For today's installment, we take a look at St. Louis Union Station. Union Station in Saint Louis was built by the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis (TRRA). The TRRA is a unique operation whose owners are its users, though all of its users do not own the railroad. All users, including owners, pay the railroad for the services they use. The TRRA treats all users, even non-owners equally in regard to access to the routes, bridges, and right-of-way.
The cornerstone of the station was laid on July 8, 1893 and construction began on the $6.5 million complex. When construction was completed and the station opened on September 1, 1894, Railroad Gazette declared that the station was one of the largest in the world, in term of track facilities.
The station sits on Market Street, a major east-west street in downtown. The head house was designed by a local architect, Theodore Link, who won a $10,000.00 award for his Richardson-Romanesque Design.
Behind the station is a massive train shed that covered 32 tracks. Later, 10 additional tracks were built just west of the train shed and covered by umbrella sheds. In total, the station's 42 stub-end tracks had a capacity of around 539 80-foot passenger cars. In addition to the head house and train shed, the station boasted a power house, separate express, baggage, and mail handling facilities, and a large subway tunnel under the 42 tracks to allow quick transportation of baggage and mail wagons next door. (The subway is now used by the Metrolink light rail system).
Near the station, at 14th Street, the TRRA built an engine service facility to service locomotives that arrived at the station. Some railroads, such as the L&N preferred to service their own power at their own East St. Louis, IL roundhouse, instead of paying TRRA to use their facility. As a result, passenger trains from Louisville or Nashville would have their road locomotives cut off at Relay Depot in East St. Louis, and be pulled over the Eads Bridge into Saint Louis by a TRRA 0-6-0.
TRRA Tower One controlled all movements into and out of the station. The tower controlled 315 switches and 315 signals into the station. The original Tower One burned on July 22, 1940, forcing the TRRA to hire an additional 100 switchmen to handle the 107 inbound and 106 outbound daily departures. The new Tower One was dedicated on November 30, 1940. The shell of this structure still stands, but is largely inaccessible.
During World War II, the station handled 315 trains and 100,000 passengers every day. After World War II, the station suffered what Trains Magazine's editor David P. Morgan termed "Execution by Expressway." By Amtrak Day on May 1, 1971, only six railroads continued to operate passenger trains into St. Louis Union Station, with 11 daily arrivals and departures.
By the end of the 1970s, TRRA sold the station and its train shed to a private developer, and Amtrak moved out to a "temporary" station (which served until 2004). The tracks were torn up and the station languished until its conversion into a retail/hotel complex in the 1980s.
Very nicely written. You must be a quick healer.
ReplyDeleteIs that a live bird flying over the point of the roof or is there a flag pole up there with an eagle on top?
ReplyDeleteIt's a bird flying over the building.
ReplyDeleteThe finger is doing much better, thanks to some quick first aid assistance from Frank. At first, I was concerned that the cut was far deeper than it turned out to be. When the bar pinched my finger, my finger nail acted as a blade and opened up the wound.
Thanks to peroxide, frequent cleaning, bandage changes, and neosporin, it looks a lot better now, which is good, as it's hard to type with a band-aid.
Mr. Wilkins, while the outcome of the game could have been more favorable to this University of Illinois alum, during the Sep 5 Illinois-Missouri game, ESPN did have a "pan" shot of Union Station. The commentator referred to it as the St Louis Union TRAIN Station.
ReplyDeleteThey also had a very quick shot of the rail equipment on display there. One such passenger car was in Erie-Lackawanna livery. Any ideas on the history of that car?
GBN
"...could have been more favorable..." -- please don't give Wilkins more chances to gloat!
ReplyDeleteI went to two schools in Kentucky (Western Kentucky University and the University of Louisville) and Saint Louis University, so I have no stake in your so-called "Arch Rivalry"
ReplyDeleteThe only equipment left at Union Station proper is a couple of ex MILW baggage cars painted grey, which were used as storage cars for the old Rail Cruise America operation. Rail Cruise America sold its fleet to KCS several years back, and the tracks have been largely empty. There is a PV storage track south of the station, near Tower 1.
Today when driving across the "valley" I noticed a Frisco lightweight sleeper and an L&N obs car parked in the PV track.