i saw this over on wiredny. the ever-popular tilt-shift effect.

ps -- the photographer sez it's from the west walkway, no public access.  :|

 

 

for comparison the original is here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/triborough/2773272510/

 

more:

http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18884

^Do you think that Grand Central Station is the best, or most beautiful of the major train stations in this country?  It certainly gets the most hype, but I think that Washington's Union Station is by far the most beautiful station in the country (assuming Cincy's Union Terminal doesnt count).

Top three that's for sure.

Philadelphia's 30th Street Station ranks high, too. It's of a later style, moving toward a blend of Art Deco and Classical, and away from Beaux Arts.

 

The entire massive structure, along with the adjacent post office, sits on trunnions to allow for expansion and contraction, supported 30 or 40 feet above a large rail facility.

 

 

Cool photo of GCT!  I think it's my favorite US station...something about all the balconies and and the acoustics and multiple and different types of entries.  I also appreciate how it was mall-ified without losing much of its charm (unlike DC, in my opinion).  Also, love its interaction with the surrounding roads (esp. Park Ave).

Holy crap, I always wondered what tilt-shift looked like.  That's awesome.

i dk if aesthetically grand central is the most beautiful, that's in the eye of the beholder and there are several contenders for that. however, it's the best in the sense that it's the busiest & most complicated.

 

as for other terminal stations i'm a big fan of the hoboken terminal (b. 1907)....especially as i was just in there yesterday.

 

love the ornate green copper patina.

 

also, the waiting area has tiffany glass and is stunningly beautiful.

 

it has ferry, path, commuter rail, light-rail, bus & taxi services and best of all....no parking!!!  :laugh:

 

it certainly more than deserves a thread of it's own sometime.

 

the bell tower was recently rebuilt

 

info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoboken_Terminal

 

google pics:

http://images.google.com/images?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hl=en&q=hoboken+terminal&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2

 

 

Awesome.  They really don't build these like they used to.

(assuming Cincy's Union Terminal doesnt count).

 

Union Terminal seems to be one of the most underrated. Due to the disconnection from downtown and bastardized, light industrial nature of Queensgate these days I guess it gets overlooked a lot. I can't believe they wanted to turn it into a mall at one point (I think in the 70s).

 

I think I prefer Union Terminal to Philly's. It's just a fantastic art deco design and feels so well balanced. Only the center portion is over-sized. Also love the fountains in front and of course the priceless mosaics inside that pay tribute to Cincinnati's past.

 

 

 

 

 

What about Michigan Central Station? Haha

i think cinci's would certainly rate higher is if was used today like it was supposed to be. someday!

 

ditto that detroit station....err, theoretically.

Union Terminal was a mall briefly.  I went there once when I was a kid but don't remember it well.  Then it was the "science center" or something like that, which I remember going to once on a field trip.  Another field trip was to a big Soviet Union cultural exchange exhibit from which I only remember a model of some really huge Soviet airplane and the Soviet space shuttle.  Then they had the bond issue vote which raised the money necessary to renovate it into the current museum center configuration.  That vote was I think in 1987 or 1988. 

  Union Terminal was a mall for about 3 years. Economically, it failed miserably.

Union Terminal was a mall briefly. I went there once when I was a kid but don't remember it well. Then it was the "science center" or something like that, which I remember going to once on a field trip. Another field trip was to a big Soviet Union cultural exchange exhibit from which I only remember a model of some really huge Soviet airplane and the Soviet space shuttle. Then they had the bond issue vote which raised the money necessary to renovate it into the current museum center configuration. That vote was I think in 1987 or 1988.

 

Interesting.

 

My friend's dad gets season passes to the Museum Center every year (Union Terminal if you're not from Cincinnati). I used to go with his family when I was 12-17. I think that's really what caused me to have an attachment to Cincinnati. He taught us a lot of the history of Cincinnati's landmarks and we would always check out the scaled down model of Cincinnati - which is incredible. Since he's in his early 60s we got to hear about a lot of the history first hand.

That's been the fate of malls and "festival marketplaces" in other Union Stations and other large public spaces. They're food courts with all the same chains as everywhere else, and vendors selling kitsch and useless tourist crap. Union Station in Indianapolis bankrupted two or three successive operators and sucked up a few million in city money between 1986 and 1997, before closing after Circle Centre opened and siphoned off the last small dribbles of business from it.

 

AFAIK, now it is home to a hotel and various other offices, an Amtrak station with a paltry amount of service, and a Greyhound Bus station with slightly more service. A sad way to end up, for a station that once served about 200 trains per day.

Union Terminal in Cincy is too great of a structure for Cincinnati to ever let it rot. I'm glad it's a museum; at least it isn't going anywhere, any time soon. There's a few great shops inside there and an Omnimax theater. I don't think the food court is fully occupied but I remember a few places like Pizza Hut being open. Every kid in Cincinnati needs a season pass to that place. If nothing else, so that they get a sense of pride for their city.

 

I was just looking up Columbus' old train hub. It was a pretty nice structure and it's funny how they tore it down for the convention center. I think the case was similar to NYC and Penn Station only 20 or 30 years later. I pretty much put convention centers in the same league as arenas. Though I think convention centers might be a greater return on investment at least; for the city. I don't know.

The Union Terminal bond issue passed by a razor-thin margin, something like 50.1% which raises the specter that there was election fraud to pass that issue.  Frankly in that case I don't care because it was simply ridiculous that the building was allowed to suffer any ignominy whatsoever.  It did come relatively close to being demolished and in fact did have the entire concourse demolished in 1972.

 

I have never been particularly impressed with Grand Central (although I've always wanted to see what the big tunnel under Park Ave. looks like) and there's nothing about the actual main lobby space that was particularly innovative.  Cincinnati's Union Terminal definitely was a completely radical design in many respects, is without any contemporaries, was built at a dark point in the country's history, and was influential in subsequent airport design.  The bus/taxi/streetcar ramps are one of the most amazing pieces of auto-era design in existence.  Also the particular sound of the Union Terminal rotunda is one of the world's great acoustic environments, definitely the equal of the European Cathedrals, all of which have their own distinct acoustic characters.         

Most people here aren't saying Grand Central is the end-all, be-all.. but you have to be amazed at its beauty combined with the sheer number of people that go in-and-out on a daily basis.  It is the largest in the world in terms of platforms and will is only going to get bigger with the LIRR east-side access project.  Plus, have you seen the ceiling in person?!

 

I have never been particularly impressed with Grand Central (although I've always wanted to see what the big tunnel under Park Ave. looks like) and there's nothing about the actual main lobby space that was particularly innovative.  Cincinnati's Union Terminal definitely was a completely radical design in many respects, is without any contemporaries, was built at a dark point in the country's history, and was influential in subsequent airport design.  The bus/taxi/streetcar ramps are one of the most amazing pieces of auto-era design in existence.  Also the particular sound of the Union Terminal rotunda is one of the world's great acoustic environments, definitely the equal of the European Cathedrals, all of which have their own distinct acoustic characters.         

 

wait a second, whoa -- congrats on being the the only person in the world not particularly impressed by gct. i don't get that, it's easily the most innovative terminal by a long shot. however, the innovation is all on multiple levels below ground and even for cars on the multiple street levels above ground (very prescient for 1913). not to mention it's still growing, when the multi-billion dollar eastside access project is completed it will service an additional 150-200k daily customers, adding to it's already impressive complexity.

 

as for cinci's main lobby what's not to love, but i fail to see how it's deco-ness innovatively or radically affects it's function. too bad you missed gct's main lobby innovation, the iconic whirling solari departure boards (speaking of sound, now there was a cool sound!). these were fairly recently replaced with boring old lcd signage (to my disgust). also, as for aesthetics the clock sculpture group was the largest in the world when built and get this, apparently gct even had an art school inside it from the 1920's-40's. who knew?

 

still, i agree no question gct is more of a workhorse than a thoroughbred in the lobby looks dept.

sadly penn, the real beaut of a ny terminal lobby, was of course pulled down in the 1960's.

 

 

I was told by someone in Amtrak operations at the time that they regretted those Italian departure boards from day one because of the maintenance they required. I agree, though, that they were fascinating to see and hear.

yeah, i'm not surprized. with all that mechanical whirling around they always seemed like they'd break down easily. stations seem to be getting rid of those kind of solari's left and right. it's too bad, they are hypnotically entertaining, especially in such mass as in gct.

And of course, there's the little details like the clock at the center kiosk - those faceplates are each a solid piece of opal. :-o

 

Grand Central is a great station primarily because of its utilization and location, and  the fact that I transfer there every day on the way to work.  Union Terminal in Cincinnati is great because of its architecture.  It is truly a great design, and along with just a handful of other buildings in the world, a prime example of art-deco.

Personally, I think Cleveland Union Terminal was a much nicer building than GCT.

 

Its a "eh" in my book.

 

The 30th St. station in Philadelphia is quite nice, if I do say so myself:

DC's Union Station is both beautiful and very highly used as both a mall, as well as a transportation hub.