Robert Pence

I have interior and trainshed photos of Northwestern from 1980, too. I'll have to rummage around and see if I can turn them up and make a thread. That session was the first time I was accosted by security for taking photos in a trainshed. That was quite a grand facility. Not as imposing in scale as Union Station, but it was just enough older to have more intricate detail. I believe it had terra cotta tiles in a herringbone pattern on the ceiling vault in the main concourse, something similar to Cleveland's West Side Market. Parking garage sounds good for the old Post Office. I think there's probably already underground access to Union Station; if I remember correctly, the trains from the south and east pass under the PO on the Union Station approach, and there are loading docks where they used to load mail cars to be picked up by the passenger trains. Maybe they could incorporate a commuter annex, to relieve some of the rush-hour congestion at Union Station.

For your viewing pleasure, may I present the 1911 Chicago Northwestern Station. Replaced by Ogilvie Transportation Center in 1984. I took this photo about 1980 on an unpleasant winter day; the original is a 35mm slide, Kodachrome, I think.

I already have a green solution to disposal; I compost them and feed my giant zinnias and salvia. The goldfinches love the zinnias, the hummingbirds stake out the salvia, and the bees aren't fussy.

Fascinating designs, and I wouldn't even begin to understand how to live among them.

I love this photo - the people, the perspective and the way the clouds work with it, and the way the monument seems to glow as the warm light strikes it: Thanks for posting these sets. They bring back some strong memories, all good ones, for me.

Sometimes I cringe at things like that, but I had to come to the realization that I can't control others' words or actions. That was when I realized that if I didn't like the message others were presenting, I had to stand up and speak out for myself. I was scared shitless about coming out, but when I did it I found it to be the most liberating experience of my life.

UO Photo of the Year! I'm glad you got to attend. It's been many years since I attended a march, and it was a much smaller one, but it was tremendously empowering and energizing. Excellent photos!

Centralia is finally all gone? Personally, I'd be afraid to go onto the site, for fear of the earth literally opening up and swallowing me into a fiery pit.

I'll second that. Dayton's Art Institute is first-rate and its setting is hard to beat, with its outstanding view of downtown. The river's path through the city is a real asset, providing scenic beauty and space for recreation.

Excellent thread; quality photos, and good attention to architectural detail. Do more.

^Thanks!

Interesting-looking town; lots of building facade remuddling ove the years, but interesting because of the variety of eras and styles. Mine tours can be eye-opening; the Lackawanna Mine Tour near Scranton PA and its accompanying museum are first-rate.

Neat shots! New England terminating vista:

Nice-looking town, with some interesting buildings. Very tidy and well-maintained.

Middletown 2006 Forum Meet: Click the photo to link to the full set.

Not the biggest, but still the best!

Is Franklin Frame Works (Columbus) still around? They did a beautiful job on a good frame for me years ago. I have a Peugeot PX-10 frame, circa 1969, that's been hanging in my garage for ~30 years with a bent top tube and down tube (got "doored") that I'd like to have fixed. I realize repair probably will cost more than a replacement frame, but I have a sentimental attachment to this one.

Spectacular photo!

Howard was quite busy then on weekdays. It might even have carried more traffic than it does now, as the ridership loads in the eighties justified running "A" and "B" trains in skip-stop service. Rush hour could be complete pandemonium. The station structures were terribly tired, shabby, worn out and outdated. Only in the past couple of years has Howard gotten the rehab and updating that it needed for years.

Beautiful photo; nice light and gorgeous sky. The interurban lines built some impressive structures, some of which were in service for a fairly short time. Some never saw use at all, because the builders underestimated the startup costs and ran out of capital before ever running a train.

Yup. I noted in another post that I rode from Waterloo to Chicago and return last December, going on the Lateshore and returning on the Capitol. The Lateshore ride in an Amfleet coach was shaky and rattly. The Capitol's superliners are heavier, and ride better. The proposed routing makes the restored former PRR station on Baker Street in Fort Wayne the likely choice for a depot except that the platforms have been bulldozed into the stairwells and recently I saw excavating equipment and piles of dirt up on the elevation behind the station, so I wonder if they collapsed and filled the tunnel, as well. The building was sold to an architectural firm and is occupied by offices now, and the concourse is a reception and meeting hall. It probably would be just as expeditious to build a new, modern depot, possibly across the tracks and a block east on the site of the former Wabash depot; there's plenty of space in the adjacent old WAB freight yard for a parking lot.

Ok, ok, so we put some new tinfoil over the exterior lol! Rob, what station is that? Why are the trains so short? That was at Howard Street, 1982, likely a Saturday. Off-peak it was common for single cars to run between Howard and Linden (Evanston). Those single cars only ran back and forth between those two stations; they didn't run through to/from the loop. Same with Skokie/Dempster cars; Skokie (now Yellow Line) ROW was fenced between Howard and Prairie Avenue, and cars ran 3rd rail. They also had pantographs to pick up from catenary between Prairie and Dempster, and they changed on the fly. Then as now, there were no stops between Howard and Dempster.

Thanks for that info, KJP. I had heard a rumor that the MAW was a likely routing but hadn't thought it highly credible because of the deplorable condition of the track that I was familiar with, Woodburn - Antwerp. That would be a remarkable comeback. IMO the proposed routings both east and west of Fort Wayne have little going for them except that the ROW is still intact, but I guess laying new track on an already-graded ROW isn't that much bigger a deal than rehabbing/upgrading some existing midwestern freight lines to provide a decent, safe ride at 90-110mph. Remember this from 2003? High-Speed Rail between Chicago, Columbus, and Pittsburgh, via Ft. Wayne and Lima to be Studied http://www.creativefortwayne.net/archives/000072.php

I'm glad to see that Fort Wayne's standing in the proposals continues to improve. I think that a lot of gratitude for that goes to Dr. Tom Hayhurst, a retired pulmonologist and former city councilman who gave Mark Souder a tough run for the district congressional seat last time, and who's having another go at him this time around. Several people have been involved in organizing and promoting rallies to show local support, but I think Tom Hayhurst and Geoff Paddock, one of the people who was instrumental in making Headwaters Park happen and who has been politically active, have been the prime movers in bringing out the energy. I couldn't figure out from your map exactly what the proposed routing might be, and the on-line NS system map is short on details. I'm thinking they might come out of Toledo on the old NYC Chicago-Cleveland line and then swing south on the former Wabash through Montpelier to Fort Wayne; that's the only ROW I can think of that's already in passable condition and would serve with the addition of some second track and signal upgrades. From Fort Wayne to Chicago I haven't heard anything lately about what is proposed. Coming in to Fort Wayne on the former Wabash route would make an easy transfer over to the former PRR route (now owned by CSX, leased to RailAmerica and operated by CFE) near the former PRR Baker Street Station. On the other hand, the former PRR line has been single-tracked and de-signaled and is maintained only for slow branch line-type freight. It would take a lot of upgrading, plus the reactivation of a twenty-year-abandoned 19-mile section in Northwest Indiana to get fast passenger trains into Chicago. On the other hand, interchanging between the former WAB and NKP would be fairly straightforward at the East Wayne Yards in New Haven, trains would come into downtown at the 1950's elevated platform, and the NKP ROW between Fort Wayne and Chicago is already in excellent condition. Like the former WAB, it would need some double-tracking and signal upgrades, but could be made suitable for much less money, it seems, than the former PRR.