America’s Great Railroad Stations are slowly disappearing, one at a time, some from reduced use others from urban expansion. Dispite the best efforts of numerous government agencies, local citizens  and Railroadiana  preservationists many of these wonderful structures,  designed by famous architects such as Daniel Burnham, Frank Loyd Wright and Louis Sullivan, have fallen to the wrecking ball. Many of these terminals were demolished in the rush toward modernization or to make way for today’s super highways. Some no longer serve as stations but instead have been converted into museums , restaurants, parking lots and banks.

Michigan Central Station

All across the country these magnificent structures are fading  into history and dust. The Michigan Central Station in Detroit is one such building that remind us of the heritage and grandeur of the great railroad lines of the past.

Click to open this 360 virtual tour of the Michigan Central Station in Detroit. Then tour the once proud terminal from the imposing exterior facade  through the waiting room, the concourse and the restaurant area. Now neglected and in disrepair the station also known as the Michigan Central Depot was built in 1913 for the Michigan Central Railroad. It was in constant use from its opening in 1913 until the cessation of Amtrak service on January 6, 1988. At the time of its construction, it was the tallest railroad station in the world.

 Click On The Photo To Open Virtual Tour

Michigan Central Station 360 HD View

The building, located in the Corktown district of Detroit near the recently demolished Tiger Stadium and the Ambassador Bridge about 2 miles southwest of downtown Detroit, still stands today, though it remains unoccupied. It is located behind Roosevelt Park, and the Roosevelt Warehouse is situated next to it. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. Restoration projects and plans have gone as far as the negotiation process, but none has come to fruition. Restoration of Michigan Central Station is seen as an important project for the economic development of the City of Detroit.

On April 7, 2009 The Detroit City Council passed a resolution that calls for expedited demolition ot the once grand station. Detroit resident Stanley Christmas subsequently sued the city to stop the demolition effort, citing the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

Unlike many of the famous American Landmark Terminals the Michigan Central Station building still stands, but its days are numbered.

America’s Demolished Train Stations

Here are a few of those great train stations that have fallen to the wrecking ball and are now just legends of the rails.

Boston Union Station

BOSTON: North Station 

Boston completed its Union Station in 1895, but tore it down only thirty years later to build the Boston Garden basketball arena. Which is to say, the city lost a beautiful neoclassical structure for its train services, replacing it instead with a basement of a stadium.

Atlanta Union Station

ATLANTA: Union Station

After being built in 1930, the smaller of Atlanta’s train depots was demolished by the wrecking ball during the summer of in 1972 after forty-two years of  long distance and commuter passenger service.

Rochester Station

ROCHESTER: NY Central Railroad Station 

Rochester’s principal train station opened in 1914, with New York Central Railroad connections to New York, Albany, and Buffalo. The elaborate curved brick exterior made a prominent mark on downtown. But the decline in passenger traffic emptied the station by the late 1950s, and the building was razed in 1965. In its place? A parking lot.

Menphis Union Station

MEMPHIS: Union Station

When this city’s Union Station opened in 1912, it was the largest stone structure in town. But when the U.S. Postal Service announced that it needed new land in the city in the late 1960s, the magnificent building was chosen for demolition because it no longer attracted the crowds that it had once brought into the city.

Columbus Union Station

Columbus: Union Station

In 1897, Columbus opened its third Union Station, a large complex designed by Chicago architect Daniel Burnham. The building, expansive compared to previous facilities to handle additional traffic, had a monumental arched facade along High Street and a large train shed. Over time, elements of the structure were removed until the whole station was demolished in 1979 after Amtrak service ceased in 1977.

New Orleans Station

New Orleans: Union Station

Louis Sullivan, one of America’s most prominent architects, only designed one station, but his Union Station in New Orleans was a gracious slice of this southern city. The terminal opened in 1892 as the primary destination for Illinois Central Railroad trains from Chicago. Rising traffic and the advantages of one station for all lines encouraged the city’s railroads to join together in the construction of a new Union Passenger Terminal, which was completed in the 1950s directly adjacent to the older terminus, which was then demolished.

Portland Union Station

Portland (Maine) Union Station

Service between Boston and Portland ended in 1965, four years after the city’s Union Station was demolished; only in the past decade have passenger trains again run along the line. Union Station, built in 1873, was the main terminus for Boston & Maine and Portland & Rochester services.

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