Sunday, November 2, 2025

Memphis, TN: 1914 (Amtrak+Hotel)/IC Central Station

(Satellite)

In 1914, this IC depot replaced two other IC depots. One was located here, and the other was down by their Walker Street Shops."Over the years, Central Station was also served by the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway and the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway. After the initial abandonment of Union Station in 1964, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad also rerouted its trains to Central Station for a couple of years. By the time newly-created Amtrak took over most of the nation’s intercity passenger rail service in 1971, its daily City of New Orleans (Chicago-Memphis-New Orleans) was the only passenger train serving Memphis.....After acquiring ownership of the property, the Memphis Area Transportation Authority (MATA) broke ground in 1998 on an ambitious $23.2 million campaign, funded in large part through a federal grant."  The station's renovation also renovated the neighborhood. The hotel was opened in 2019. (For future reference, the Union Station was a few blocks east where the post office now stands.) [GreatAmericanStations]

Dan Sabin posted
It does snow in Memphis!  Memphis Central-Station-by-John-Barriger Dan Sabin collection.
John Matrow: Yes. We got 17" when we lived there in early 1960s. Deepest of my life.

The streetcar-like tracks are used by a downtown trolley system. I use the "rrInterurban" label for all light-rail services such as interurban, streetcars, "L"'s, subways and modern light rail. And now I use it for rail-based trolleys.
TheCentralStationMemphisCurioCollectionsByHilton
The hotel is operated by Hilton.

As expected, the Grand Hall is now an event space.
TheCentralStationMemphisCurioCollectionsByHilton

And this must be what they refer to as the Waiting Room. Other photos indicate that it was a hall in the concourse.
TheCentralStationMemphisCurioCollectionsByHilton

Weddings aren't the only events that help pay for the building.
TheCentralStationMemphisCurioCollectionsByHilton

Is this a "before" photo of the Grand Hall?  The 2018 date would before the building was remodelled to be a hotel. It looks like it was bigger and had natural lighting.
Stephan Grütering, Sep 2018

No, this would be today's Grand Hall. So what was and is the above room?
Since the area was segregated when this station was built, it not only had two waiting rooms, it had two entrances. [GreatAmericanStations]
Stephan Grütering, Sep 2018

The adjacent power house has been turned into a movie theater complex. [GreatAmericanStations]
Gary Bridgman, Apr 2017

I did a quick look to confirm that at least part of a smokestack was preserved. Central Station is in the left background.
Street View, Apr 2024

Is this today's Waiting Room. The hotel remodelling made a point of retaining the neon signs.
Donald Cooper, Nov 2017

This confirms that the above concourse hall is now the Waiting Room. We are looking down the staircase that is on the left in the above photo.
[I lost track of where I found this photo.]

More Waiting Room.
Brad Phillips, Feb 2020

They also bragged about restoring the arrival/departure board.
acchronicles, Oct 2022

Amtrak got moved to a space that is closer to the trains.
acchronicles, Oct 2022

And they also use a space that looks like it is in the basement? Or did they recently get moved to this cramped space because they lost the above space?
 Randy Petersen, Jun 2024

Saturday, November 1, 2025

Syracuse, NY: Original Erie Canal and 1850 Weighlock Canal Museum

Clinton Square: (Satelite, Erie Blvd. is built on the canal's right of way.)
Museum: (Satellite, "Museum set in the only remaining weighlock building explores impact & history of the canal system.")
Erie Canal Monument: (Satellite)


Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor posted
The original Erie Canal, also known as “Clinton’s Ditch,” ran right through the heart of Syracuse for the first 100 years of its operation, making Clinton Square became the region’s commercial hub. This bustling port crowded with boats and carriages helped establish Syracuse as a city that eventually drew boatloads of immigrants to the area. #TBT #ThrowbackThursday #ErieCanal200
📸: Clinton Square, 1905, Courtesy of the Smithsonian

"YOU ARE HERE" on this map is the Erie Canal Museum.
timliu75 tim, Aug 2020

This is a photo of a painting in the museum.
Paul W, Jul 2024

We can see a replica boat peeking out the windows on the right. It is setting in the weight lock that was on the south side of the canal. (I was sure to include the microwave horn antennas on the roof at the left side.)
Street View, Jul 2017

And here is a view looking out those windows from that replica boat. The main canal would be to the left of this basin.
Pritom Base, Mar 2024

"The Museum’s weigh chamber contains the Frank Buchanan Thomson, which is a full-size replica line boat. It is representative of a pre-enlargement vessel that would have carried both cargo and passengers on the Canal. Museum visitors can explore the Frank Buchanan Thomson and learn about life for canal boat passengers and crew, as well as the raw materials and finished goods that traveled on the Canal." [ErieCanalMuseum_ongoing]

I wish someone had taken a photo of this display. I wonder where this aqueduct was located. (Update: it looks like the aqueduct in Rochester.)
High5ive, Aug 2017

1895/95 Syracuse Quad @ 62,500

Rochester, NY: Original Erie Canal

(Satellite, see the topo map below. This is the location of the aqueduct that used to cross the river.)


bloomberg
"The Erie Canal runs through the heart of Rochester in the early 1900s. As in Syracuse and Albany, urban sections of the waterway were “dewatered” and paved over after the expanded Barge Canal opened in 1918.Source: Detroit Publishing Company photograph collection/Library of Congress"

The above photo shows boats approaching the aqueduct over the Genesse River.
Postcard via Bridge Hunter via Dennis DeBruler, which has more images of the canal in Rochester.

1895/95 Rochester Quad @ 62,500 via Dennis DeBruler

Cornell, IL: Lost/Wabash Depot

(Satellite)

Andy Zukowski posted
Wabash Railroad Depot in Cornell, Illinois. 1955

Larry Canilas commented on Andy's post
MP 26.3 Streator Branch; a few years earlier when it was real busy

As Larry said, it is on the Streator branch.
Bill Molony posted via Dennis DeBruler


This is another small Illinois town in which the grain elevator has thrived even though it lost rail service a long time ago.    
Street View, Jun 2025

The grain elevator has reused most of the railroad property.
1940 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

I could not decide which smudge along the tracks was the depot in the above photo, so I got a photo from a different flight line. This makes it clear that it was probably a little north of Main Street between 4th Street and the tracks. 
1940 Aerial Photo from ILHAP