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 GrĂ¼tering, 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 GrĂ¼tering, 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

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