There are more photos of the station and tower in my St. Louis Trains notes.
STL Brick House posted 12 terrific historical photos and a rather long history. Of note: "At its opening, it was the world's largest and busiest railroad station and its trainshed was the largest roof span in the world.... In the 1920s, it remained the largest American railroad terminal. At its height, the station combined the St. Louis passenger services of 22 railroads, the most of any single terminal in the world."
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| Richard R. Anderson posted St. Louis Union Station, circa 1920.Postcard credit: C.T. American Art; Beacon Series No. 1082.Postcard text: "Union Station, St. Louis, Mo., showing vast network of tracks over which scores of trains pass daily from all parts of the United States. This is the largest railroad station in the world, covering 11 acres." |
They preserved the train station as well as the headhouse. It looks like there is a little passenger car museum on the left side.
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| Street View, Sep 2022 |
This helps me understand Douglas Weitzman's pictures of trains going to or from this depot. Evidently Double Tree has done a nice job preserving it as a hotel: exterior, interior. Since most of the tracks to the train shed have been torn up, Amtrak built a new station closer to the tracks that remain. It looks like St. Louis never had, and never will have, commuter trains. (Update: a light rail system has been built that uses the rail deck of the Eads Bridge to cross the Mississippi river.)
Update: Click the "shared" link to see the picture. I do not include the picture because it seems a stolen copy may have been posted on NOLA.
Bill Edringtone posted five photos with the comment:
William A. Shaffer added six photos to his album St. Louis Union Station. Unfortunately, you do need a Facebook login to access them.
Marty Bernard posted nine photos including some interior shots. (source)
Update: Click the "shared" link to see the picture. I do not include the picture because it seems a stolen copy may have been posted on NOLA.
I believe this photo was in a Morning Sun book.WAB Banner Blue with 4-6-4 #701 at St Louis MO.
Donald Burford Love the Pennsy unit as well
Michael C Kelly It was in my book with Morning Sun, "Wabash in Color Vol.2", page 23. Shot is of the Banner Blue by the late, great Joe Collias, taken on 10-9-47.
Donald Burford Love the Pennsy unit as well
Michael C Kelly It was in my book with Morning Sun, "Wabash in Color Vol.2", page 23. Shot is of the Banner Blue by the late, great Joe Collias, taken on 10-9-47.
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| George Ford Jr posted St Louis.... |
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| Robert Wanner posted St Louis Union Station a few (really a lot) of years back when all the colors of rainbow in motive power still pried the rails. Missouri Pacific and Gulf, Mobile & Ohio among the most interesting. Rode into the terminal a few times during the Glory years of rail passenger service when a good dozen or more railroad passenger schedules got them to St Louis. Unknown Photographer. Kevin Biegler: Turn of the 19th to 20th Century Union Station was the busiest passenger terminal on the planet! Colin Harding: According to my 1940 Official Guide, 18 railroads used the Union Station. The only railroad that had a separate terminal was the Illinois Terminal. Robert Wanner: Colin Harding That's a heck of a lot of railroads, a true Union Station, more than any of the Chicago stations. Colin Harding: About the same as the Kansas City Union Station. I'm always amazed how many railroads used to criss-cross the Midwest. Of course, in Chicago, there were multiple stations. |
Matt Chaney posted two photos with the comment:
TRAIN SHED CONSTRUCTION AT UNION STATION IN ST. LOUIS, CIRCA 1893The largest train shed in America under construction at Union Station in St. Louis, 1800 Block of Market Street, around 1893. At bottom, the train shed in operation, 1897. The Union Station Train Shed covered 378,000 square feet, equaling eight football fields, measuring 630-feet [192m] long by 600-feet [183m] wide. The roof crested at 74-feet [23m] high. Click photos for notes and credits.
Allen D Henson shared
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| 1 Train shed construction at St. Louis Union Station around 1893. Photograph by B.A. Atwater, with digital image from the Missouri Historical Society in St. Louis |
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| 2 Union Station along Market Street in St. Louis, 1897, utilizing the largest train shed in America at 630 feet in length and 600 feet width, with a roof crest at 74 feet, housing an area equivalent to eight football fields. Digital image from the Library of Congress |
Matt Chaney provided three photos of the exterior in the comments:
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| William A. Shaffer posted Amtrak's "Prairie State" Departs St. Louis Union Station (1973) (Photo by William A. Shaffer) I've always loved riding the train! It's not just the riding---it's the motion, the people, the scenery, etc. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. You'll be there before you know it! |
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| William A Shaffer posted Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis (TRRA) Switcher #506 has several Norfolk & Western Passenger Cars in Tow at St. Louis Union Station (Photo by Al Chione - Collection of William A. Shaffer) |
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| William A. Shaffer posted St. Louis Union Station (Photo by William A. Shaffer) William A. Shaffer posted |
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| William A. Shaffer posted Platform at Gateway Station - St. Louis, MO (Photo by William A. Shaffer) |
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| William A. Shaffer posted Looking Down Into the Ticket Office at St. Louis Union Station (Photo by William A. Shaffer) |
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| William A. Shaffer posted St. Louis Union Station. (1.14.16). St. Louis, MO. (Photo by William A. Shaffer) This photograph was taken during one of the many refurbishments of the depot. |
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| One of three photos posted by William A. Shaffer Amtrak E9A #426 is shown outside of the train shed at St. Louis Union Station on August 11, 1974. (All Photos by William A. Shaffer) |
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| William A. Shaffer posted Illinois Central E7A #4006 St. Louis Union Station (Photo by William A. Shaffer) I can't say for sure just which train this was, but I like to think it might have been the "Green Diamond". I rode the "Green Diamond" once out of Chicago, all the way to St. Louis. I can still remember the train gliding through Marine, IL! I was trying to watch for Mont Stration near Edwardsville but missed seeing it. The track was smooth. The train was on time. But the trip was boring! Nobody spoke. Everyone just sat there! On the GM&O or Wabash/N&W, people would be talking and laughing...in general, having a good time. I only took the IC once. That was enough for me. I'd rather ride the GM&O, which one wag referred to as "a rolling museum"! |
Friends of Passenger Rail Oklahoma posted five photos with the comment:
St. Louis Union StationWhile Amtrak no longer stops at St. Louis Union Station it is just a short walk from the Gateway Transportation Center. Union Station Hotel is a fantastic place to stay! You can reach St. Louis using the Heartland Flyer / Texas Eagle connection at Fort Worth.St. Louis Union Station:
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| Walt Edward posted Wabash Bluebird? Nice train shed! Walt Gay collectionRick Smith ..Shown pulling out from under StL. Union Sta. shed onto the trackage forming the west wye leg...Rick Smith ..I'd say that it most likely was westbound WAB Nº203 the then-nameless former "City of Kansas City", which departed St.Louis between 8 and 9-something AM, as that photo suncast would suggest, with the steady trailing exhaust. Also, those "silver" cars appear to be very possibly the remains of those ACF-built early-post-WWII streamlined fluted aluminum cars built specifically for that namesake train, and which resembled very closely the ones for L&N's original "Humming Bird" and the jointly-owned L&N-NC&StL original "Georgian". The smoke on that train is too windswept to be streaming rearward by wind gusts alone, and it suggests that the locomotive is throttled for the Delmar Station, before proceeding through Wellsville, "Mexico-Mo", Moberly, and Centralia, for a 2-something PM arrival at KC Union Station, then returning as Nº212 to St. Louis before 10 that same night. |
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| William A. Shaffer posted Wabash E8A #1000 is shown with a passenger train departing St. Louis, MO (Circa 1965). Passenger train not identified by name or train number, but I suspect it may have been either the "Blue Bird" or "Banner Blue" because of the dome cars in the consist. (Photographer Unknown - Collection of William A. Shaffer)Bill Edrington Based on the angle of the sun as well as the Erie Lackawanna baggage car, the Pullman-Standard dome parlor car and the dome coach in the consist, I think this is the Blue Bird departing for Chicago a little after 9 AM. It headed west out of Union Station in order to make a stop at Delmar Boulevard before circling back around to the Merchants Bridge and then proceeding to Decatur and Chicago. Louis Eagle Quint Two EUnits really were needed as shown in this photo. The addition of an RPO and off line ( EL) baggage storage mail meant extra revenue. The solid blue paint scheme was applied to the passenger units 1962-1964. Also 2 dome coaches went to the Banner Blue, as did original Dome Parlor 1601, thus making 3 sets of equipment with Domes. Clever use of existing resources. The Bluebird was still top train with Coffee Shop ( coach ) Lounge, Dining Cocktail Lounge 51 for those passengers desiring more formal service, and Dome Parlor 1602 for the upscale trade. The Banner Blues had diner Lounges 1570 and 1571 ( purchased by Wabash from Maine Central) , Dome Coach Service with 2 of the 3 original Budd Domes, and Parlor Service via Dome Parlor 1601 and City of Kansas City Streamlined Parlor 1600 ( ACF 1947). Spare coaches included Citt of Kansas City 1626& 1627, along with drug store soda fountain Coach 1625. Spare Parlor was open platform heavyweight rebuild “ City of LaFayette”. The Wabash did not shoot its’ passenger trains! Service and Standards remained high right up until the N&W merger in October, 1964 and beyond into N&W up until 1966- then the cuts began. Roanoke started to scale back the Banners. The Bluebird remained a top notch train into the late 1960’s. The Domes went east for Pocahontas ‘ rebirth. The food service Cars: Diners 50&51, Buffet 650, Buffet Coach 1625, and 1570& 1571 hung around until Amtrak in April 30, 1971 saw the final trips of the Cannonball and the truncated Bluebird which had devolved into The City of Decatur. Car 650 remained lettered Wabash right up until Amtrak day! |
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| David Popp II posted Wabash Hudson!! St. Louis Union Station James Holzmeier: The late Joe Collias took some wonderful shots in his day. We all owe him a debt of gratitude for it. Richard Fiedler shared Brian Falasz: And that Pennsy 5 stripe E unit behind her isn’t that bad either!! Christopher Severin: Late forties? Richard Fiedler: Christopher Severin most likely. Jim Kelling shared St. Louis Union Station trainshed |
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| Center for Railroad Photography & Art posted The annual meeting of the Lexington Group in Transportation History begins today in St. Louis, Missouri, so here's a view from Center member Dick Neumiller of New York Central's "Knickerbocker" passenger train backing into St. Louis Union Station on June 23, 1957. [Note the brick interlocking tower in the right background.] |
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| William A. Shaffer posted GM&O E7A #100 leads a St. Louis-Chicago Train Out of St. Louis Union Station (Circa 1972) (Photo by William A. Shaffer) William A. Shaffer I remember thinking at the time that they should have left the GM&O Cars in place instead of bringing in the UP coaches. The GM&O Equipment was old, but well cared for! Lance Erickson Amtrak retires cars according to age not condition. It always has from day one. Loren Hatch This would have been in the summer or fall of '71. On November 14 these trains started running through to Milwaukee and had a much wider variety of equipment, including CB&Q observation cars. William A. Shaffer That's why I said "Circa 1972". It's hard to remember the exact date without referring to a negative envelope, slide mount, etc. and these shots have already been digitized, so I didn't have the convenience of checking the date. [Another view of the interlocking tower.] |
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| Carl Venzke posted B&O 1412 (E6A) with Train 2, the George Washington, leaving St. Louis between April and October 1967 (exact date unknown). - by Roger Puta Troy Nolen Surprised B&O had any E6's still active in 1967. It's been substantially rebuilt, has E8A style carbody sides and F unit type numberboards. Nose looks rebuilt too. Has a crease dead center, headlight is recessed. Not a typical look for an E6A. [A complete view of the interlocking tower.] |
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| Cliff Kierstead posted Borrowed from another page with no photographer information, from St. Louis Union Station tower one, the Burlington Silver Charger with the General Pershing Zephyr departing. The Silver Charger is preserved at The National Museum of Transportation near Kirkwood, MO. |
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| William A. Shaffer posted A lone Penn-Central E-Unit peaks out from underneath the train shed at St. Louis Union Station. (Photo by William A. Shaffer) Stanley Johnson Looks like a second unit trailing it. Mitch Markovitz There is a second unit. William A. Shaffer I'd say 1973-1974, probably Bill Edrington How the mighty had fallen. I'm guessing this was early Amtrak, when the only trains serving St. Louis were one daily New York/Washington-Kansas City train via PC-St. Louis-MP, and two daily Chicago trains via the GM&O. This is the most deserted-looking picture of the trainshed I've ever seen. Mitch Markovitz The very image of what the end of American passenger trains looked like. Don't get me started on AMtrak. |
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| William A. Shaffer posted The Train Shed at St. Louis Union Station .(Circa 1972-1973) (Photo by William A. Shaffer) Once the Developers got Amtrak out of the Station, weeds began to grow up in and around the tracks. Next, most of the. tracks were torn out so Amtrak couldn't return! And then, the premises ceased to be a railroad depot. Tom Paterson A sad end for the largest train shed in the US. |
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| I Love Trains posted photo courtesy of Stephen Rogers. - Pennsylvania Railroad steam locomotive #5343. Union Station at St. Louis, MO August 1945. Philip Hernandez: The various railroads organized a separate railroad to switch it, the TRRA (still in business). It had to be rough on the dispatchers and towermen at the interlockings. When this picture was taken, WW II was effectively over, but troop trains were still moving, and the first waves of soldiers coming home from Europe were arriving. That looks like a K4s with a passenger train in tow. Laurie AndRobert Parish: I've seen double track diamonds but I've never seen a triple track diamond ,I wonder if one is still In use and where ? Dennis DeBruler: Laurie AndRobert Parish Chicagoland had several quad-track diamonds. One that I can think of off the top of my head is four east/west Rock Island tracks crossing 2 Santa Fe and 2 GM&O tracks at Joliet Union Station. The north/south tracks are still used, but Metra now has only one of the four Rock Island tracks. https://www.google.com/maps/@41.5241565,-88.0793214,126m/data=!3m1!1e3 I Love Trains posted again |
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| George Ford Jr commented on the above posting St Louis 10/11/53 |
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| Illinois Central Railroad Scrapbook posted IC E8A 4025 and an E7A are seen outside the massive trainshed at St. Louis Union Station in 1965. By this date the IC was down to just a handful of St. Louis trains, including the "Green Diamond" between St. Louis and Chicago, plus a pair of trains connecting with the "Panama Limited" and "City of New Orleans" at Carbondale, IL. Photographer unknown, Cliff Downey collection. |
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| Vintage St. Louis & Route 66 October 31, 1978 - The last regularly scheduled train pulled out of Union Station, once one of the busiest in the world. Amtrak's Number 22, bound for Chicago ended 84 years of service to the grand old station. Amtrak moved operations to the forlorn "Amshak" east of the station. Union Station deteriorated and became a haven for the homeless until it was redeveloped in 1985. The Blackhawk Railway Historical Society shared |
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| William A. Shaffer posted Penn-Central E8A #4282 Under the Train Shed at St. Louis Union Station (Circa 1970) (Photo by William A. Shaffer) |
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| Carl Venzke posted Caption-"A Terminal Rail Road Association diesel switcher, at left, passes a Missouri Pacific steam locomotive near Union Station (St. Louis, MO) in December 1949" St. Louis Post Dispatch |
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| Nina Oliphant posted |
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| William A. Shaffer posted St. Louis Union Station (January, 2016) (Photo by William A. Shaffer) |
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| William A. Shaffer posted St. Louis Union Station and Meeting of the Waters Fountain (Photo by William A. Shaffer) |
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| William A. Shaffer posted St. Louis Union Station (January, 2016) (Photo by William A. Shaffer) |
St. Louis Union Station, opened in 1894, was as far west as you could travel on the Big Four/NYC. After Amtrak quit using it in the 70s, it was redeveloped with much fanfare as a "festival marketplace" in 1985. Like the one at Indianapolis Union Station, its popularity peaked quickly and then began to decline. The trainshed of St. Louis U.S. is now slated to be the site of a new city aquarium. The hotel in the station is still open and the Grand Hall is still beautiful. (Captions are with each photo.)
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| 1 Looking west on Market Street at 18th |
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| 2 The "Midway", where the train gates were |
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| 3 Grand Hall |
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St. Louis, depicted as the young woman in the center, with San Francisco (left) and New York (right) looking to her to bind the coasts together by rail.
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| 5 Grand Hall Joe Crain Only the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis is more stunning in its grandeur of architectural greatness in the Gateway City!Bill Edrington I've been to both, Joe, and both are beautiful buildings. Union Station has always seemed like kind of a secular cathedral to me. I was awed by it when I was a kid. |
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| David W Smith commented on Bill's posting Train shed diagram for St. Louis |
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| David W Smith commented on Bill's posting another sheet of the engineering plans for St. Louis train shed |
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| Drew Foster shared Michael C Kelly Shot by Joe Collias and featured in my Wabash book as well as Rails Around Missouri. Michael C Kelly Wabash in Color, Vol 2, 2007 Morning Sun. The only book I’ve done with MSB NOLA Rails photo James C Smith Jr The Banner Blue was a St.Louis-Chicago train, but Wabash trains first headed west, to serve suburban Delmar, and then swung back east, on the north of town, to reach its crossing of the Mississippi into Illinois. Also note, that new Pennsy E7 lacks a Trainphone antenna. NOLA Rails I think its got them I'm looking with a optivisor and it appears to be there. Also, I heard once that not all the E and F units delivered to the Pennsy had these installed, but were retrofitted once Pennsy took them. Myself I've never seen them without the antennas till much later when more common radio equipment took its place. The Pennsy had a long love affair with this system, where other railroads that tried it, most didn't like it and went quickly to more conventional radio for their systems. Still, it was one of the features that as a young railfan and modeler endeared me to the Pennsy, that and my uncle that lived in Philly worked for them. Some of my early childhood memories was getting to see the BP-60 up close, and see them working the curve while on a family picinic at the Visitors center there. Pennsy was a one of a kind railroad, it was easier to tell someone what diesel types they didn't own in the early steam to diesel transition, than to rattle off what they did sample. It had to be a nightmare for the railroad when it came to stocking parts to run day to day maintenance on their stable of power. It always interested me to know why they kept this Trainline system for so long, but with such a large fleet it was probably more cost effective to keep it than to replace it. David Steckler Train is heading west, probably to Kansas City. Note the dining car mid-train.James Holzmeier If it's the Banner Blue as described, it's headed west only to diverge onto the "U.D." or Union Depot line of the Wabash at Grand Ave. The train will stop at Delmar Station, head north again then diverge from the U.D. Line onto the TRRA West Belt, north of Delmar Stn. at Page Ave. The train will head east over the Merchant's Bridge across the Mississippi River, then north to Chicago. |
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| William A. Shaffer posted
"Amtrak...In the Beginning"
(Photo by William A. Shaffer)
An Amtrak Chicago-St. Louis train is shown departing St. Louis Union Station during the "Rainbow Era". Note the stored GM&O equipment in the background.
Kay Neudecker Is that YMCA building (now Drury Inn) in the far left background? William A. Shaffer Yes, I think that's it. MItchel Schuessler It shows how hard times had become at Union Station, as you look at the track |
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| Ned Carlson shared September 1, 1894 - Union Station opened with a gala in the Grand Hall, attended by about 20,000 invited guests. Architect Theodore C. Link's building was twice as big as any railroad depot in the world. Closed in 1979, it was renovated and turned into a unique shopping area in 1985. It stands on the site of “Chouteau’s Pond.” An early settler, Joseph Taillon, built a mill and a dam across a stream the French called “La Petite Riviere.” Auguste Chouteau acquired the property and built a bigger dam. “Chouteau’s Pond” became polluted and was drained in 1849 but the old bed would provide an easy path for the new railroads. |
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| William A. Shaffer posted Train Under the Train Shed at St. Louis Union Station (Photo by William A. Shaffer) |
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| Michael Wright shared a post Ethan Zimmerman Note the heritage unit at the bottom of the picture.Steve Henrichs UP’s 12th Street Yard.Robert McNeill Area is known as Mill Creek valley... early St. Louis development had grist mill on the creek.. |
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| Robert Wanner posted St Louis, Missouri Union Station in the PRR steam days. Must be mid WW2 days or late 1940's by the looks of the trailing equipment. Could very well be "Spirit of St. Louis", "Penn-Texas", "St Louisian", all part of the Daily East-West fleet when the steam T-l's dominated. Either a single T or two K-4 passenger locomotives. Unknown Photographer. |
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| William A. Shaffer posted St. Louis Union Station (Photo by William A. Shaffer) |
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| Jim Arvites posted View from a bygone era of a Pennsylvania Railroad passenger train at Union Station in St Louis, Missouri in 1957. (Joe Collias Photo) |
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| safe_image for Bill Molony's share for The Abraham Lincoln, Photo by Otto Perry Peter Conrad GM&O Bill?? Bill Molony The train in this circa-1936 photograph belonged to The Alton Railroad. The Alton was merged into the GM&O in 1947. Dennis DeBruler The smokestack in the background is still standing. https://www.google.com/.../data=!3m6!1e1!3m4... But I can't find the coaling tower in a 1955 aerial. |
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| David Daruszka commented on Bill's share Photo brightened. |
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Richard Crabtree postedIC Green Diamond ~ leaving for IllinoisHere we see Illinois Central train, engine number 121, engine type EMC Train #50, "Green Diamond." Photographed by Otto Conrad Perry leaving St. Louis, Mo., August 16, 1940. Denver Public Library Digital Collection Karl Piepenburg: Had never seen a color photo of this train before today. Beautiful!William H. Tolliver: Also affectionately called the Tomato worm. [Of course, it was the coaling tower that caught my eye.] |
Here it looks like they had a coaling dock instead of a coaling tower. So I'm confused.
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| Robert Wanner posted St Louis, Missouri Union Passenger Station in background and the locomotive servicing area adjacent in the days of steam power and early diesel powered streamliners. That's the Illinois Central Green Diamond in foreground with steam facilities in the background. Believe I see a single diesel switcher to the center left next to Quaker Oil Corp. building. Most like mid-1940's. Photo from the collection. |
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| Frisco Steam Salute posted According to old legends, the first train on the Missouri Pacific or Frisco that reached the signal at Grand Ave interlocking got permission to keep going east to Union Station. Stories of fierce races between Pacific and Eureka, MO took place for the honor of being first in the station. It appears that on this day the Meteor was the winner and Missouri Pacific 4-8-2 # 5327 and her train had to wait in the yard. (H.E.Williams, photo; Louis Marre collection) Critically-acclaimed Frisco Steam Salute makes a great Christmas gift! https://michaelckelly.net/?p=7051 Michael C Kelly sharedScott Griggs: Look at at that well-groomed ballast! |
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| Tom Bedwell posted As a teenager in the 1950s, I was able to travel to St Louis a few times. It was difficult to find a good vantage point as opposed to Roosevelt Road in Chicago. Ron Williams: Building on right is terminal yard office, switched out Ewing yard for Frisco railroad in 60s and 70 s |
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| Tom Bedwell posted Another one from St Louis. As far west as NYC went in those days. Bob Finan: The NYC’s “Lightning Stripe” scheme was really enhanced by the application of silver fuel/water tanks and trucks - and having seen it in person - I think it trailed only the Warbonnet in terms of best carbody unit paint scheme. |
I can't figure out where this photo was taken.
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| Mason Reed posted In St Louis, Aug 1966, By Mike Schafer. |
William A. Shaffer added six photos to his album St. Louis Union Station. Unfortunately, you do need a Facebook login to access them.
Marty Bernard posted nine photos including some interior shots. (source)
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