Union Station (Washington, D.C.) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Washington Union Station is a train station

Train station

A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...

and leisure destination visited by 32 million people each year in the center of Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

The train station is served by Amtrak

Amtrak

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...

, MARC

MARC Train

MARC , known prior to 1984 as Maryland Rail Commuter Service, is a regional rail system comprising three lines in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. MARC is administered by the Maryland Transit Administration , a Maryland Department of Transportation agency, and is operated under contract...

and Virginia Railway Express

Virginia Railway Express

The Virginia Railway Express is a regional/ commuter rail service that connects the Northern Virginia suburbs to Union Station in Washington, D.C., via two lines: the Fredericksburg Line from Fredericksburg, Virginia, and the Manassas Line from Broad Run/Airport station in Bristow,...

commuter rail services as well as by Washington Metro

Washington Metro

The Washington Metro, commonly called Metro, and unofficially Metrorail, is the rapid transit system in Washington, D.C., United States, and its surrounding suburbs. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority , which also operates Metrobus service under the Metro name...

subway trains

Rapid transit

A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...

and local buses. It opened in 1907 and at its height during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

some 200,000 people passed through it every day. It is also the headquarters for Amtrak.

Description

Today Union Station is again one of Washington's busiest and best-known places, visited by 32 million people each year and has many shops, cafes and restaurants.

Passenger services include Amtrak

Amtrak

’s high-speed Acela Express
Acela Express
The Acela Express is Amtrak's high-speed rail service along the Northeast Corridor in the Northeast United States between Washington, D.C., and Boston via Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York...

, Northeast Regional, and several of Amtrak's long-distance sleeper trains (including, among others, the Capitol Limited, Crescent, Palmetto, and Silver Service trains); the MARC

MARC Train

and VRE

Virginia Railway Express

commuter railways, linking Washington to Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

and Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, respectively; and the Washington Metro

Washington Metro

Red Line

Red Line (Washington Metro)

The Red Line of the Washington Metro is a rail rapid transit service operating between 27 stations in Montgomery County, Maryland and the District of Columbia, United States. It is a primary line through downtown Washington, and the oldest and busiest line in the system...

. From Union Station Amtrak also operates long-distance service to the southeast and midwest, including many intermediate stops to destinations like Chicago, Atlanta

Atlanta (Amtrak station)

The Atlanta Amtrak Station, located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, is served by the Crescent passenger train. The street address is 1688 Peachtree Street, in the Brookwood section of town between Buckhead and Midtown....

, New Orleans, and Miami

Miami (Amtrak station)

Miami is a train station on the southern end of two popular inter-city trains, the Amtrak Silver Meteor and Silver Star. The station is located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, on the border of Miami and Hialeah, ten miles northwest of downtown Miami...

. Approximately 12,500 passengers boarded or detrained Amtrak services daily in FY2010.

The station is at the southern end of the Northeast Corridor

Northeast Corridor

The Northeast Corridor is a fully electrified railway line owned primarily by Amtrak serving the Northeast megalopolis of the United States from Boston in the north, via New York to Washington, D.C. in the south, with branches serving other cities...

, an electrified rail line

Railway electrification system

A railway electrification system supplies electrical energy to railway locomotives and multiple units as well as trams so that they can operate without having an on-board prime mover. There are several different electrification systems in use throughout the world...

extending north through major cities including Baltimore, Philadelphia

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

, New York City, and Boston.

The track area of the station is divided into upper and lower levels. On the Upper Level are tracks 7–20 which are used by MARC (weekdays) and Amtrak Acela Express, as well as a few Amtrak Regional trains. The Lower Level consists of tracks 22–29 and is used by all southbound service, including all VRE trains, via the First Street Tunnel, as well as some northbound Amtrak services during the week. The D.C. Metrorail Red Line station is located underground at the western side of the building, and is the busiest station in the entire Metro system.

Union Station has a mix of terminal and through tracks. Most of the upper level platforms, used mainly by MARC, Amtrak's Northeast Regional trains, and Acela, are terminal, with trains only arriving from and departing to the north. Several of the lower level tracks are through platforms, and are mainly used by VRE, as well as most of Amtrak's long-distance trains and Northeast Regional trains operating to/from Newport News

Newport News, Virginia

Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...

, and Lynchburg

Lynchburg, Virginia

Lynchburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 75,568 as of 2010. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the banks of the James River, Lynchburg is known as the "City of Seven Hills" or "The Hill City." Lynchburg was the only major city in...

Architecture

Architect Daniel Burnham

Daniel Burnham

Daniel Hudson Burnham, FAIA was an American architect and urban planner. He was the Director of Works for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He took a leading role in the creation of master plans for the development of a number of cities, including Chicago and downtown Washington DC...

, assisted by Pierce Anderson, was inspired by a number of different architectural style

Architectural style

Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...

s. Classical

Classical architecture

Classical architecture is a mode of architecture employing vocabulary derived in part from the Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, enriched by classicizing architectural practice in Europe since the Renaissance...

elements included the Arch of Constantine

Arch of Constantine

The Arch of Constantine is a triumphal arch in Rome, situated between the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill. It was erected to commemorate Constantine I's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge on October 28, 312...

(exterior, main facade) and the great vaulted spaces of the Baths of Diocletian

Baths of Diocletian

The Baths of Diocletian in Rome were the grandest of the public baths, or thermae built by successive emperors. Diocletian's Baths, dedicated in 306, were the largest and most sumptuous of the imperial baths. The baths were built between the years 298 AD and 306 AD...

(interior); prominent siting at the intersection of two of Pierre L'Enfant's avenues, with an orientation that faced the United States Capitol

United States Capitol

The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...

just five blocks away; a massive scale, including a facade stretching more than 600 feet and a waiting room ceiling 96 feet above the floor; stone inscriptions and allegorical sculpture

Allegorical sculpture

Allegorical sculpture refers to sculptures that symbolize and particularly personify abstract ideas as in allegory.Common in the western world, for example, are statues of 'Justice', a female figure traditionally holding scales in one hand, as a symbol of her weighing issues and arguments, and a...

in the Beaux-Arts style; expensive materials such as marble, gold leaf

Gold leaf

right|thumb|250px|[[Burnishing]] gold leaf with an [[agate]] stone tool, during the water gilding processGold leaf is gold that has been hammered into extremely thin sheets and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades...

, and white granite from a previously unused quarry.

In the Attic

Attic style

In classical architecture, the term attic refers to a story or low wall above the cornice of a classical façade. This usage originated in the 17th century from the use of Attica style pilasters as adornments on the top story's façade...

block, above the main cornice of the central block, stand six colossal statues (modeled on the Dacia

Dacia

In ancient geography, especially in Roman sources, Dacia was the land inhabited by the Dacians or Getae as they were known by the Greeks—the branch of the Thracians north of the Haemus range...

n prisoners of the Arch of Constantine) designed by Louis St. Gaudens

Louis St. Gaudens

Louis St. Gaudens , was a significant American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation....

. These are entitled "The Progress of Railroading

The Progress of Railroading

The Progress of Railroading is group of public artworks by American artist Louis St. Gaudens. This series of six sculptures were cut by Andrew E. Bernasconi, a high-grade Italian stone workman, between 1909 and 1911. These statues are located at Union Station in Washington, D.C., United States...

" and their iconography expresses the confident enthusiasm of the American Renaissance

American Renaissance

In the history of American architecture and the arts, the American Renaissance was the period in 1835-1880 characterized by renewed national self-confidence and a feeling that the United States was the heir to Greek democracy, Roman law, and Renaissance humanism...

movement: Prometheus

Prometheus

In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan, the son of Iapetus and Themis, and brother to Atlas, Epimetheus and Menoetius. He was a champion of mankind, known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals...

(for Fire), Thales

Thales

Thales of Miletus was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Miletus in Asia Minor, and one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many, most notably Aristotle, regard him as the first philosopher in the Greek tradition...

(for Electricity), Themis

Themis

Themis is an ancient Greek Titaness. She is described as "of good counsel", and is the embodiment of divine order, law, and custom. Themis means "divine law" rather than human ordinance, literally "that which is put in place", from the verb τίθημι, títhēmi, "to put"...

(for Freedom and Justice), Apollo

Apollo

Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...

(for Imagination and Inspiration), Ceres (for Agriculture) and Archimedes

Archimedes

Archimedes of Syracuse was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity. Among his advances in physics are the foundations of hydrostatics, statics and an...

(for Mechanics). The substitution of Agriculture for Commerce in a railroad station iconography vividly conveys the power of a specifically American lobbying

Lobbying

Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or...

bloc. St. Gaudens also created the 26 centurion

Centurion

A centurion was a professional officer of the Roman army .Centurion may also refer to:-Military:* Centurion tank, British battle tank* HMS Centurion, name of several ships and a shore base of the British Royal Navy...

s for the station's main hall.

Burnham drew upon a tradition, launched with the 1837 Euston railway station

Euston railway station

Euston railway station, also known as London Euston, is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden. It is the sixth busiest rail terminal in London . It is one of 18 railway stations managed by Network Rail, and is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line...

in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, of treating the entrance to a major terminal as a triumphal arch

Triumphal arch

A triumphal arch is a monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, crowned with a flat entablature or attic on which a statue might be...

. He linked the monumental end pavilions with long arcades enclosing loggia

Loggia

Loggia is the name given to an architectural feature, originally of Minoan design. They are often a gallery or corridor at ground level, sometimes higher, on the facade of a building and open to the air on one side, where it is supported by columns or pierced openings in the wall...

s in a long series of bays that were vaulted with the lightweight fireproof Guastavino tile

Guastavino tile

Guastavino tile is the "Tile Arch System" patented in the US in 1885 by Valencian architect and builder Rafael Guastavino...

s favored by American Beaux-Arts architects. The final aspect owed much to the Court of Heroes at the World’s Columbian Exposition

World's Columbian Exposition

The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...

of 1893 in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, where Burnham had been coordinating architect. The setting of Union Station’s facade at the focus of converging avenues in a park-like green setting is one of the few executed achievements of the City Beautiful movement: elite city planning that was based on the "goosefoot" (patte d'oie) of formal garden plans made by Baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

designers such as André Le Nôtre

André Le Nôtre

André Le Nôtre was a French landscape architect and the principal gardener of King Louis XIV of France...

. The radiating avenues can be seen in the satellite view (illustration, left).

The station held a full range of dining rooms and other services, including barber

Barber

A barber is someone whose occupation is to cut any type of hair, and to shave or trim the beards of men. The place of work of a barber is generally called a barbershop....

shops and a mortuary. Union Station was equipped with a presidential suite which is now occupied by a restaurant.

Planning

When the Pennsylvania Railroad

Pennsylvania Railroad

The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....

and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...

announced in 1901 that they planned to build a new terminal, people in the city celebrated for two reasons:

The decision meant that both the Pennsylvania and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad would soon remove their trackwork and terminals from the National Mall
National Mall
The National Mall is an open-area national park in downtown Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The National Mall is a unit of the National Park Service , and is administered by the National Mall and Memorial Parks unit...

. Though changes there appeared only gradually, the consolidation of the depots allowed the creation of the Mall as it appears today.
The plans to bring all the city's railroads under one roof promised that Washington would finally have a station both large enough to handle large crowds and impressive enough to befit the city's role as the federal capital.

Operation

Union Station opened on October 27, 1907, with the arrival of a Baltimore and Ohio Railroad passenger train from Pittsburgh. The terminal quickly became the portal to the Capitol. At no time was it busier than during World War II

World War II

, when as many as 200,000 people passed through in a single day.

For most of its existence, Union Station served as a hub, with service of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

, Pennsylvania Railroad

Pennsylvania Railroad

The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....

, and Southern Railway

Southern Railway (US)

The Southern Railway is a former United States railroad. It was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined beginning in the 1830s, formally becoming the Southern Railway in 1894...

. The Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad provided a link to Richmond, Virginia

Richmond, Virginia

Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

, about 100 miles to the south, where major north-south lines of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad

The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was an American railroad that existed between 1900 and 1967, when it merged with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, its long-time rival, to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad...

and Seaboard Air Line Railroad

Seaboard Air Line Railroad

The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , which styled itself "The Route of Courteous Service," was an American railroad whose corporate existence extended from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime rival, to form the Seaboard Coast Line...

provided service to the Carolinas, Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

, and Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

Decline

In 1967, the chairman of the Civil Service Commission

United States Civil Service Commission

The United States Civil Service Commission a three man commission was created by the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, which was passed into law on January 16, 1883...

expressed interest in using Union Station as a visitor center during the upcoming Bicentennial

United States Bicentennial

The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to the historical events leading up to the creation of the United States as an independent republic...

celebrations. Funding for this was collected over the next six years, and the reconstruction of the station included outfitting the Main Hall with a recessed pit to display a slide show presentation. This was officially the PAVE (Primary Audio-Visual Experience), but was sarcastically referred to as "the Pit." The entire project was completed, save for the parking garage, and opening ceremonies were held on Independence Day

Independence Day (United States)

Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...

1976. Due to a lack of publicity and convenient parking, the National Visitor Center

National Visitor Center

The National Visitor Center was an ill-fated attempt to repurpose Washington, D.C.'s Union Station as an information center for tourists visiting the United States Capitol and other Washington attractions...

was never popular. Following a 1977 General Accounting Office

Government Accountability Office

The Government Accountability Office is the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of the United States Congress. It is located in the legislative branch of the United States government.-History:...

report indicating Union Station was in danger of imminent structural collapse, the National Park Service

National Park Service

The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...

closed the presentation in "the Pit" on October 28, 1978.

Restoration

As a result of the Redevelopment Act of 1981, Union Station was closed for restoration and refurbishing. Mold

Mold

Molds are fungi that grow in the form of multicellular filaments called hyphae. Molds are not considered to be microbes but microscopic fungi that grow as single cells called yeasts...

was growing in the leaking ceiling of the Main Hall, and the carpet laid out for an Inauguration Day celebration was full of cigarette-burned holes. In 1988, Secretary of Transportation

United States Secretary of Transportation

The United States Secretary of Transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation, a member of the President's Cabinet, and fourteenth in the Presidential line of succession. The post was created with the formation of the Department of Transportation on October 15, 1966,...

Elizabeth Dole

Mary Elizabeth Alexander Hanford "Liddy" Dole is an American politician who served in both the Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush presidential administrations, as well as a United States Senator....

, awarded $70 million to the restoration effort. "The Pit" was transformed into a new basement level, and the Main Hall floor was refitted with marble. While installing new HVAC

HVAC

HVAC refers to technology of indoor or automotive environmental comfort. HVAC system design is a major subdiscipline of mechanical engineering, based on the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer...

systems, crews discovered antique items in shafts that had not been opened since the building's creation. The decorative elements of the station were also restored.

The station reopened in its present form in 1988. The former “Pit” area was replaced with an AMC

AMC Theatres

AMC Theatres , officially known as AMC Entertainment, Inc., is the second largest movie theater chain in North America with 5,325 screens, second only to Regal Entertainment Group, and one of the United States's four national cinema chains AMC Theatres (American Multi-Cinema), officially known as...

movie theater (later Phoenix Theatres, closed October 12, 2009, to be replaced with additional restaurants) and a large food court

Food court

A food court is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and provides a common area for self-serve dining. Food courts may be found in shopping malls and airports, and in various regions may be a standalone development...

in the former baggage-mail level. The food court still retains the original arches under which the trains were parked as well as the track numbers on those arches. A variety of shops opened along the Concourse and Main Hall, and a new Amtrak

Amtrak

terminal at the back behind the original Concourse. In 1994, the passenger concourse was renamed to honor W. Graham Claytor, Jr.

W. Graham Claytor Jr.

William Graham Claytor, Jr. was an American lawyer, naval officer, and railroad, transportation and defense administrator for the United States government, working under the administrations of three US presidents....

, who served as Amtrak's president from 1982 to 1993.

On August 1, 2011, John Porcari

John Porcari

John D. Porcari is the current United States Deputy Secretary of Transportation. He was nominated by the Obama administration in April 2009 and confirmed by the Senate on May 21, 2009....

, the United States Deputy Secretary of Transportation

United States Deputy Secretary of Transportation

The Deputy Secretary of Transportation, in the United States government, advises and assists the Secretary of Transportation in the supervision and direction of the Department of Transporatation . The Deputy Secretary would succeed the Secretary in his absence, sickness, or unavailability.The...

, announced that Union Station would begin serving intercity busses operated by Greyhound Lines

Greyhound Lines

Greyhound Lines, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas, is an intercity common carrier of passengers by bus serving over 3,700 destinations in the United States, Canada and Mexico, operating under the well-known logo of a leaping greyhound. It was founded in Hibbing, Minnesota, USA, in 1914 and...

, BoltBus

BoltBus

BoltBus is a bus line operating in the northeastern United States. It is a 50/50 venture between Greyhound Lines and Peter Pan Bus Lines providing service between New York City and other cities in the northeastern United States, utilizing the existing operating authority of Greyhound Lines...

, Megabus and Washington Deluxe later that year from a new bus facility in the station's parking garage. By November 15, 2011, BoltBus, Megabus and Washington Deluxe were operating from the new facility.

The Ivy City Yard, just north of Union Station, houses a large Amtrak maintenance facility. This includes the new maintenance facility for the Acela high speed train sets. Amtrak also does contract work for MARC

MARC Train

's electric locomotives. Metro's Brentwood maintenance facility is also located in the southwest corner of the Ivy City

Ivy City, Washington, D.C.

Ivy City is a small neighborhood in Northeast Washington. It is primarily an industrial neighborhood, dominated by warehouses and the Ivy City Yard, a railroad coach yard and maintenance facility for Amtrak. The area has undergone some revitalization with the influx of a few dance clubs and the...

Yard. Riding the Metro Red Line between Union Station and Rhode Island Avenue Station gives you a great aerial view of the south end of the Ivy City yard.

Union Station is owned by the non-profit Union Station Redevelopment Corporation, but an 84-year lease of the property is held by New York-based Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation and managed by Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle

Jones Lang LaSalle

Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc. is a multinational financial and professional services company specializing in real estate. Global headquarters are located in Chicago, with an operational remit covering the Americas regional market...

. It houses the headquarters of Amtrak

Amtrak

and carries the IATA airport code

IATA airport code

An IATA airport code, also known an IATA location identifier, IATA station code or simply a location identifier, is a three-letter code designating many airports around the world, defined by the International Air Transport Association...

of ZWU.

1953 overrun

On the morning of January 15, 1953, the Pennsylvania Railroad's Federal
Federal Express (passenger train)
The Federal Express was an overnight named passenger train run by the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad between Washington, DC's Union Station and Boston, Massachusetts's South Station from 1912 to 1971. Train numbers on both railroads were 172 northbound and...

, the overnight train from Boston, crashed into the station. When the engineer tried to apply the trainline brakes two miles out of the platforms, he discovered that he only had engine brakes. He radioed a warning ahead, and the concourse was cleared as the train coasted downhill into track 16. The GG1 locomotive, No. 4876, hit the bumper post at about 25 miles per hour, jumped onto the platform, destroyed the stationmaster’s office at the end of the track, took out a newsstand, and was on its way to crashing through the wall into the Great Hall. Just then, the floor of the terminal, having never been designed to carry the weight of a locomotive, gave way, dropping the engine into the basement. The 447,000-pound electric locomotive fell into about the center of what is now the food court

Food court

. Remarkably, no one was killed, and passengers in the rear cars thought that they had only had a rough stop. An investigation revealed that an anglecock on the brakeline had been closed, probably by an icicle

Icicle

An icicle is a spike of ice formed when water dripping or falling from an object freezes. Typically, icicles will form when ice or snow is melted by either sunlight or some other heat source , and the resulting melted water runs off into an area where the ambient temperature is below the freezing...

knocked from an overhead bridge. The accident inspired the finale of the 1976 film

1976 in film

The year 1976 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*March 22 - Filming begins on George Lucas' Star Wars science fiction film...

Silver Streak. The durable design of the GG1 made its damage repairable, and it was soon back in service after being hauled away in pieces to the PRR's main shops in Altoona, Pennsylvania

Altoona, Pennsylvania

-History:A major railroad town, Altoona was founded by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1849 as the site for a shop complex. Altoona was incorporated as a borough on February 6, 1854, and as a city under legislation approved on April 3, 1867, and February 8, 1868...

. Before the latter action was undertaken, however, the GG1 and the hole it made were temporarily planked over and hidden from view due to the imminent inauguration of General

General of the Army (United States)

General of the Army is a five-star general officer and is the second highest possible rank in the United States Army. A special rank of General of the Armies, which ranks above General of the Army, does exist but has only been conferred twice in the history of the Army...

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...

as the thirty-fourth President of the United States

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

Union Station in the media

Washington’s Union Station has featured as a location in numerous movies, not all as memorable as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a 1939 American drama film starring Jean Arthur and James Stewart about one man's effect on American politics. It was directed by Frank Capra and written by Sidney Buchman, based on Lewis R. Foster's unpublished story. Mr...

. Others include Strangers on a Train (film)
Strangers on a Train (film)
Strangers on a Train is an American psychological thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and based on the 1950 novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith. It was shot in the autumn of 1950 and released by Warner Bros. on June 30, 1951. The film stars Farley Granger, Ruth Roman,...

, Hannibal
Hannibal (film)
Hannibal is a 2001 psychological thriller film directed by Ridley Scott, adapted from the Thomas Harris novel of the same name. It is a sequel to the 1991 Academy Award-winning film The Silence of the Lambs that returns Anthony Hopkins to his iconic role as serial killer Hannibal Lecter...

, The Recruit
The Recruit
The Recruit is a 2003 American spy thriller film directed by Roger Donaldson, starring Colin Farrell, Al Pacino and Bridget Moynahan. It was released on January 31, 2003 in North America by Touchstone Pictures....

, Along Came a Spider
Along Came a Spider
Along Came A Spider is the first novel in a series of books written by James Patterson, about forensic psychologist Alex Cross. It was adapted into a movie of the same name in 2001, starring Morgan Freeman as Cross.-Plot Summary:...

, Collateral Damage
Collateral Damage (film)
Collateral Damage is a 2002 American action film that tells the story of a Los Angeles firefighter, Gordon Brewer , who looks to avenge his son's and wife's deaths at the hands of a guerrilla commando, by traveling to Colombia and facing his family's killers.-Plot:A bomb is detonated in the plaza...

, The Sentinel
The Sentinel (2006 film)
The Sentinel is a 2006 action thriller film about a veteran United States Secret Service bodyguard who is suspected as a traitor after an attempted assassination of the president reveals that someone within the Service is providing information to the assassins...

, My Fellow Americans
My Fellow Americans
My Fellow Americans is a 1996 American comedy film starring Jack Lemmon, Dan Aykroyd and James Garner as feuding ex-presidents. Lauren Bacall, Esther Rolle, John Heard, Wilford Brimley, Bradley Whitford and Jeff Yagher also appear in supporting performances...

, and Wedding Crashers
Wedding Crashers
Wedding Crashers is a 2005 American comedy film directed by David Dobkin. It stars Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, with Christopher Walken, Rachel McAdams, Isla Fisher, Bradley Cooper, Diora Baird, Jane Seymour, and an uncredited Will Ferrell....

.

Several episodes of the television series The West Wing
The West Wing (TV series)
The West Wing is an American television serial drama created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999 to May 14, 2006...

used Union Station as a setting. Union Station was used as a setting for one episode of the CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

military courtroom drama JAG
JAG (TV series)
JAG is an American adventure/legal drama television show that was produced by Belisarius Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television and, for the first season only, NBC Productions...

, and was frequently mentioned in that series as being a landmark located to the south of the main character Harmon Rabb

Harmon Rabb

Captain Harmon 'Harm' Rabb, Jr., JAGC, USN, is a fictional and lead character in the American television series JAG....

's apartment building.

The station has also been the subject of multiple books. The 128-page Union Station: A Decorative History of Washington’s Grand Terminal by Carol Highsmith and Ted Landphair tells the complete history of the station through text and photographs. Presidential daughter Margaret Truman

Margaret Truman

Mary Margaret Truman Daniel , also known as Margaret Truman or Margaret Daniel, was an American singer who later became a successful writer. The only child of US President Harry S...

’s Capital Crimes mystery series includes a Murder at Union Station novel.

External links

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Description

Architecture

Planning

Operation

Decline

Restoration

1953 overrun

Union Station in the media

See also

External links