138th St. Station

[wanswheel]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2384/3678132209_7fc20c3d7f_b.jpg

Michigan Argonaut (1887)

"All east-bound express trains on the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad, in connection with the Michigan Central - the "Niagara Falls Route" - now stop at their magnificent new up-town station at 138th Street, New York City. This station, which is in the immediate vicinity of some of the most populous suburbs of New York, accommodates a population of over 300,000, and is accessible by Madison Avenue and Third Avenue street cars from all parts of Harlem or the upper section of the city. The Michigan Central trains leaving Chicago at 9 A.M., 3:10 P.M., 8:15 P.M , and 9 P.M., and Ann Arbor at 8:08 A M., 5:30 P.M., 10:33 A.M., 9:45 P.M, 4:35 A.M., stop at 138th Street and reach Grand Central Station ten minutes later."

Health and Pleasure on America's Greatest Railroad (1895)

"For the accommodation of up-town residents the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad maintains a handsome and perfectly appointed passenger station at 138th Street, New York, at which most of the fast express trains stop. Tickets reading to New York by the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad or the New York & Harlem Railroad, will be available on all trains, either to the Grand Central Station or to the Up-Town Station, 138th Street, as preferred, if presented on trains scheduled to stop at the latter station. The building occupies about one acre of land, and is unquestionably the finest way station on the continent."

http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/nycrr02.Html

Mike

[richhotrain]

Mike,

I have yet to reply to any of your photo postings, but the photos are magnificient, so I had to comment.

But, I am a Chicagoan.  You have to start moving west and post some old time photos of railroad structures in Chicago.  In that regard, we are no Second City.  What you got?

Rich

[wanswheel]

Rich, thanks.  C&NW Station and Union Station.

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/pan/6a20000/6a20100/6a20127r.jpg

http://www.dhke.com/CRJ/unionsta.jpg

[richhotrain]

Oh man,

My tongue is hanging out now.

Dearborn Station?

Grand Central Station?

[daveklepper]

Some 40 years ago, trains stopped calling at 138th St, and shortly afterward the building war raised.

[Deggesty]

wanswheel

Rich, thanks.  C&NW Station and Union Station.

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/pan/6a20000/6a20100/6a20127r.jpg

http://www.dhke.com/CRJ/unionsta.jpg

Sad to say, the beautiful station building on Madison has been replaced by a modernistic building. And the concourse building at Union Station has been replaced by by another such building. At least, the headhouse building is still there.

[richhotrain]

 

Deggesty

wanswheel

Rich, thanks.  C&NW Station and Union Station.

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/pan/6a20000/6a20100/6a20127r.jpg

http://www.dhke.com/CRJ/unionsta.jpg

Sad to say, the beautiful station building on Madison has been replaced by a modernistic building. And the concourse building at Union Station has been replaced by by another such building. At least, the headhouse building is still there.

Chicago does not seem to value its past, particularly with regard to its passenger train stations.  We have demolished Central Station, Grand Central Station, LaSalle Street Station, NorthWestern Station and Union Station.  Only Dearborn Station still stands, but only as a concourse of shops.  Shame on us!

Rich

[henry6]

Its hard for us to imagine here in 2010 that 138th St., NYC, even 125th St. NYC for that matter, were once the way northern suburbs of the city almost 8 miles from the Battery and Wall St.!

[cudaken]

  I as well love the pictures, saved them to my hard drive!

[cnwfan51]

    In Omaha they saved two out the three stations , The former Omaha Road depot at 32nd and webster was torn down years ago. It is nice to see the great buildings where ever thy are being saved

[wanswheel]

Item in June 1964 Headlight magazine.  Thanks Canada Southern.

[wanswheel]

richhotrain

Dearborn Station?

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1599817

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=668259

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1006903

http://www.railpictures.net/images/d1/5/4/7/2547.1202263200.jpg

http://www.railpictures.net/images/d1/1/5/8/1158.1247596973.jpg

[Deggesty]

wanswheel

richhotrain

Dearborn Station?

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1599817

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=668259

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1006903

http://www.railpictures.net/images/d1/5/4/7/2547.1202263200.jpg

http://www.railpictures.net/images/d1/1/5/8/1158.1247596973.jpg

Was the top of the clock tower lopped off after this fire?

[wanswheel]

Yes I guess it was too expensive to rebuild the roofs as they were. Anyway by the 1920s Chicago had many tall buildings so the height of the clock tower mattered less than it did in 1884.

The New York Times, Dec. 22, 1922

CHICAGO STATION DESTROYED BY FIRE

Flames Sweep Away the Old Dearborn Street Station, Which Has Been Used by 8 Lines.

CHICAGO, Dec. 21 - Fire starting a few minutes before 4 o'clock this afternoon destroyed the Dearborn Street Railroad Station, formerly known as the Polk Street Depot, and left eight railroads homeless in Chicago. The building, erected in 1884, was valued at $300,000, but will cost more than $1,000,000 to replace, it is said....

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9B0CEFD91F30E433A25751C2A9649D946395D6CF

 Santa Fe Magazine, January 1923

This photograph shows how historic old Dearborn Station, that was partly destroyed by fire last month, looks after having been remodeled at a cost of $200,000. The original building was designed by architect Cyrus L. W. Eidlitz in 1883, and was considered one of the finest stations in the world at the time. E. H. Lee, vice-president and chief engineer of the C. & W. I., had charge of the remodeling. While Dearborn Station may have become somewhat old-fashioned and rather small for the amount of business handled, yet even today it is undoubtedly the most convenient station in Chicago so far as the traveling public is concerned. The traveler leaves his cab or street car and is enabled to purchase his ticket and board his train without going either up or down stairs, and in less distance than in any other Chicago station....

In the Wake of the Dearborn Station Conflagration

Effective Teamwork Overcomes Delays and Dangers of Difficult Situation

When it comes to fast and arduous workers, our hats are off to the Dearborn Station crowd. Immediately after the fire was discovered on Thursday afternoon, December 21, everybody from the general officers down set-to with a will and with a lack of confusion that is almost unbelievable, and, without any apparent delay, continued the handling of the tremendous holiday crowds through the Annex Station. The travelers were escorted across an improvised run-way to the train shed at the rear of the burning station, where the trains continued to arrive and depart on their usual schedules. No passenger missed his train and not even a piece of hand-baggage was lost, for which much credit is due the operating department. However, it was not alone the operating department that accomplished the impossible on this occasion, for the Dearborn Station ticket office force, under H. S. Bare, joint ticket agent, proved equal to the emergency. We are indebted to Mr. Bare for the following account of the manner in which the work was carried on:

When the Dearborn Station fire alarm was sounded all of the ticket office employees were busily engaged in handling the Christmas holiday business, which was just commencing to move. The fire spread very rapidly, and the waiting rooms and ticket office soon were filled with dense smoke. Everyone was ordered out of the building, but before leaving the ticket office the ticket sellers' cash and stubs for the day's sales were locked in our fireproof safe, and we secured tarpaulins from the insurance patrol with which we completely covered the ticket cases. Through this means they remained dry and undamaged, although the office was flooded by water. The ticket stubs for December sales and all the accounting records were moved to the office of a tenant line, so that had the station been completely destroyed it would have been possible for me to render a complete report to the ticket auditors of all lines entering this station, showing the sales from December 1 up to the time of the fire.

At a little after four o'clock it appeared to everyone that the station would be totally destroyed. The general superintendent advised me that all trains would be operated as usual, and that passengers would be handled through the Annex station. I immediately telephoned the Chicago offices of all our lines, transmitting to them this advice, and arranged for emergency stocks of tickets. These were delivered promptly, and a little after six o'clock on the same afternoon we were selling tickets in our new quarters.

My information bureau switchboard was, of course, out of commission, and for a short time there was no way for the public to get information about our train service, but through the hearty cooperation of the telephone company we had one line connected in the Annex Station by nine o'clock. Two more telephones were installed early the next morning, and thereafter the information clerks were kept constantly on these telephones day and night until we were able to return to the main station.

All during Thursday night and Friday our passengers were handled through the Annex Station, thence to the main station train shed (which fortunately was not reached by the fire), and all trains were operated very nearly on scheduled time, as mentioned in the January issue of the magazine.

At the time the fire broke out on Thursday afternoon there were about one thousand pieces of hand-baggage in the parcel room, and the fear of losing these occasioned considerable excitement among the passengers, because in many cases this baggage comprised the only change of wearing apparel they had provided themselves with for their present journey, Christmas purchases, etc. However, we were able to get to the parcel room through the train shed at about seven o'clock that night, and the parcel clerks immediately began carrying out the handbaggage, to the very apparent relief and appreciation of the owners.

All tickets were sold in the Annex Station from Thursday evening until 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, December 23, at which time we were able to reestablish ourselves in the main ticket office. This was a most fortunate circumstance, because our holiday business was unusually heavy and taxed the full facilities of our regular quarters.

The engineering and operating departments of the Western Indiana are to be congratulated on the prompt manner in which they met the difficult condition brought about by the fire. Representing the Santa Fe in Chicago, they took a leaf out of the Santa Fe notebook in promptly rising to the emergency and doing the things that were necessary in proper sequence so as to avoid delay. In meeting these difficulties they emulated the spirit of teamwork for which the Santa Fe is so widely known.

Even while the fire was burning the operating department had made the plans necessary to care for the handling of the traveling public with the least possible inconvenience and delay, which, of course, was the most important problem to be solved.

The engineering department, also while the fire was still burning but after the firemen had gained control so that the limit of damage could be estimated, already had agreed upon a general plan for the reconstruction of the building—the restoration work was being organized so that the more important things would be done first.

The paramount requirement was to restore the use of the concourse, and this was accomplished before the fire was finally extinguished. Next came the restored use of the ticket office, ticket lobby and the women's waiting room. The roof over the main building, including that part over the ticket office and lobby and the women's waiting room, had been destroyed, as well as the lighting and heating arrangements to serve them. Arrangements were completed with contractors the night of the fire for the removal of the wreckage of the old roof, for its rebuilding, and for the running of temporary steam heating and electric light lines. All this work was completed the next day, so that service to handle the traveling public was fully restored on the morning of December 23, with the exception of the use of the main waiting rooms, which came a day or two later.

The Harvey restaurant served sandwiches and coffee on the morning after the fire, and the full lunch-counter and restaurant service was restored on December 24.

The second and third floors, occupied for offices by the Western Indiana Company, are in process of restoration, and this work probably will be completed by March 1. The whole building, however, was re-roofed within five days of the fire, so that no interference or damage on account of storms after that date was to be feared.

It will be noted that on account of the fire the station has taken on quite a different appearance. Opinion differs as to whether the appearance of the remodeled station is an improvement or otherwise. Probably in an architectural way the station before the fire presented a more pleasing appearance. As remodeled, however, it is better adapted for present-day railroad use, and the office quarters in it will be better arranged and more convenient than formerly.

The station as remodeled resembles in general outline the appearance of the B. & 0. station in Chicago, which was designed and constructed by one of the best known architectural firms in the city.

General conditions during and immediately subsequent to the fire were most fortunate. At the time of the fire there was quite a strong wind from the southwest. This carried the heat away from the train shed and the baggage and express rooms of the station, which doubtless was the reason these two important parts of the station were not destroyed. Weather conditions continued favorable for several days —there was no storm, and the temperature was higher than is usual at that time of the year. Remarking on this, a Western Indiana man said, "We certainly were lucky." But perhaps it was not luck after all. The Lord generally helps those who help themselves, and luck always is partial to the efficient.

[richhotrain]

Mike,

Thanks for posting that story about Dearborn Station.  While all of us Chicago-area railfans are familiar with the fire at Dearborn Station, I have never had the opportunity to read such a comprehensive story about the fire and its aftermath.

I find it ironic that among the six downtown Chicago passenger stations, Dearborn Station was held in the least esteem.  Yet, today, it is the only one of the six that still stands, albeit not as a train station but, rather, housing a series of shops.

Rich

P.S. - Keep those Chicago photos coming.

[AgentKid]

wanswheel

Santa Fe Magazine, January 1923

 

That is an amazing and I daresay an inspiring story.

Bruce