Towns and Nature: Richmond, VA: 1901 Seaboard+C&O Main Street Station

Amtrak still uses the station. The waiting room and train shed are now event spaces. Judging from a topo map below, Seaboard was on the west side and C&O was on the east side.

MainStreetStationRichmond-story
[Taken long before a highway blocked this view.]

StyleWeekly
"Main Street Station, soon after completion in 1901, featured raised railroad tracks, platform and shed. They continue to protect operations from flooding."

Raymond Storey posted
RICHMOND VA

Jim Kelling: Main Street station (1901)

Timothy Carroll posted
Randall Hampton shared
Richmond

The James River was flood prone. This photo was during the highest recorded flood caused by Hurricane Agnes in 1972. I know they now have a flood wall because it interferes with the view of the Triple Crossing that is a few blocks away.

TheJamesRiver

Ian Gove posted
Richmond Virginia in I guess the early 60s by looking at the cars in the parking lot...
Jim Kissel: Engine change here for the Silver Comet we rode to Atlanta. The RF&P locomotives that pulled the train from Washington (after a handoff from PRR's GG-1) were swapped for Seaboard engines for the remainder of the trip.
[The youngest car identified in the comments is a '59 Chevy. We are looking Southish so Seaboard is on the right and C&O is on the left.]

Ian Grove commented on his post
[In another comment he mentions that I-95 opened in Richmond in 1958.]

Timothy Carroll posted

Bill Kazda: Wow! Before I-95 was routed through the lobby? 🚂😳

Edward Riddle: My first time seeing a photo showing both SAL and C&O at Richmond's Main Street Station, and in color no less. Thanks for posting this beauty!

Tom Minetree: Given the sun light angle that is late morning.

Also the Seaboard Freight yards are still in use on the West side of the Station so this photo was taken before 1955.

Also I'm guessing this is a winter shot around 11:30am timings for both The Star and The Sunland to be in Richmond's Main Street Station.

The Big Train on the right side of the platform is The SILVE STAR #22 the shorter train under the train shed is The Sunland, #8 sister train to The Star...

The size of The Star also indicates that it was a winter schedule carrying both St Petersburg- Tampa as well as Miami cars. The Star did not handle Mail but did have checked baggage and occasionally carried Express in special circumstances. The Sunland by this era was primarily a coach, baggage, mail and express train Tampa to Washington but in peak seasonal demand would carry sleepers Tampa to Washington and at time the through coach's and Pullmans from Norfolk to Jacksonville. The Sunland basically did all the heavy lifting Mail and Express wise operating in tandem with THE STAR. Both Trains operationally dependent on each other.

If there was to be an engine change that came at Brown Street yard adjacent to the Pullman yards and right behind Broad Street Station. This is where RF&P operating Crews would take over for the run to Washington and connecting with the PRR to New York.

The C&O #47 The Sportsman was the connection from Newport News, Hampton and Williamsburg for points North with the Seaboard departed at 11:10 am with The Star....#47 departing at 11:05am..You could feasible make a connection with the Sportsman Westbound to Columbus and Detroit; Cincinnati and Chicago off The Star if it was on time, but it was always close and never guarantee. #47 would hold for 10 min.. officially sometimes more if the Star had left Petersburg-enroute to Richmond and there were connecting Coach and Pullman passengers.

This photo suggest all connections were made The Sportsman seen on the far left was getting ready to Depart.

Ted Gregory shared

Wow

Ted Gregory shared

Wow

Larry Jenkins posted
This morning in RVA at the Main Street Station, fog was rolling in as the sun was coming up.

Maria Castillo Ruiz posted
Main Street Station in Richmond, Virginia
Randall Hampton shared
A southbound, making the turn toward Williamsburg.

Ashland Train Day posted

For you Richmond railfan folks, this is from Old Images of Richmond FB page:

Seaboard Air Line (SAL) Train #22, the Silver Star passing Main Street Station in Richmond; the photograph was taken from the Marshall Street Viaduct looking southwest; c September 1966

The Main Street facility opened to serve as a union station for two major railroads, the Seaboard Air Line (SAL) Railroad, running north and south, and the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Railroad, running east and west. In 1959, the SAL moved its passenger services to the Broad Street station (now the Science Museum of Virginia) while the C&O retained passenger service through the Main Street terminal as well as offices in its upper floors until Amtrak took over service in 1971. However, after Hurricane Agnes caused the rise of the James River which flooded the first floor of the station, Amtrak discontinued passenger service to Main Street station on October 15, 1975. Amtrak restored service to Main Street Station in 2003.

The Silver Star was originally a service of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL), running from New York to Miami and later also St. Petersburg (beyond Tampa). It was previously known as the Advance Silver Meteor, and was renamed on December 12, 1947, after the name was chosen by SAL in a contest. From 1947 to 1948, it was winter-only and did not appear in summer timetables. By 1949, however, it was a year-round train. Its main Miami-bound route went through the interior of Florida, via Ocala and Winter Haven. In peak winter service in the mid-1950s it had a section that went to St. Petersburg via Tampa. Another section went to Port Boca Grande via Tampa. The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) carried the train between New York and Washington, D.C. under a haulage agreement, similar to the arrangement with its sister train, the Silver Meteor. The agreement was maintained when the PRR was folded into Penn Central Transportation in 1968, a year after SAL merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (SCL). Between Washington and Richmond, Virginia, the train operated on RF&P rails. Amtrak took over the train in 1971. Sources: aryburn-trains; worthpoint.com; Library of Virginia; Seaboard Air Line Railroad Timetables, June 15, 1948; Official Guide of the Railways, August 1949, Seaboard Air Line Railroad section, Tables 1, 3, 6; Official Guide of the Railways, December 1954, Seaboard Air Line Railroad section, Condensed Table and Tables 1, 3, 6, 7

JohnJ Kulidas posted
A 1967 view of the east/C&O side of Richmond’s Main Street Station in its original form. With a Chesapeake and Ohio passenger train ready to pull out.
Stephen Yevich: Eastbound #42, Newport News section of the George Washington, with by-then routine consist of 10-6 sleeper from Cincinnati, coach-diner, full coach, and what looks like a B&O baggage car on the rear.
Randall Hampton shared

Street View, Mar 2020

That town has a lot of layers of infrastructure. The famous triple crossing is close by. And it looks like I-95 went over the top of everything. This view is from the ramp that you see to the left of the depot in the above view.

Street View, Jul 2019

GreatAmericanStations
"Located in Shockhoe Bottom, the Renaissance Revival style station opened in 1901 to serve the Seaboard Air Line and C&O railroads; its ornate, domed clock tower is a city landmark."

Erik Nygard commented on Ian's post
4/27/2019.

Erik Nygard commented on Ian's post
From another angle

Erik Nygard commented on Ian's post
Transportation at Shockoe Slip one level of the three levels of trains seen here.

Before weddings and other events:

F33 Flickr, Sep 20, 2009
The interior of Main Street Station. Not too many people were waiting for a train.

There were a couple of bad fires in the 1980s, so restoration was a long journey, but it looks like it was successful.

MainStreetStationRichmond-headhouse

MainStreetStationRichmond-shed

Photo by Scott Elmquist via StyleWeekly
A 63,000-square-foot enclosed former train shed, which is 500' long.
The $91.5m makeover was paid for mostly by federal and state funds.
The clock tower rises 110'.

1956 Richmond Quadrangle @ 1:24,000

I added a blue rectangle to highlight the triple crossing and a yellow one to highlight the train station.

1956 Richmond Quadrangle @ 1:24,000 plus Paint

Christopher Love posted 17 photos with the comment: "The fire at Main Street Station, Richmond, Virginia. I remember as a three-year-old hearing with horror as my parents talked about the possibility that the station would be torn down. Thank God it survived this one. Kind of like the city of Richmond itself, it has survived hell and high water."

Christopher Love shared with the comment: "Here's the 1983 fire at Main Street Station, Richmond as well as some flood photos."