This is my favorite station, although much reduced in size from the days of passenger trains from 7 different railroads. While the interior was wonderfully restored a few years ago, the part you don't see is in need of major repairs.
Hooray. Great use of public money.
Posted by PullmanCo (Member # 1138) on :
One of the neat things of the Kansas City Union Station renovation is the appropriate public spaces are to her glamour days. Meanwhile the office and workroom spaces are state of the art. (as of 1999 when she re-opened, but I suspect they've been kept up to snuff.
Posted by palmland (Member # 4344) on :
Mr Pullman. I thoroughly enjoyed our visit a few years ago to KC station. We had dinner at a very nice restaurant on lower level. Don't recall its name. They've done a magnificent restoration job on the building. Hope its financial troubles are in the past as recent Trains article seemed to indicate. As we make annual trips to western KS, hope to spend more time there in 2015. But, thanks to all the memories, CUT still gets my vote.
Some time in late 60's took a joy ride at tail end of a camping trip from KC to LaJunta and back on the Super Chief/Chief. Great service and equipment. Our bedroom was immaculate, food great and friendly crew. It's hard to ride the SWC and remember those days. But the showers are an improvement!
Posted by PullmanCo (Member # 1138) on :
The restaurant is Pierponts. It's in the actual restaurant space of the Station, that once held Fred Harvey's Westport Room. It's also occupied a floor above, and a floor below.
Where the ticket house once was is now a morning space called Harvey's. There is also Parisi Coffee, a custom roaster (off-site) coffee stand.
I know what you are saying about Pullman (even after the Pullman Company) vice Amtrak sleeper space. Trust me, other than the shower, Amtrak cannot hold a candle to how Pullman did business.
Posted by RRRICH (Member # 1418) on :
Is the Cincinnati Union Terminal still a museum? When I lived in the Cincinnati area (1988-1992), most of the station was the Natural History Museum, and AMTRAK occupied a small room in one corner of the building, with a fairly decent waiting area and ticket counter, and either steps or an elevator down to the tracks to board the Cardinal when it came through.
Posted by palmland (Member # 4344) on :
Rich - it is very much still a museum - including science, natural history, Cincinnati history, library, archives, and great model railroad exhibit showing railroads in the Cincinnati area. Check it out.
The Amtrak waiting room was nicely done. Originally part of the gentlemen rest room/lounge area. This will give you an idea of the scope of the place (from the Museum's website):
********* The massive 180-foot-wide and 106-foot-tall rotunda, today the second largest half dome in the world (after the Sydney Opera House), is the primary space. When the building opened in 1933, it connected to another important space, the train concourse, a 450-foot-long structure that sat over the tracks below. Here 16 train gates connected to the platforms where passengers and baggage would be loaded or unloaded from the train. ********
Sadly the concourse was torn down in the 70's to make room for NS intermodal terminal and CSX switching lead. It was designed to handle 216 trains per day and 17,000 passengers. Probably sufficient for the lowly Cardinal going through in the middle of the night.
The Cincinnati Railroad Club club occupies Tower A that overlooks the railyards. I highly recommend a tour of the building and the club.
Without a tour you won't see some of the rooms that have been wonderfully restored, like the private dining room:
It really is an Art Deco masterpiece. Hats off to the voters of Hamilton County for voting in favor of the sales tax to generate $170 million to rehab the structure. While the interior looks great, steel reinforced concrete used throughout was new technology in its day and rust and water have invaded it. Plumbing and electrical was also cutting edge in 1930. A bit out of date now.
Posted by RRRICH (Member # 1418) on :
Thanks a lot for the update, Palmland!! Don't know if I'll ever get back to CUT, but if I do,I will certainly check it out!
Posted by yukon11 (Member # 2997) on :
Very impressive photos, Mr. Palmland. Thanks for posting.
It's too bad that the Cincinnati station is only served by the Cardinal, 3X per week.
I believe the Omnimax theater, in the Museum Center, is now showing "Rocky Mountain Express":
I read that movie title too fast, Richard. Thought they were playing "Rocky Horror Picture Show" - LOL.
Carry on.
Posted by Iron Mountain (Member # 12411) on :
Palmland, I hope I can work in a visit to the Cincinnati Station (or is it Terminal?). I would like to visit all of the great stations that are now used by Amtrak. The murals, statuary, and general designs are treasures. Thanks for the pictures.
Pullman, when I travel to KCY the first thing I do upon arrival is go to Pierpont's for an adult beverage. In reference to the prior usage I thought that the original use of Pierpont's was the Ladies Waiting Room? Perhaps I am mistaken. It is a good place to dine also. Wonderful ambiance.
There used to be a book store or the book store on the second level overlooking the Grand Hall.There was a framed map of the United States with red lines radiating out from Kansas City showing all of the destinations that could be reached by rail from KC. It appeared that there were very few if any communities of consequence that were not accessible.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Cincinnati is named a terminal, even though it is a run through. Once upon a time, I thought that a terminal meant stub end, as in New Orleans, Grand Central, LAUPT, et magna alia. I also thought that Hauptbahnhof meant a stub end as well. On the latter, I guess I had to go overseas to learn to the contrary.
Posted by yukon11 (Member # 2997) on :
I, like Mr. Norman, don't understand why Cincinnati is a "terminal". It isn't a final stop for any railroad, unless it once was (?).
Why, then, is the "Chicago Union Station" a "station" (?). Shouldn't it be "Chicago Union Terminal".
Also, what is the difference between a depot and a station? I tend to think of a train depot as a smaller building, compared to a train station. However, I've read one opinion that states if a station has a passenger waiting room or freight room it should be called a depot, not a station, regardless of size.
The famous train station in New York is "Grand Central Terminal". I grew up thinking the proper name was "Grand Central Station". Probably because of an old radio program called "Grand Central Station"
CUT is almost a terminal! Only the B&O ran through. All trains for the 6 other roads terminated there: Southern, NYC, PRR, N&W, L&N, and C&O. Although several did have interline cars, mostly to the sunny south, notably cars for L&N''s Southland and SRY Royal Palm.
Posted by RRRICH (Member # 1418) on :
Mr. Norman -- the German word "Hauptbahnhof" means "main (or primary) train station," whether it be a "terminal" or a station in which trains run through. Several of the larger cities in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (German-speaking nations) have several train stations -- the primary one (normally the one in the Central Business District) being the Hauptbahnhof.
Posted by PullmanCo (Member # 1138) on :
Mr Norman, my friend...
I've been to more than a few HBFs. It is indeed, main station.
Wurzburg and Aschaffenburg, both InterCity stops back in the 80s, were run-throughs.
Actually, Hamburg HBF was a run-through. Hamburg-Altona was the terminal.
I'll get pictures and diagrams as I can.
Posted by George Harris (Member # 2077) on :
"back in the day" Cincinnati was a terminal. There were through cars, but no (almost no) through trains. It was the dividing line between the northern and the southern roads. New York Central, Pennsylvania, B&O to the north, C&O, L&N, and Southern to the south.
Posted by yukon11 (Member # 2997) on :
Your post, George, prompted me to read up on some old trains terminating in Cincinnati, as listed in Beebe's "The Trains We Rode".
From what I can tell, some of the trains terminating in Cincinnati include:
"Royal Palm", Cincinnati to Jacksonville. "The "Pan American" (L/N) Cincinnati to New Orleans. The (old) "James Whitcomb Riley" (NY Central). The "Cincinnatian" (B&O), Cincinnati to Baltimore.
Question: I kind of get the impression that few of the old B&O passenger lines were picked up, by Amtrak, in 1971. Is this a false impression or were there reasons why Amtrak steered away from B&O routes? Possibly cost, practical reasons, hostility, other reasons?
Richard
Posted by Ocala Mike (Member # 4657) on :
Didn't the Ohio State Limited (NYC Train #15) run GCT to Cincinnati? It left NY around 4:00 pm and arrived Cincy around 8:40 am. I saw the Brooklyn Dodgers board it at GCT one afternoon for a series with the Reds, circa 1954.
Posted by PullmanCo (Member # 1138) on :
In theory, the considerations were economic... what trains were worth continuing.
As an example: UP 9-10-101-102-103-104-105-106, the "City of Everywhere", required...
Switching at Ogden to fuse/build 101-102 into 9-10-103-104.
Switching at Denver to fuse/build 105-106 into 9-10-101-102-103-104.
Switching at North Platte to fuse/build 9-10 to 101-102-103-104-105-106.
That's a lot of switching. ATSF #17-18, OTOH, was a complete block through train, LA-Chicago.
Which do you choose?
Posted by palmland (Member # 4344) on :
B&O trains on their main east-west line were through: National Ltd, Diplomat, and Metropolitan Special. Having ridden them all there was some switching of a few cars on the Metropolitan, but the National and Diplomat were all through to St. Louis or Louisville via North Vernon. But all trains on the other 6 roads did terminate there.
For a short time, Amtrak did run the Shenandoah from Cincinnati to Washington but I believe Senator Staggers had something to do with that and it didn't last long. Prior to that in the late 60's the newly merged C&O and B&O gave up on the B&O route with most of the cars routed on the more popular and less mountainous C&O line with the National becoming a 3 car local (although it did retain its very nice observation-lounge-sleeper to offer meals and sleeping accommodations). Strange little train.
Prior to the 60's the main competition was from the PRR's Liberty Limited out of Washington. The B&O was never very competitive into New York because of its slower schedule and ferry connection into Manhattan from Jersey City. But those who road it thought it offered the best service until the end.
Posted by Ocala Mike (Member # 4657) on :
Apropos of this thread, I just got my quarterly magazine from my insurance company, USAA. Lo and behold, the cover is a beautiful picture of the interior of Cincinnati's Union Terminal. The accompanying article points out that Cincinnati rates as one of the ten best places for military retirement in the country, calling the present-day station with its various uses a "can't-miss culture hub."
