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Union Station is the grand ceremonial train station designed to be the entrance to Washington, DC when it opened in 1907. Public Domain from http://pubs. ...
Amtrak is the trademark name of the intercity passenger train system created on May 1, 1971 in the United States. ...
Acela Express (often called simply Acela, leading to early confusion with the Acela Regional) is the name used by Amtrak for the 20 high-speed tilting trains that run between Washington, D.C. and Boston via New York City and Philadelphia along the Northeast Corridor in the Northeast U.S...
Amtraks Capitol Limited is one of the two routes connecting Washington, DC to Chicago, running via Cleveland, Ohio (the other is the Cardinal via Cincinnati). ...
The Cardinal is a passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the Midwestern and Northeastern United States. ...
The Carolinian is a train running daily between Charlotte, North Carolina and New York, New York. ...
A crescent is the shape produced when from a circular disk the disk of a circle which is a little smaller and tangent on the inside to the larger circle, is cut. ...
Metroliner is an Amtrak train service between Washington DC and New York in the United States. ...
Regional is Amtraks service between Newport News, Virginia and Boston, Massachusetts. ...
The Palmetto is also a passenger rail line run by Amtrak as part of their Silver Service and Palmetto service. ...
Piedmont is a region of northwestern Italy. ...
The Silver Service and Palmetto are a group of passenger railway lines operated by Amtrak, connecting New York Penn Station to Tampa, Florida and Miami, Florida. ...
The Silver Star is a United States military award which is presented to any person who, while serving in any capacity with the United States Armed Forces, is cited for gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing...
The Vermonter is Amtraks service between St. ...
Red Line train at Metro Center, hub of the system The Washington Metro is the public transportation system of Washington, D.C., and neighboring suburban communities in Maryland and Virginia, both inside and outside the Capital Beltway. ...
The Red Line of the Washington Metro consists of 27 subway stations from Shady Grove to Glenmont. ...
MARC commuter train conductor catching up with local news on a foggy morning at Point of Rocks. ...
The Virginia Railway Express (VRE) is a commuter railroad service that connects the Northern Virginia area with Washington, DC. The VRE operates on two lines, the Fredericksburg line, which starts from Fredericksburg, Virginia and the Manassas line, which starts from Manassas, Virginia, both lines end at Union Station in Washington...
Passengers bustle around the typical grand edifice of Londons Broad Street station in 1865. ...
Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United...
1907 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...
It is one of the busiest and best-known places in Washington DC, visited by 20 million people each year. The terminal is served by Amtrak, MARC and VRE commuter railroads, and the Washington Metro transit system of buses and subway trains. Amtrak is the trademark name of the intercity passenger train system created on May 1, 1971 in the United States. ...
Maryland Rail Commuter Service (MARC) is a commuter rail system comprising three lines in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. ...
Categories: Rail stubs | Railway companies of the United States | Regional rail systems | Transportation in Virginia ...
Categories: Rail stubs | Public transport ...
Red Line train at Metro Center, hub of the system The Washington Metro is the public transportation system of Washington, D.C., and neighboring suburban communities in Maryland and Virginia, both inside and outside the Capital Beltway. ...
Metro and Subway redirect here. ...
History
When the Pennsylvania and Baltimore & Ohio Railroads announced in 1901 that they planned to build a new terminal, people in the city celebrated for two reasons. The decision meant, first of all, that the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) would soon remove its tracks and terminal from the Mall. Though changes there appeared only gradually, the PRR's move allowed the creation of the Mall as it appears today. Second, the plans to bring all the city's railroads under one roof promised that Washington would finally have a station large enough to handle large crowds and impressive enough to reflect the Capital's role. 1911 map The Pennsylvania Railroad (AAR reporting mark PRR) was an American railroad existing 1846–1968, after which it merged into Penn Central Transportation. ...
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad or B&O was a 19th century railroad which operated in the east coast of the United States and was the first railroad to offer commercial transportation of both people and freight. ...
1901 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...
Facing west across the Mall, with ones back towards the United States Capitol. ...
Architecture and construction Architect Daniel Burnham, assisted by Peirce Anderson, used a number of techniques to convey this message: neoclassical elements combined the Roman architecture of the triumphal arch with the great vaulted spaces of Imperial Roman public baths, such as the Baths of Diocletian in Rome; prominent siting at the intersection of two of Pierre L'Enfant's avenues, with an orientation that faced the United States Capitol, just five blocks away; a massive scale, including a facade stretching more than 600' and a waiting room ceiling 96' above the floor; stone inscriptions and allegorical sculpture in the Beaux-Arts manner; expensive materials such as marble, gold leaf, and white granite from a previously unused quarry. Daniel Burnham Daniel Hudson Burnham (September 4, 1846 - June 1, 1912) was an American architect and urban planner. ...
Neoclassicism (sometimes rendered as Neo-Classicism or Neo-classicism) is the name given to quite distinct movements in the visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture. ...
The Romans adopted the external language of classical Greek architecture for their own purposes, which were so different from Greek buildings as to create a new architectural style. ...
Arc de Triomphe, Paris A triumphal arch is a structure in the shape of a monumental gate, usually built to celebrate a victory in war. ...
Categories: Buildings and structures stubs | Ancient Roman architecture ...
Pierre Charles LEnfant ( 2 August 1754 – 14 June 1825) designed the street plan of the Federal City in the United States, now known as Washington, DC. Born in France, he came to the American colonies as a military engineer with General Lafayette and became closely identified with the United...
United States Capitol . The United States Capitol is the building which serves as home for the legislative branch of the United States government. ...
Sacrifice by Walter Hancock, Soldiers Memorial, St. ...
Beaux-Arts architecture denotes the academic classical architectural style that was taught at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris, the home territory of this style, which influenced American architecture in the period 1885 – 1920. ...
Gold leaf is a sheet of real, nearly pure gold, worked into extremely thin sheets only a few micrometres thick. ...
 USGS satellite image of Union Station, taken April 26, 2002, reveals the complicated network of tracks descending into the station from the northeast. The large building to the left of Union Station is the National Postal Museum; to the right is the Thurgood Marshall Judiciary Center. Above the main cornice of the central block stand colossal statues designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens whose iconography expresses the confident enthusiasm of the "American Renaissance" movement: Fire, Electricity, Freedom, Imagination, Agriculture and Mechanics. The substitution of Agriculture for Commerce in a railroad station iconography vividly conveys the power of a specifically American lobbying bloc. Original image source: USGS satellite image of Union Station (Washington, DC). ...
Original image source: USGS satellite image of Union Station (Washington, DC). ...
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is a scientific agency of the United States government. ...
The National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C. is located across the street from Union Station and houses many interactive displays about the history of the United States Postal Service and of mail service around the world. ...
Thurgood Marshall was a leading civil rights attorney before serving as Solicitor General and finally as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. ...
Augustus Saint Gaudens, 1905 Augustus Saint-Gaudens (Dublin, March 1, 1848 - Cornish, New Hampshire, August 3, 1907), was the Irish born American sculptor of the Beaux Arts generation who most embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. ...
For the white nationalist magazine, see American Renaissance (magazine). ...
Lobbying is the practice of private advocacy with the goal of influencing a governing body, in order to ensure that an individuals or organizations point of view is represented in the government. ...
Burnham drew upon a well-developed tradition of treating the entrance to a major railroad terminal as a triumphal arch, a tradition that had been initiated in London at Euston Station. He linked the monumental end pavilions with long arcades enclosing loggias in a long series of bays that were vaulted with the lightweight fireproof Guastavino tiles favored by American Beaux-Arts architects. The final aspect owed a great deal to the Court of Honor at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago, 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 designers like André Le Notre. The radiating avenues can been seen in the satellite view (illustration, left). Euston station, also known as London Euston, is a major railway station to the north of central London and in the London Borough of Camden. ...
Villa Godi by Palladio. ...
Guastavino tile work in NYC City Hall subway station Guastavino tile refers to the Tile Arch System patented in the US in 1885 by Catalan architect and builder Rafael Guastavino. ...
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World Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893 The World Columbian Exposition (also called The Chicago Worlds Fair), a Worlds fair, was held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbuss discovery of the New World. ...
Chicago (officially named the City of Chicago) is the third largest city in the United States (after New York City and Los Angeles), with an official population of 2,896,016, as of the 2000 census. ...
The City Beautiful movement was a Progressive reform movement in North American architecture and urban planning that flourished in the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of using beautification and monumental grandeur in cities to counteract the perceived moral decay of poverty-stricken urban environments. ...
Adoration, by Peter Paul Rubens: dynamic figures spiral down around a void: draperies blow: a whirl of movement lit in a shaft of light, rendered in a free bravura handling of paint In arts, the Baroque (or baroque) is both a period and the style that dominated it. ...
Painting of André Le Nôtre by Carlo Maratti André Le Nôtre (March 12, 1613 - September 15, 1700) was a landscape architect and the gardener of king Louis XIV of France from 1645 to 1700. ...
The architectural critics detested the imperial bombast of the Beaux-Arts style in all its manifestations.
 Various treatments of arches and vaulted spaces characterize the interior. Within the station was a full range of dining rooms and other services, including barber shops and a mortuary. Union Station was equipped with a presidential suite (now occupied by a restaurant) that was prompted by the recent assassinations of Presidents James Garfield and William McKinley. Garfield had actually been shot at Washington's Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station July 2, 1881, while he waited for a train. The interior of Union Station, Washington, DC, 1998, by Rick Dikeman File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
The interior of Union Station, Washington, DC, 1998, by Rick Dikeman File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th President of the United States (1881), and the second U.S. President to be assassinated. ...
The name Mckinley redirects here. ...
Operations Union Station opened on October 27, 1907 with the arrival of a B&O passenger train from Pittsburgh. The terminal quickly became the portal to the Capital. At no time was it busier than during World War II, when as many as 200,000 people passed through in a single day. October 27 is the 300th day of the year (301st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 65 days remaining. ...
1907 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...
World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th-century conflict that engulfed much of the...
On the morning of January 15, 1953, the Pennsylvania Railroad's Federal Express crashed into the station. When brake couplings failed, the train skidded for two miles and passed right through the stationmaster's office at the end of track 16 at a speed estimated at 30 to 50 mph, demolishing it, but no one was killed. The accident inspired the finale of the 1976 film Silver Streak. January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ...
1953 is a common year starting on Thursday. ...
See also: 1975 in film 1976 1977 in film 1970s in film years in film film Events March 22 - Filming begins on George Lucas Star Wars science fiction film. ...
Silver Streak is a 1976 comedy film starring Gene Wilder, Jill Clayburgh, Richard Pryor, Patrick McGoohan and Ned Beatty and directed by Arthur Hiller. ...
For most of its existence, Union Station served as a hub, with service of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Pennsylvania Railroad, and Southern Railway. The Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad provided a link to Richmond, Virginia, about 100 miles to the south, where major north-south lines of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and Seaboard Air Line Railroad provided service to the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad or B&O was a 19th century railroad which operated in the east coast of the United States and was the first railroad to offer commercial transportation of both people and freight. ...
1911 map The Pennsylvania Railroad (AAR reporting mark PRR) was an American railroad existing 1846–1968, after which it merged into Penn Central Transportation. ...
The Southern Railway (AAR designation SOU) was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined since the 1830s. ...
Categories: Rail stubs | Defunct railroad companies of the United States | Defunct companies | District of Columbia railroads | Virginia railroads ...
This article is about the city in Virginia. ...
The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (AAR reporting mark ACL) was an American railroad that existed between 1880s and 1967, when it merged with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, its longtime rival, to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. ...
The Seaboard Air Line Railroad (AAR reporting mark SAL) was an American railroad that existed between 1880s and 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime rival, to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. ...
 Northeast Corridor platforms and tracks at Union Station ImageMetadata File history File links Washington-union-nec. ...
ImageMetadata File history File links Washington-union-nec. ...
Decline and restoration Like the fate which befell most American railroad stations, the financial and physical condition of Union Station deteriorated after World War II as train travel declined and federal funding created a competitive interstate highway system. In 1958, the B&O and Pennsylvania Railroads considered giving away the station or perhaps razing it and constructing an office building on the site. In 1963, the feasibility of transforming the station into a cultural center was evaluated, but that proposal eventually became the Kennedy Center. Two years later, a Smithsonian Institution study suggested using Union Station as a railroad museum, but the organization's secretary felt other projects - including the National Air and Space Museum - took precedence. World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th-century conflict that engulfed much of the...
A typical rural stretch of Interstate highway, with two lanes in each direction separated by a large grassy median, and with cross-traffic limited to overpasses and underpasses. ...
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad or B&O was a 19th century railroad which operated in the east coast of the United States and was the first railroad to offer commercial transportation of both people and freight. ...
1911 map The Pennsylvania Railroad (AAR reporting mark PRR) was an American railroad existing 1846–1968, after which it merged into Penn Central Transportation. ...
The Kennedy Center as seen from the Potomac River. ...
The Smithsonian Institution Building or Castle on the National Mall serves as the Institutions headquarters. ...
Interior of museum, with Gemini capsule, Soviet rockets, and Wright Flyer visible The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the United States Smithsonian Institution maintains the largest collection of aircraft and spacecraft in the world. ...
In 1967, the chairman of the U.S. Civil Service Commission expressed interest in using Union Station as a visitor center during the upcoming Bicentennial 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. The entire project was completed, save for the parking garage, and opening ceremonies were held on July 4, 1976. Due to a lack of publicity and convenient parking, the National Visitor Center was never popular. Following a 1977 General Accounting Office report indicating Union Station was in danger of imminent structural collapse, the National Park Service closed the presentation in "The Pit" on October 28, 1978. The United States Bicentennial was celebrated on July 4, 1976, the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. ...
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is the audit, evaluation, and investigative agency of the United States Congress. ...
The National Park Service (NPS) is the United States Federal Government agency that deals with all National Parks, many National Monuments, and other conservation properties with various designations. ...
As a result of the Redevelopment Act of 1981, Union Station was closed for restoration and refurbishing. Mold was growing in the ceiling of the Main Hall, and the carpet laid out for an Inauguration Day celebration was full of cigarette-burned holes. In 1988, then-Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole 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 ventilation 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. Moldy cream cheese Molds, or moulds, are various fungi that cover surfaces as fluffy mycelium and usually produce masses of asexual, sometimes sexual spores. ...
Inauguration Day is the day on which the President of the United States is sworn in and takes office. ...
The United States Secretary of Transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation. ...
Elizabeth Hanford Liddy Dole (born July 29, 1936) was elected to the United States Senate in 2002 to represent North Carolina for a term ending in 2009. ...
Software being used to design HVAC systems HVAC (pronounced either H-V-A-C or, occasionally, H-VAK) is an initialism/acronym that stands for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning. This is sometimes referred to as climate control. ...
Current use The station reopened in its present form in 1988. The former "Pit" area was replaced with an AMC movie theater and a large food court, a variety of shops opened along the Concourse and Main Hall, and a new Amtrak terminal at the back behind the original Concourse. In 1994, the passenger concourse was renamed to honor retired Amtrak president W. Graham Claytor Jr. of Roanoke, Virginia, who served for 11 years, from 1982 until 1993. A 20-screen AMC Theatres megaplex in Rolling Hills Estates, California. ...
Women waiting for pizza in the food court of the Staten Island Mall A food court is a type of indoor plaza contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and providing a common area for self-serve dining. ...
Amtrak is the trademark name of the intercity passenger train system created on May 1, 1971 in the United States. ...
William Graham Claytor Jr. ...
panoramic view of Roanoke, Virginia from 1907 Roanoke (The Star City of the South) is an independent city located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. ...
Today Union Station is again one of Washington's busiest and best-known places, visited by 20 million people each year. The terminal is located at the southern end of the Northeast Corridor, an electrified rail line extending north through major cities to Boston, Massachusetts. An Amtrak train on the NEC in New Jersey, as seen from an NJ Transit train. ...
Overhead wire in Coventry, England A railway electrification system is a way of supplying electric power to electric locomotives or multiple units. ...
City nickname: Beantown, The Hub (of the Solar System), Athens of America Location Location in Massachusetts Government Counties Suffolk County Mayor Thomas Menino (Dem) Physical characteristics Area Land Water 89. ...
Passenger services include Amtrak's high-speed Acela Express, Amtrak's intercity trains, the MARC and VRE commuter railways, linking Washington to Maryland and Virginia, respectively; and the Washington Metro Red Line. Amtrak is the trademark name of the intercity passenger train system created on May 1, 1971 in the United States. ...
Acela Express (often called simply Acela, leading to early confusion with the Acela Regional) is the name used by Amtrak for the 20 high-speed tilting trains that run between Washington, D.C. and Boston via New York City and Philadelphia along the Northeast Corridor in the Northeast U.S...
MARC commuter train conductor catching up with local news on a foggy morning at Point of Rocks. ...
The Virginia Railway Express (VRE) is a commuter railroad service that connects the Northern Virginia area with Washington, DC. The VRE operates on two lines, the Fredericksburg line, which starts from Fredericksburg, Virginia and the Manassas line, which starts from Manassas, Virginia, both lines end at Union Station in Washington...
A Connex commuter train stands by the platform in Melbourne, Australia Regional rail systems, or commuter rail systems, usually provide a rail service through a central business district area into suburbs or other locations that draw large numbers of people on a daily basis. ...
State nickname: Old Line State; Free State Other U.S. States Capital Annapolis Largest city Baltimore Governor Robert L. Ehrlich (R) Official languages English Area 32,160 km² (42nd) - Land 25,338 km² - Water 6,968 km² (21%) Population (2000) - Population 5,296,486 (19th) - Density 165 /km² (5th) Admission...
State nickname: Old Dominion Other U.S. States Capital Richmond Largest city Virginia Beach Governor Mark R. Warner (D) Senators John Warner (R) George Allen (R) Official languages English Area 110,862 km² (35th) - Land 102,642 km² - Water 8,220 km² (7. ...
Red Line train at Metro Center, hub of the system The Washington Metro is the public transportation system of Washington, D.C., and neighboring suburban communities in Maryland and Virginia, both inside and outside the Capital Beltway. ...
The Red Line of the Washington Metro consists of 27 subway stations from Shady Grove to Glenmont. ...
Amtrak owns and maintains the building and its main headquarters are located here. Amtrak is the trademark name of the intercity passenger train system created on May 1, 1971 in the United States. ...
Union Station carries the IATA airport code of ZWU. [1] An IATA airport code, known by the IATA as an IATA location identifier or, simply, a location identifier [1], is a three-letter alphabetic code designating many airports around the world. ...
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 Others include Hannibal, The Recruit, Along Came a Spider, Collateral Damage and The Wedding Crashers. Mr. ...
Several episodes of the television series The West Wing have used Union Station as a setting. The West Wing is a popular and widely acclaimed American television serial drama created by Aaron Sorkin for NBC which has aired since 1999 and is currently airing shows from its seventh season in its new time slot, 8pm on Sundays (Eastern and Pacific). ...
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's Capital Crimes mystery series includes a Murder at Union Station novel. Mary Margaret Truman Daniel (born 17 February 1924 in Independence, Missouri) is an American writer and the author of biographies, books on the White House and several best-selling mystery novels. ...
See also // North America This is a list of union stations in North America that use or have used Union Station or Union Terminal in their name. ...
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