the ferry slips are built out over the water. Only the land-side train tracks and adjacent yard trackage are actually on land. Second, the famous Wizard of Menlo Park, Thomas Alva Edison, brought an interesting closure to his career by piloting the first electrified equipment (which his company had built) that left the station in 1931 (Edison’s first job was selling papers and snacks on the trains of the Michigan Central). The equipment Edison introduced was finally retired in 1980, but it has been replaced by newer more modern equipment. Thus, the Hoboken Lackawanna Terminal has both diesel-electric and “pure” electric commuter trains operating out of its restored and refurbished surroundings.

Chattanooga Tennessee

Terminal Station

What do: The Chicago World’s Fair, the New York City Public Library, the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco CA, The Vanderbilt House in Newport (RI), and the Terminal Station in Chattanooga TN have in common? The answer, as I am sure many have guessed, is they are all premier examples of the Beaux-Arts style of Architecture.

The Beau Arts Style of Architecture was a popular style in America from about 1885 to 1920. The name comes from a particular school of architecture, the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris France (Beaux-Arts is the French word we translate as “Fine Arts” in English).

The Beaux-Arts style was marked by a preference for using designs and ornamentation from earlier periods of architecture, primarily from Roman and Renaissance buildings. In addition to the columns arches etc. that one would expect from a design with this parentage, it also included designs worked into the exterior walls. These designs were made of the same material as the rest of the wall and thus made to seem as if they were a regular, essential part of the structure and not just a bric-a-brac ornamentation (though, in fact, that is exactly what they were/are).

Of all the buildings listed above, one stands out as being able to claim that it was a “prize-winning” example of Beaux-Arts Architecture. In 1900 Donald Barber was a student at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He submitted a design for a building in a contest the school sponorsed, and won. Several years later, now a graduate, he was approached by the President of the Southern Railway about designing a Terminal building for the railroad to use in Chattanooga Tennessee. According to the records, the design he presented, and executed, was the design he had won the prize with in Paris.

The Chattanooga Terminal was opened in 1909 and was used by the Southern Railway until 1970. In 1973 it was re-developed as a hotel and opened as a Hilton. In 1989, as a prelude to a major renovation, the Hilton was closed. After it was restored, it was re-opened, this time as a Holiday Inn.

We stayed there in 2006. The interior of the Terminal is now a combination Front Desk, Lobby, Bar and Restaurant. The actual hotel section with rooms is in back of the terminal building. However, there are also some old style “Pullman cars” parked on non-functioning tracks beween the two structures which can be rented for a night’s stay. Also out back, in addition to static displays of various pieces of equipment, there is one functioning piece, a restored New Orleans Street car. When we were there, it was possible to take a brief ride on this specimen on a short circuit around the hotel’s property.

If you ever go to Chattanooga Tennessee, and there is a lot to see and do there, I strongly recommend you consider staying at this land-mark, design award-winning structure. And by all means, ride the Trolley if you can.

Thurmond West Virginia

The Chesapeake and Ohio Depot

These days, three days a week, Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday, two Amtrak Trains, # 50 (Eastbound) and # 51 (Westbound) The Cardinal, pass by this station located in one of West Virginia’s, and I would submit America’s, most famous Ghost Towns. Because this town (yes, under the laws of the State of West Virginia it is still an “Incorporated” town with a mayor city council etc.) is a well-known White Water Rafting mecca, Amtrak still lists Thurmond as a flag stop. And sometimes, occasionally, the Cardinal, will stop, but only occasionally. But it was not always so. During the first two decades of the 20th Century, the Thurmond Depot hosted 15 trains a day, and handled as many as 95,000 passengers a year (note: for FY 2008 Amtrak reported the grand total of Boardings and Alightings at Thurmond WV came to 405)!

Thurmond WV began its existence in post Civil War West Virginia. It was the offspring of the fertile mind of Captain William Dabney Thurmond. He was called “Captain” because during the then “recent unpleasantness” had had led a group of Confederate “fighters” known as “Thurmond’s Rangers.” (Note: for much more of the historical background on the town click on: http://www.wvculture.org/history/wvhs1403.html. This is an article by Jessica Fair on Thurmond which appeared in the West Virginia Historical Society Quarterly in 2000.) Nowadays, in addition to having the town named after him, he has an extreme sport triathlon, consisting of whitewater rafting, biking and running events, named in his honor: “Captain Thurmond’s Challenge.”

In 1873 when the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad was finally completed through the Allegheny Mountains, Captain Thurmond built a railroad depot on some of his land in Fayette County WV. All of his holdings, and the Depot in particular, were located on a small spit of land on the north side of the New River. Then he and his sons went into business hauling produce and passengers in, and passengers out on the newly completed Richmond to Huntington rail line. His “town” never grew to more than about 75 people. But it was a complete town with a general store, post office, Western Union office, Adams Express office, and after 1891 a hotel in addition to the depot. But one thing it didn’t have was liquor.

Captain Thurmond was a strict Baptist and he wanted that evil “firewater” kept out of “his” town. As part of his plan to do this he had his town Incorporated in 1901. He wanted to be sure that if you lived in his hamlet located on a narrow piece of land on the north side of the New River, deep in the heart of the New River Gorge, you would never be in temptation’s way. With “Incorporation” he insured that this would remain the situation in Thurmond. Now that he was sure he had Satan under control, in 1904 the old depot was torn down and a new one was built. This depot is the one pictured above.

Oh yes, the Liquor, it never did come to Thurmond. But it came close. A commercial rival of Mr. Thurmond’s, a Mr. McKell, saw a “business opportunity” and opened a rival hotel to Mr. Thurmond’s establishment but on the south side of the New River, not within Thurmond itself, but literally within sight of the Thurmond C & O Depot. This hotel, The Dunglen Hotel, became known as a “Little Monte Carlo” because it not only had liquor, particularly for miner’s on the week-ends, but also gambling, “the world’s oldest profession’ (ahem it is hard to maintain a family-oriented blog these days isn’t it), and 100 rooms. Among other activities, there are those who claim (a claim published in that noted historical authority: “Ripley’s Believe it or Not!”) that the Dunglen Hotel hosted the worlds longest running poker game. This Gaming Marathon lasted, it is claimed, for 14 years. (Too bad they didn’t continue on so they could have hosted a show on the Travel Channel.)

In the 2000 Census the town of Thurmond had a population of 7 (click on the site if you don’t believe me). I really don’t think there has been much of an influx since then, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see a decrease in next year’s counting. Most of the buildings are vacant and not open under normal operations (don’t worry, from what I have heard and seen, there is nothing in them anyway, unless you are into the paranormal world). The Depot is owned by the National Park Service and is part of their New River Gorge National River operation.

The Thurmond Depot is a National Park Service Visitor’s Center. It is opened during the “tourist season” (generally during the summer and a few “high tourist weekends” such as the fall foliage season). It has a few exhibits downstairs and a few more upstairs as well. On the second level, in the “Bay Window” extension on the track side (the above shot is of the other side) is a recreation of the railroad telegrapher’s office complete with a manikin dressed in his C&O uniform and a recorded message wherein this “agent” tells about what he did back when Thurmond was a classic American Mining Boomtown.

You can still travel to Thurmond West Virginia today. The National Park Service directions are as follows:

“To reach Thurmond, take U.S. Route 19 to the Glen Jean exit, north of Beckley. Follow the signs to Thurmond, seven miles down WV Route 25 (Route 25 is a narrow, winding road and is not recommended for RVs and trailers). No automotive services are available in Thurmond.”

Those of you who may travel into this area in an RV or even a small truck with a trailer note the warning about Route 25 well. I drive this road 1 or 2 times a year. They are not kidding and yes, I have seen several “rigs” driven by “experienced” drivers come to grief on this road. Yes, the curves ARE that bad. But other than that, I do urge you to come, not only to see the Depot, but also “Downtown Thurmond.”

Special note: The Hotel Dunglen, mentioned above, burned to the ground in 1930. The site is now a parking lot used by the National Park Service and its visitors. As with most National Park Sites, I am sure the use of alcohol is prohibited and the Rangers probably would not want card games or any other shenanigans going on either. Ahh . . . Captain Thurmond would be pleased.

Olympia Washington

Centennial Station

This station poses the eternal question that bedevils rail fans and non rail fans alike: namely, when is something new, really something old? But before you get an answer, you’ve got to understand the history behind the riddle.

Olympia Washington (actually the location is east of Olympia) had a Northern Pacific Railroad train station for many years. However, in the late 1960’s, given the passenger traffic declines, and the desire of the then-failing railroads to exit the unprofitable passenger business, the station was razed after the last passenger train had departed.

Even after the arrival of Amtrak, rail passengers going through Olympia Washington found a wooden bus shelter in a remote area, with bad parking and no other connection to any form of public transportation. Finally one of the County Commissioners, George Barner, realizing that a train station is, first and foremost, a community’s way of saying “hello” to the traveling public began the process of raising the money for Olympia to build a new station.

After several years of fund-raising efforts, the community managed to gather together a combination of $100,000.00 (USD) in cash, and an estimated $300,000.00 (USD) to erect the structure. These efforts allowed the work on the new passenger station for Olympia, and the adjacent community of Lacey, to begin. The new station, dubbed “Centennial Station” was opened in 1993.

Since it was not an “Amtrak Station” it was not staffed by Amtrak. Instead a collection of volunteers has manned the station during all operating hours since the station was opened.

Now, we get to the old part. On the inside the Station is very “new.” It has several eco-friendly energy-conservation features. It also has a very modern electronic train status board so that awaiting passengers have some access to train arrival and departure information. However, for the outside the architect, Harold E. Dalke (who had donated his services), decided to keep the “look” old. He did this, in part, by incorporating into his design a collection of 150 year old corbels made of Cyprus which had been saved from houses on Cherokee Street in New Orleans LA. While the pieces, as most Victorian-type “Gingerbread,” are strictly decorative and structurally add nothing to the building, esthetically, they add a lot. They help to remind us that while this is a new building, it has a very old, traditional, function: Welcoming the weary traveler into your midst.

Today much of the thinking about building train stations/ airports/ bus terminals (or that new conglomerate the “Intermodal Center”) appears to hold that most travelers are rushing through the station on their way to their “real” destination. Thus they are looking for nothing more than entertainment, if even that, while they await their next mode of transport. However, Centennial Station reminds us that we should also take the time, as a community, to welcome the stranger within our midst.

I have visited this station on several occasions. While I found the “electronic boards” to not always be correct, at least the people inside the station were friendly, and I was made to feel welcome. That says a lot about what a train station, or any kind of mass transportation terminal, should be.

Springfield Illinois

The Great Western Station

The Station was built in the 1850's. It is now a museum.

Happy 200th Birthday President Lincoln.

Oyster Bay New York

Long Island Railroad Depot

The story of Oyster Bay New York goes back to the very early days of European exploration. It has been fairly well documented (as well as any routes for the early explorers of that time can be documented by contemporary historians attempting to de-cipher the various notes and descriptions left by these pre GPS travelers) that the expedition led by Giovanni de Verrazano, a Florentine sailing under the French flag, was the first to sail up the south shore of Long Island Sound in 1524. In 1639, a Dutchman, David deVries, named the bay he found in this location “Oyster Bay.” This was about the same time that the Dutch formally established their colony which they called “New Netherland.” In the same year that de Vries named the bay, several Dutch settlers “purchased” a parcel of land on the western fringes of present day Oyster Bay from the local Native American tribe.

In 1653 some New Englanders purchased land on the other side of the bay from the Native American Chief Mohannes and established a “town” (note the present-day seal of the town carries this 1653 date). In so doing, two settlements, one Dutch and one English, were established in close proximity to each other. Thus, Oyster Bay became the northern point of separation between the English and Dutch on Long Island. This division ended when the English took control of all of New Netherland (including Long Island) in 1664 as a result of their war with the Dutch.

During the Revolutionary era, this area was quickly conquered by the English and became known as “Loyalist” territory. However, there were a few brave patriots in the area, two of whom, Robert Townsend and his sister Sally, functioned as spies for George Washington. Reportedly, it was Robert, code name “Culper, Jr.” using information obtained by Sally, who blew the whistle on the Benedict Arnold’s plan to defect to the British and turn over the fortress of West Point New York as well. The Townsend Home Raynham Hall is now a museum.

In the 1880’s the Long Island Rail Road (note this is not a mistake, this is how the original charter spelled it) extended service into Oyster Bay from Locust Valley. This idea represented an attempt by the railroad's management to return to their "roots." In 1832, when the road was founded, the idea was to build a line offering New York to Boston service via Long Island. This early “mission” for the Long Island was rendered unprofitable in 1850 when a rail line was constructed through the hills of southern Connecticut connecting New York City with the coastline on Connecticut.

However, as is often the case in railroad corporate history, new times, in this case the 1880’s, and new management resulted in the renaissance old ideas, specifically the idea to construct a “New York to Boston via Long Island route.” The plan as it evolved under the new regime was to build to Oyster Bay, and from there ferry the passengers across to Connecticut where they could board the New Haven to complete their trip to Beantown. On June 21, 1889 the first train arrived in Oyster Bay at the station pictured above which had just been completed. The following year, the regular New York to Boston service via Oyster Bay commenced. Alas, it only lasted about a year before giving way to other, more direct connections.

About the same time as the arrival of the railroad in Oyster Bay, Theodore Roosevelt, an up-coming politician, later to be New York Governor and the 26th President of the United States, chose a farm to the east of this town as the location for his home Sagamore Hill. He lived here from 1886 until his death in 1919. His widow, Edith, continued to live here until her death in 1948. Sometime in the 1950’s a movement was begun to make Sagamore Hill into a site to honor Theodore Roosevelt. In 1962 the Sagamore Hill National Historic Site was created by Congressional Legislation.

The Long Island Railroad still runs to Oyster Bay. However, the line is not a line to a ferry link-up to Boston, nor is it a line to a resort, or to a well-known and well-visited national landmark. It is mainly a commuter line. Accordingly, in keeping with the current thinking of “Transportation Experts,” the 1889 station no longer serves the Long Island Railroad. Instead, it has been restored for "other uses," and when I was there in 2006 it appeared to be headed toward a role in an emerging railroad museum in Oyster Bay.

Instead of using the 1889 structure, modern-day riders of the Long Island Railroad use a “bus stop” type of station. While during my visit in the summer of 2006 I found it pleasant to sit in this “shelter” and enjoy the scenery of Oyster Bay, I wondered how much protection from the winter winds coming in off the harbor, this edifice truly provides for those waiting for an incoming train.

If you desire to take the train out to Oyster Bay in order to visit Sagamore Hill, you will need to catch a cab when you arrive at the station. IMHO Sagamore Hill is a little too far to walk. However, the 1851 Octagon Hotel which served as the “Little White House” (according to a plaque on the building) during TR’s presidency is in the downtown area within easy walking distance of the station.

Oh yes, according to one source, Oyster Bay still produces Oysters.

Jacksonville Florida

Jacksonville Union Terminal

This Beau Arts station, designed by Murchison K. Mackenzie (or possibly Kenneth Mackenzie Murchison a New York Architect who was the son of a Confederate Colonel from North Carolina depending upon your source), was opened in 1919 to serve the burgeoning passenger traffic, particularly in the winter, between the frozen north, places like New York City, Cleveland, Chicago and Charleston WV, and the growing balmy beaches on Florida’s “Gold Coast,” Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach and the rest. As such, most of the passenger traffic this station saw was “through” traffic. That is to say, in its heyday 85% of the passengers who used this station had arrived from elsewhere and were going to another location. Thus, this was a “Terminal” in name only for the vast majority of the travelers. Jacksonville was not their destination or the point of departure. They were only there to change trains, have their car switched from one train to another, or to use the station’s platforms as a good place to get out and stretch while the train’s operating crew changed and the train was serviced with fuel, water, and all the other items a passenger train needs (contrary to some Congressional expectations) to operate comfortably and efficiently.

The first Jacksonville Union Terminal was built in 1904. Interestingly enough, when the 1919 structure was built to replace the by-then inadequate structure, instead of tearing down the old station, it was incorporated into the new structure as a baggage and perishable freight facility. Thus, even today, it sits beside, and in the shadow of, its replacement.

The biggest problem with the Jacksonville Union Terminal was getting the trains into and out of it. Because of its location along the St. John’s River, a location dictated in part by the need to be near the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC), many of the trains coming and going, had to back into the terminal, or, back out when departing. While most of the trains coming in from or going onto the FEC simply pulled through on the station trackage located on the river side of the building, trains from the other lines using the terminal, the Atlantic Coast Line, the Seaboard Air Line, and the Southern Railway (and its subsidiary line The Georgia, Southern and Florida Railroad) were forced to make several inconvenient, and potentially hazardous, switching moves. This awkward situation was compounded when, as a result of labor strife, the FEC stopped all passenger traffic in 1963.

Jacksonville Union Terminal, nevertheless, soldiered on into the early days of Amtrak. It finally closed on January 3, 1974, when Amtrak’s Floridian made the last stop at this facility. The next day Amtrak opened its new facility on the northern outskirts of town.

The new location, is not as convenient to downtown Jacksonville and the Jacksonville Landing as the old Jacksonville Union Terminal. However, it is convenient to the tracks Amtrak uses for its “Silver Service” trains. Further, it allows a “run-through” operation (except when the Sunset Limited ran through Jacksonville on its New Orleans LA to Orlando FL leg). While this new facility has never seen 115 trains and 20,000 passengers, the design capabilities of Jacksonville Union Terminal, it nevertheless can be quite busy in the mornings and again in the evenings. Many times I have had to “wade through” a huge crowd of people in order to board at this new station. It does appear to have some expansion room available so that it could handle more trains and people. However, it does not, IMHO, have as much as might possibly be needed if the “dream” of a high speed rail line up and down the east coast is realized.

As for Jacksonville Union Terminal, it has survived to “live another day.” Now it is the key structure in Jacksonville’s Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center. Prime F. Osborn was the last president of the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad and, consequently, the one who led it into the CSX merger.

Baltimore Maryland

The President Street Station

This is all that remains of the President Street Station that was constructed in Baltimore Maryland near the present-day Inner Harbor area. The station itself was erected in 1849-50 as the southern terminus for the Philadelphia Baltimore and Wilmington Railroad (PB&W). In the early years passengers arriving at this station from Philadelphia, had to disembark and take a “hack” down Pratt Street about 6 blocks to the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad’s Camden Street Station. There they could board cars that were pulled out to the B&O’s Mt. Clare Station where a locomotive was attached to the front of the consist and the train ran to Washington DC. The reason for this interruption in travel in Baltimore was caused, in part, by a Baltimore City Ordinance which did not allow the railroads to use steam engines within the inner city area because of the noise, smoke, congestion, etc. By 1860’s, a track had been laid down Pratt Street connecting the 2 stations, but still, steam locomotives were not allowed to pull the cars, they had to be pulled by horses. The events of Spring 1861 demonstrated that these arrangements were inadequate and even dangerous. Two historical events from that era demonstrate the validity of this statement.

The first involved the journey of then-President Elect Abraham Lincoln as he made his way, ever-so-slowly by train from Springfield IL to Washington DC. After leaving New York City, Lincoln made his way to Philadelphia PA. While he was in Philadelphia, one of his travelling aides was approached by the President of the PB&W Railroad, S.M. Felton, and Allan Pinkerton then the head of a well-known (both then and now) private detective agency. Pinkerton reported that there was a plot developing in Baltimore to kidnap and/or possibly kill Lincoln as he moved between the two stations to make his train connections. Both Felton and Pinkerton urged the official party to depart from their published itinerary and depart for Washington immediately. Lincoln was told of the plot, but decided to go on to Harrisburg from Philadelphia anyway so that he could address the State Legislature at the Capitol.

However, once Lincoln had finished his task in Harrisburg, he assented to a deviation from his announced schedule. The plan had been for him and his “party” to spend the night in Harrisburg and depart the next day for Washington through Baltimore. However, under the re-arrangement he agreed to, his “Party” (including his family) stayed in Harrisburg that night, while he and a trusted companion (Ward Hill Lamon) departed for Philadelphia in a special train run just for the two of them. As soon as they departed Harrisburg, the telegraph wires were cut isolating that city, and all the reporters in it, from the rest of the country. That way even if it was discovered Lincoln had left Harrisburg, the news could not get out.

When Lincoln arrived in Philadelphia, minus his trademark “Stove-Pipe Hat” he boarded a sleeping car that had been reserved for him by one of Pinkerton’s operatives. The ruse used when making the reservation was that the party traveling was an ill relative who was going to Washington DC.

When Lincoln arrived at the President Street station shortly after 3 in the early morning, his car was quietly and quickly pulled down Pratt Street by horses and attached to a Washington DC –bound train. Lincoln, who apparently was awake during his trip through Baltimore, arrived in DC at 6 AM. While much of the opposition press “ragged” him for his maneuver through Baltimore, later events were to prove that he made a wise choice. (Note: While I have read about this event in several different sources, I used BP Thomas’ Biography in constructing this sequence of events.)

It should be noted, given the posting of this dating, that this Philadelphia-Washington routing Lincoln took in 1861, is the same one taken January 16, 2009, by President Obama when he arrived in Washington for the Inauguration. While obviously the track alignment has changed somewhat from the original Lincoln train ride, and President Obama made his trip in the daylight, and stopped to make speeches, it was, in essence, the route Lincoln had followed in 1861.

On April 19, 1861, only a little over a month after Lincoln’s “Midnight Ride” through Baltimore, and a week after the firing on Fort Sumter SC had marked the beginning of hostilities, the 6th Massachusetts Volunteers arrived at the President Street Station bound for the defense of Washington DC (they and Seventh New York Volunteers were the first Union troops to arrive to defend that city). As the Regiment’s cars were pulled along Pratt Street they were pelted by an angry mob. Finally, the tracks were blocked and the soldiers had to dismount into the street. As they were forced to detrain and march down Pratt Street towards the Camden Street station a riot ensued. Later in the day another train filled with Volunteers from Philadelphia bound for the defense of Washington DC had to disembark at the President St. Station. They made it to the Camden Street Station only after being given a police escort.

Now, the composition of this “mob” of attackers has been debated through the years. Some then, and now, maintain that the mob consisted of Southern Sympathizers of which Maryland (after all it was a slave-holding state) in general, and Baltimore in particular, had a lot of. Another version, told in the exhibits at the Baltimore Civil War Museum, maintains that the crowd was composed, at least in part, of sailors (who were not necesarily from the South) from the bars along the waterfront (then, as now, Pratt Street is right beside the old Main docking area of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, and in 1861 there were a number of saloons catering to the sailors located along the north side of the street).

In the ensuing melee 4 (some say 3) of the soldiers, and 9 of the “mob” were killed. However, the both sets of troops finally made it to the Camden Street Station and continued onto Washington DC where they joined the hastily gathered DC Volunteers (including my Great Grandfather) in the defense of the city. As a direct result of this mob attack, further movements of Union troops through Balitmore were suspended for a few months. Instead of going through Baltimore, they disembarked from their trains at the head of the Chesapeake Bay and took boats down to Annapolis. Then they marched from Annapolis up to DC through Benning MD (and the home of my Great Grandmother on another “side” of my family). Eventually the Union “occupied” Baltimore, and were able to re-establish the rail link between the two stations (I have generally used Randall & Donald’s Civil War textbook as the basis for this account but I have added information I am aware from other sources including our family’s history.)

This entire arrangement of the Pratt Street tracks continued even after the Civil War, and became the focal point of an eventual “feud” between the railroads that became the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad that erupted in 1871. The feud began when the Pennsylvania Railroad formed the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad (B&P) for the express purpose of building south to “the Potomac River.” The B&P began construction of its tracks at an interchange with the Pennsylvania controlled Northern Central Railroad southward. Then the P B & W built a branch up to this junction.

Under its charter from the State of Maryland the B&O had a monopoly into the city of Washington DC. However, the B &P was allowed to build branch lines not to exceed 20 miles in length. Accordingly when they extended their tracks south out of Baltimore to, eventually Pope’s Creek MD, they made sure that the line came with 20 miles of Washington DC. This allowed them to build a branch into DC along the Anacostia River. The line was complete into Washington DC in 1873. They erected a station in DC near the site of the present-day National Gallery of Art. This was the station where President James A. Garfield was assassinated.

The Pennsylvania assumed control of the PB&W in 1881 after a long fight with the Baltimore & Ohio. They began operating the PB&W and the B&P as one line with through trains from Washington DC all the way to New York City (on the Penny’s New Jersey lines). The Pennsy constructed the Baltimore Penn Station in 1911. This station was located further north in the city, on the site of the former Northern Central Railroad Depot. All passenger service to President Street Station ceased in 1922 and was shifted to Baltimore Penn Station. However, the President Street Station continued after that date for another 40 years or so as a freight station. Finally, that function ceased and the community took the building over.

The President Street Station still stands, albeit in a greatly truncated fashion. It is the Baltimore Civil War Museum noted above. I have visited there and found the exhibit to be very well-done and informative. However, since I was there, I understand that there has been a change in the ownership and operational arrangements. It is now owned by the Maryland Historical Society also located in Baltimore. It is hoped that they will maintain this museum, or even improve it, and not let it become a “useless appendage” to their Mt. Vernon area operation.

There is also talk of making the President Street Station a stop on a new subway line through Baltimore, or possibly a stop on new Commuter Rail, or Light Rail, service being proposed for that area. Whether/when that will happen is difficult to say as of the date of this posting.

Washington DC

Union Station

Inauguration Day

Those of you who are regular followers of this blog (all 1 or 2 of you) will remember that I began these postings with a piece about my "home town depot, Washington DC's Union Station. Today, in honor of the Inauguration of President Barack Obama, I wish to return to this station for just a bit.

Since it opened in 1907, Union Station has been the “next-door neighbor” to 25 Inaugurations (today would have been number 26, but on his 4th Inauguration FDR, already showing signs that his condition was terminal, opted to be sworn in at the White House). While some of these Inaugurations have been memorable, others have been less so. For Union Station probably the most memorable Inauguration was the 1953 Ceremony when Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower became President for his 1st term. What made this particular Inauguration memorable actually occurred about 3 weeks before the event.

Starting in 1935, the Pennsylvania Railroad used the engine it became most famous for, the Raymond Loewy-designed GG-1, to pull the majority of its passenger train runs into and out of Union Station. For the most part, the arrivals and departures went unheralded; the GG-1 was, among other things, a very reliable piece of motive power. However, in the early days of January 1953, one of the trains comprising the Pennsylvania’s through service from Boston (via the New Haven Railroad), The Federal, got out of control. The incident started as the consist powered by a GG-1 was coming through the station trackage. As it left the station trackage and came in on Track 16 it was way too fast to stop at the bumper. Instead, it proceeded to crash through the bumper, crash through the “Gate” and roll out on the main concourse floor. Thankfully, an announcement had been made moments prior to this that a train was out of control and persons were advised to flee from the concourse. Luckily, everyone there did just that. Consequently, no one was killed or injured on the concourse floor.

Due to the weight of the engine, the GG-1 stayed on the Concourse only momentarily before the floor gave way and the huge engine crashed down into the baggage room located below the concourse. As I remember it, it did trap a baggage handler or two in there for a few minutes, and I think at least one of them did receive a few scratches, but otherwise, things were fine.

The only problem was Washington DC was getting ready for its version of "The Big Show," the upcoming Inauguration. It was only 3 weeks away. And now, Union Station had no concourse for passengers to use. So the decision was made to install a temporary plywood floor over the concourse and leave the GG-1 IN THE BAGGAGE ROOM until after the “festivities” were over. Accordingly, this was done, and except for a slowing of the baggage service, everything went on as planned. Only a few of the thousands of people coming to town through the station ever paused for a moment to reflect upon the meaning of a plywood floor on the concourse.

And after the crowds were gone, in the cold days of February, the plywood was ripped away and the GG-1 was lifted out (incidentally, it was eventually returned to service by the Pennsy). And then the concourse was re-built for use.

I remember the time well. Being a local, I, along with many others, joined in the inevitable “second-guessing” that occurred as everyone talked about what “they” would have done about the runaway locomotive. The most popular notion put forward by us locals was to question why “they” hadn’t just re-routed the train through the tunnels that led south (I suspect the answer was, in part, if there had a derailment in those tunnels, then things would have really been messed up for all the expected travelers).

In addition, there were some locals who gave pause to the possible terror such a repeat scenario might cause. For example, A. recalls that for several years after the accident, whenever she was in Union Station, particularly when she and her family were riding on the train back to West Virginia, she would always be afraid another train would come crashing through the concourse. Consequently, she was always relieved when she could finally board their train and leave.

Well, that was 1953, and this is 2009, another busy Inauguration Day for Union Station, the station that literally “re-made” a city. Happy Inauguration Day President Obama, treat Union Station and Amtrak well. They are a key to helping our country become what it should be.

Eugene Oregon

The Oregon Electric Station

At one time the United States had two extensive passenger rail systems. The first, and most well-known, was the one operated by the freight railroads on their own tracks using the same type of motive power as their freight trains (albeit with some differences in terms of gearing and later the addition of steam generators on the diesel-electric locomotives).

The second, and mostly forgotten, was a system of Electrified Railways called, in most instances “Interurban Lines.” These lines were more directly derived from the various Electric Street Car operations that were common back then in many cities, both large and small, throughout the United Stations. The tracks for the Interurban Operations used rail that was generally not designed to allow for heavy trains. Further, their track laying “standards” (curvature, clearances etc.) were tighter and limited the size and length of much of the equipment used. Plus, in many instances, at least part of their right-of-way was located on regular city streets and not set apart from the rest of the traffic.

In the Pacific Northwest there were several lines. In Oregon the largest was the Oregon Electric Railway. The Oregon Electric was controlled by the Spokane Portland and Seattle Railroad (itself jointly owned by the Great Northern and Northern Pacific). The Oregon Electric had at least 2 lines. The one associated with this station started in Portland and ran south via Tigard, Wilsonville, Salem, Albany, and ended at this terminal in Eugene.

This station was constructed in 18 months between 1912 and 1913, though the first Oregon Electric train stopped in Eugene in October 1912. The Oregon Electric Railway was in direct competition with the Southern Pacific’s Willamette Valley Line which ran between Portland OR and (ultimately) Sacramento CA. For most of its run, including its run into Eugene, the Oregon Electric tracks were within a mile or less of the competing SP Line.

The peak passenger travel for this line was during the 1920’s. However, the economic hardship of the Depression, coupled with the rise in popularity of the Automobile, doomed the Oregon Electric (and most other Interurban Lines throughout the country). In 1933 when the Oregon Public Utilities Commission held a hearing to decide whether to allow the Oregon Electric to be disbanded, only 6 people showed up for the hearing.

Today, the station is a restaurant. A. and I ate there last summer when we were in Eugene. It is quite a nice eatery (sorry, as readers of my other blog know, I don’t take pictures of the food before I eat it, I just enjoy it). You have your choice of outside seating (weather permitting), or inside seating. The décor on the inside is quite interesting. You have a choice of the waiting area, an area designed to look like a station platform, or the inside of an actual Oregon Electric car that has been converted for restaurant use!

On the outside of the station there is a caboose, which I understand is a private residence, so if you go by there, please be respectful of private property and privacy. Please note, however, you will see it carrying the reporting marks of the Oregon Electric and Eastern. Apparently, there is some question about the authenticity of this marking as most of the folks from that area do not recall ever hearing of such a line. Not being from that area, I make no pretense of being any type of expert. If you have questions, go to the web site: http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM3A9Y , and do your research from there.


Concluding modern note:

One of the “unspoken” causes of the demise of the Electric Interurban Railroads, was the improvement in the various State Road systems. Throughout the 1920’s, and especially after the coming of the Great Depression, the Governments (not only state, but also the Federal Government) provided large appropriations, out of “General Revenue Funds,” to build new roads and bridges, and pave or otherwise improve existing thoroughfares. Further, other Federal agencies unique to that time period, e.g. the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the Works Progress Adminiatration, built many “attractions” reachable only by an automobile. All of these projects had a worthy goal, put people back to work and thus re-build our "economic" system. But as with many government programs there were some “unintended consequences.” Among these consequences was the demise of the Interurban System coupled with the rise in power, prestige and money of the American automobile industry, and oil industry.

Since that time, anytime politicians have talked about “economic stimulus” you can almost be sure that what they are really talking about is more road building projects, regardless of the appropriateness of them, or the long term consequences of the road projects on our nation’s energy consumption, or ecological footprint.

The current (this is being posted in January 2009) version of this saga is the economic stimulus package currently before the US Congress. The emphasis is upon “quick return projects,” “projects ready to go,” etc. What they really mean is “Bring us your road building projects for the next 5 years so we can fund them all.” Rail passenger advocates, such as the National Association for Railroad Passengers, are trying to get passenger rail, and mass transit projects a greater proportion of the funding, but from all the reports I am reading at present, they are having an uphill battle. There is some funding for these energy efficient, ecologically-friendly projects included in the present legislation, but the majority of resources appear to be oriented toward more road building. If you decry this current emphasis in our "Public Works (Infrastructure) Program, I encourage you to do what I did, let your Senators, and your Representative know of your thoughts.

As this station shows, it all happened once before, and look what has been the result-- a dependence on other, not necesarily "friendly" countries for our energy supplies, and an industry that seems incapable of responding to the changing priorities of America without large amounts of government-provided cash (this is "Private Enterprise"?).

Fort Payne Alabama

The Southern Railway Depot

A few years ago, A. & I were headed to Birmingham AL in order to attend the wedding of a cousin of hers. As I was doing my “guidebook research” in the AAA Guidebook on the lookout for interesting stops to make along the way, I was struck by the entry for Ft. Payne AL. Among the attractions listed was this Richardson Romanesque Depot originally constructed by the Southern Railway when it was under the guidance and control of J.P. Morgan.

Ft. Payne AL has a fairly long history for that region, since it was originally a Cherokee town called “Willstown” named for its headman, a man by the name of “Will.” During that early period it was most noteworthy for being one of the homes of the famous Cherokee, Sequoyah, the “inventor” of their “syllabary.” During the 1830’s a unit of the US Army under the command of Major John Payne built a fort here. The purpose of the fort was to provide a place for the internment of the Cherokee immediately prior to their beginning the infamous and sad “Trail of Tears” which led them from their native homelands to the Oklahoma Territory. After the Cherokee were removed, the name of the town was changed to that of the Fort that had been established here.

During the Civil War this area was relatively untouched by Union Forces (as indeed most of Alabama escaped destruction). This was because it was perceived by the Union Generals that the area lacked few areas of strategic importance.

After the hostilities were ended, the great financier J.P. Morgan began organizing a railroad he called “The Southern Railway” out of the totally segmented railway system operating in the south. As part of his efforts, he had agents for his new line scouting the route of the track for potential “business opportunities” that would create traffic for his railroad.

Ft. Payne was found to be in an area containing both coal and iron ore resources. And so, in the 1890’s Ft. Payne experienced a real “boom.” The Southern Railway, seeking to maximize the extent of the boom for its benefit had this substantial Richardson Romanesque Depot built in 1891. I suppose the thinking was: “We could just put up a standard-issue wooden depot, such as can be found in many places even today. But we are trying to attract Northern financiers to the area, and we must go the extra mile and constructing this type of depot. If you make it substantial, and more like what the Northern financiers are used to seeing at home (Richardson Romanesque architecture was the prevailing style for public buildings constructed during that era), then the chances are better that they will bring their business to Ft. Payne Alabama.”

The Southern Railway was, in short, a privately-owned, privately financed, economic development council. This Depot was seen as one of their “economic development tools.” The idea behind constructing it was: “The First Impression is the best one.”

This same idea, no doubt was on the minds of the economic development folks in Indianapolis Indiana when they recently re-did their city’s international airport. In this case, they opened a new terminal building, the Col. H. Weir Cook terminal building, that houses not only gates for folks to use when catching their airplane flights, but also stores, eateries, and a giant civic plaza the includes a huge sculpture entitled: “The Cardinal” (The Cardinal is the state bird of Indiana. It is also the name of the only Amtrak train that services the Indianapolis area, “The Cardinal.”). I expect that the thinking was: “Make a good first impression, that is what a community needs to do in order to experience economic development (that and give the local economy away by giving large tax breaks to those precious new business developments).”

Two communities 100+ years apart with the same approach, for sure, but with a major difference. In Ft. Payne, in the 1890’s, economic development through maximizing the transportation infrastructure (I believe that is the current jargon) was done by a private corporation using capital they had raised on the financial markets. In Indianapolis, and most other communities across the United States today, it is done by the taxpayers of Indianapolis, of Indiana, any I also suspect by the U.S.

Now, I am sure that many would argue that there were many abuses and mistakes made with the economic development experienced in the 1890’s under the guidance of private investors. In this particular instance, the coal and iron ore deposits proved to be very thin, and by the early 1900’s most of the mines and mills associated with the minerals were out of business. But I sometimes wonder, particularly as the US Congress works up the an even newer economic stimulus plan, not to be confused with the last one, if there are not just as many faults, perhaps even more, with the new public-funded economic development that is in vogue now. Only no one will know about it for at least 10 to 20 years.

Elkins West Virginia

The Western Maryland Railroad Terminal

For yours truly, this is the station that started me on the road of trying to photograph Railroad Passenger stations in the towns I visited. The particular day this shot was taken, we were on our way back home. We stopped in Elkins on this particular afternoon. And there I had a chance to get a close look at something I had only glanced at in all my previous brief passes through town. This beautiful, but sadly forgotten railroad station.

And the sight of it set me to thinking. I guess it was the grandeur of the building, built to standards equal to, or in many cases better than other contemporary buildings in the town that caught my eye. Why had this happened? Was it a fluke, or were similar structures still extant? And thus began the “quest.”

Elkins WV was originally created as a railroad town by Henry Gassaway Davis and his West Virginia Central and Pittsburgh Railway (WVC&P). The WVC&P began from an interchange with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in Piedmont WV. Davis had been working in Piedmont for the B&O for a number of years when he began “his” railroad in 1880. In 1890 Davis and a business partner, Stephen Elkins founded a town on the Tygart Valley River and named it after Elkins. The WVC&P reached Elkins in the late 1890’s.

Shortly after building through to Elkins, Davis sold the WVC&P Railroad to George Jay Gould who at the time controlled the Western Maryland Railroad. Gould had dreams of building a transcontinental line and saw the Western Maryland as the eastern portion of that dream. His original goal had been to make his west-east link through Pittsburgh.

How Gould saw the WVC&P fitting into this scheme is still not clear to me. According to Alan Clarke in his book on the Coal and Coke Railroad (Henry Gassaway Davis’ “retirement project”), Davis expected Gould to send his Western Maryland transcontinental trains through Elkins, down his Coal and Coke to Burnsville WV. Then the trains would follow another rail line that was supposedly going to be constructed through the southern portions of the Little Kanawha River drainage into Parkersburg WV where it would link up with a supposedly new line of the Wabash. Whether this was indeed Gould’s plan, or just a diversion that Gould promoted in his “war” with the Pennsylvania Railroad, is unknown to me (perhaps some reader of this posting can enlighten us all).

At any rate, presumably in anticipation of this transcontinental role for Elkins, Gould had the Western Maryland build this station in Elkins. Hence, this was the rationale, supposedly, for the station’s ornate features. This was going to be a “Transcontinental Line” (nevermind that the Western Maryland for years advertized itself as a “Fast Freight Line” and ran comparatively few long distance passenger trains).

The Western Maryland is “long gone,” absorbed into the Chessie System, and thence into CSX. And the trackage into Elkins is almost all gone as well. What was once a giant yard hosting many train cars is now largely a patch of weeds. And while CSX was at it when they “tore up” the track in the area, they also destroyed a key bridge just south of the station that tied the station trackage into the tracks then still left in the Elkins area thus effectively taking it “off line.” (It is rumored that they did this at night to avoid detection.)

The station, itself, has been extensively renovated both inside and out. And as beautiful as the picture above shows the outside to be, the inside is even more elegant, particularly the woodwork. The Station serves as a Visitor’s Center for the town of Elkins. Among other things, the town and many citizens in the area are attempting to create a West Virginia Railroad Museum on the “patch of weeds” in the back where the freight yards used to be. Presumably the station will become part of that overall idea.

The bridge south of the station that CSX “destroyed” has been replaced, and now tourist trains run by the West Virginia Central, utilize the Elkins terminal for some of their runs down the Tygart Valley and also up towards Cheat Bridge. The railroad has also moved its headquarters into the station building.

Boston Massachusetts

Boston South Station

Boston, in the late 1800’s had as many as 8 different passenger depots. The city officials, recognizing that this was too much of a “good thing” convinced the railroads to consolidate down to two stations. The first to be constructed was Boston North Station, opening in 1894. It was the station designed to serve the “New England Trains,” that is to say, the Boston and Maine. It was soon eclipsed by the structures surrounding it, and today “Boston North Station” is completely engulfed by Boston’s Fleet Center, home of the Basketball Celtics and the Hockey Bruins teams.

Boston’s South Station followed 4 years later, seeing its first revenue passengers pass through its headhouse in September 1898. The Boston South Station was designed to serve the “Northeast Trains,” that is to say the Boston and Albany (later part of the New York Central System), and the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad.

As with most passengers stations in America, Boston South Station was at its busiest during World War II. However, 20 years later, the New Haven Railroad, which owned the station through its subsidiary line The Boston Terminal Company, entered bankruptcy and sold the structure to the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA).

The initial ideas of BRA included demolishing the old structure and erecting a new complex of office development projects. However, in 1972, at the 11th hour, with demolition already started, BRA changed its mind and retained those parts of the station not already gone, mainly its signature headhouse, and decided to re-think its development ideas. The reason, in part, was the fact that America finally had a passenger rail system, Amtrak, and thus the revival of intercity rail became a possibility.

The station was sold by the BRA to the local Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in 1978. Shortly after this transaction, between 1984 and 1990, $195 million was spent to refurbish South Station and make it an “Intermodal” facility including not only intercity passenger trains, and commuter trains, but also inter-city buses, local buses, and a stop on the city’s historic subway system.

The late 1990’s saw Amtrak bring electrification into Boston, thus enabling the fast Acela trains to travel between Boston and Washington DC on a schedule which at this posting calls for a run of 6 ½ hours. Add to these speedy electrics, a complement of “Regional” runs, some through Springfield MA and others through Rhode Island, a daily train to Albany that connects with the New York-Chicago Lake Shore Limited, and commuter trains, to say nothing of all the busses and subway trains, and South Station is once more a busy place. Perhaps not as busy as 1945, but still busy enough to make many realize how close the BRA was to making a fatal city-killing mistake in the late 1960’s.

When Boston South Station was originally built, a coffer dam was constructed to keep the tidal waters of Fort Channel out of the station. Maybe there was a lesson here. Since that time, Boston, in true fashion, continued to “creep in” on Fort Channel with development, culminating with the construction of the infamous Central Artery which carried I-95 though downtown Boston.

In the 1990’s Boston realized that the Central Artery was out-of-date and started a new project intended to replace the Artery, the so-called “Big Dig.” During the planning phase, Rail Passenger advocates lobbied to have a rail connection between Boston’s North Station and Boston’s South Station become part of the project (the tunnel runs right by both stations). They were unsuccessful in their efforts and so even today, travelers coming in from the “Northeast” who desire to travel to “New England” must detrain and either catch a bus at South Station, or take the MTA to North Station where The Downeaster stops (Amtrak recommends if you do this, don’t get off your NE Corridor train at South Station, get off at the Back Bay station and catch the Orange MTA which runs from the 128th station up past Fleet Center and Boston’s North Station).

But remember the coffer dam of 1898? In a final fitting tribute to the shortsightedness of the planners of the Big Dig, it has been reported from time to time, that the new I-95 tunnel project has an awful lot of water being pumped out of it, far more, so it is rumored, than was originally projected. As the actress on the old Margarine commercial used to say: “It’s not NICE to fool with Mother Nature!”