Category Archives: Train Stations

CN Station Historic Site (Fort Langley, British Columbia, Canada)

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CN Station Historic Site

Fort Langley’s CN Station (historically known as “”Langley Station”), built in 1915 for the Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) as agriculture expanded and new settlement drew people into the Fraser Valley, was absorbed by the Canadian National Railway in 1918 and was expanded to accommodate larger living quarters for the Station Agent.

Wooden waiting platform

Its life as a passenger station spanned the steam through diesel eras until 1980. The station, originally located 240 m. to the west, was used full time until 1972 when it was reduced to a flag stop. In 1980, passenger service was completely terminated and, for a time, the station stood empty.

In 1983, the station was moved to its present location, two blocks east, by volunteers of the Langley Heritage Society (a volunteer, non-profit organization).  After it was moved, the station underwent a two year restoration by Heritage Society members.  On February 27, 1984, the building was declared as a Municipal Heritage Site. In 2001, the Langley Heritage Society received a B.C. Heritage Society Award of Honor for the restoration project.

Built to a standard 3rd Class Type design (plan 100-29), this is one of the few remaining stations like it in western Canada (there were 85 such buildings built), and the only surviving Class C station (a total of twelve stations were built within a twelve mile stretch of Langley) from this era in the Langley region.

The 3rd Class station design, developed for the CNoR by influential architect Ralph Benjamin Pratt, is distinguished by its hip roof, a unique feature that branded the station as CNoR constructions. The building’s main floor accommodates an office and waiting room while the upper level contains living quarters for the station master.

The station also has a sizeable, single-storey wing that serves as a baggage are..  It is now owned by the Township of Langley and is maintained and operated by the Langley Heritage Society through an innovative partnership,

Historical plaque

The recreated station garden, featuring 37 varieties of perennials (from alyssum to zinnia), were maintained much like Station Master Richard Simpson (who sold train tickets, handled freight and sent & received telegrams, earning $45 per month in 1918 and also working 60 hours a week) and his wife Mary did from 1918 to 1929, when annual garden competitions happened between stations.  Using original plant cuttings and seeds, it is now a recreation of what would have been there in the early twentieth century.

Wooden caboose (ca. 1920)

A wooden caboose, added beside the station, houses the 1950s era Glen Valley model railway.  A 1947 railway car, purchased and renovated in 1997 by the Langley Heritage Society, was renamed E. & E. Taylor, honoring Fort Langley residents Evelyn and Egbert Taylor, who dedicated much time to development of the railway station, as did the late Bays Blackhall who ran station operations for many years.  Inside is telegraph station for kids and a gallery  of the local Fort Langley Artists Group (FLAG) in the baggage room (they have displays on weekends and holidays in summer).

1947 Railway Car

A section of track, donated by CN In 2004, was installed in front of the station to accommodate the velocipede, on loan from the B.C. Farm Machinery and Agricultural Museum.

Speeder trailer at the section of track

The station’s freight room displays many other fascinating objects and archival images while station waiting room houses a weathered trunk that belonged to Lois Bowling, the first British war bride (she married Canadian air gunner Ross Bowling on July 1, 1944) to arrive (in 1946) in Langley after the Second World War.

Portrait of Ross Bowling and Lois Cross

This well designed and visually pleasing, two-storey, wood frame station was built with a broad roof overhang and eave brackets typical of train stations from the early twentieth century. It also had station signage, wood drop sidings; dormers; 9-over-1 double hung sash windows on both main and second level on all four facades and chimneys (1 straight and 1 using salmon brick with a flair to its design).

General Waiting Room

The wooden passenger platform runs the length of front of building.  Inside is a ticket master office, with original finishes, a Baggage room and residence for station master (currently for caretaker).

Luggage Wagon

The station, representing an important part of the transportation network that spawned and encouraged the growth of Fort Langley, is now a symbol for the Township of Langley as a heritage conservation pioneer.  It is also part of the Fort Langley Walking Tour and is a popular location for wedding and graduation photographs. 

Train shed

CN Station Historic Site: 23245 Mavis Ave. cor. Grover Rd., Fort Langley, Langley Township, British Columbia V1M 2S3, Canada.  Tel: (604) 513-8787. E-mail: info@langleyheritage.ca,  Website: www.langleyheritage.ca. Open Thursdays to Sundays, noon until 4 pm (summer, until Thanksgiving).  Admission is free but a $20 donation is appreciated. Mail to: Langley Heritage Society, Box 982, Fort Langley, B.C..

How to Get There: from Vancouver, it is a 35-min, (38.8-km.) drive via the Trans Canada Highway/BC-1E. From the Expo line exit at Surrey Central Station, catch the #501 Langley Centre bus at bay #4. Get off at Walnut Grove Park and Ride (about 30 mins. on the bus) and transfer to a C62 Langley Centre Via Fort Langley Community Shuttle Bus at bay #2 and get off at the corner of 96th Ave. and Glover Rd. (about 22 mins. on the bus) The village is located along both sides of Glover Rd. – mostly to the north.

Waterfront Station (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)

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Waterfront Station

The stunningly grand and majestic, 6-storey, 146-m. (480-ft.) long Waterfront Station (Station Code: WF), located on Burrard Inlet, is a major intermodal public transportation facility and the main transit terminus in Vancouver. It is within walking distance or the vicinity of Vancouver’s historical Gastown district, Canada Place, Vancouver Convention Centre, Harbour Centre, Sinclair Centre, the Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre float plane terminal (approximately two blocks west of Canada Place), the heliport operated by Helijet, (adjacent to the SeaBus concourse, therefore allowing passengers to connect to Waterfront Station‘s main terminal building) and the downtown campuses for Simon Fraser University and the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

The row of Ionic columns

The current Neo-Classical-style main station building, designed by Barott, Blackader and Webster (a Montreal architecture firm) and built by Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), is CPR’s third station.  It replaced a smaller station, built in the 1890s and previously located at the foot of Granville, one block west, built in chateau-like “Railway Gothic” style like the CPR’s many railway hotels. Its symmetrical red-brick facade is dominated by a row of smooth, white limestone Ionic order columns which are repeated in the grand interior hall, flanking the perimeter of the space.

The Neo-Classical-style facade

The main hall features two large clocks facing each other high on the east and west walls while paintings depicting various scenic Canadian landscapes, by Adelaide Langford (wife of a CPR executive), line the walls above the columns.

One of two large clocks at the Main Hall

Rouge Kitchen & Wet Bar, on the street level, occupies the east wing. Other restaurants located within the station include A&W, Jugo Juice, La Prep, Subway, Starbucks and SKK Italy. On the upper floors, some rooms are occupied by business offices.

Rouge Kitchen & Wet Bar

Subway and Jugo Juice

The bronze statue of Angel of Victory, one of an originally identical trio (the other two angels are in Winnepeg and Montreal), at the front of the extreme east end of the building, was created by Couer de Lion MacCarthy (1881-1979) and was installed in 1921.

Angel of Victory (Couer de Lion MacCarthy)

A war memorial honoring CPR employees who were killed during World War I, it depicts an angel carrying a dead soldier to heaven.  At one time, she was holding s small wreath in her raised hand but, at some point, the wreath was broken and now she holds just a few leaves in her hand.  After World War II, the writing on the plaque at the base of the statue was added.

Historical Plaque

Here’s the historical timeline of the station:

  • On May 1912, the construction of Waterfront Station began
  • On August 1, 1914, right at the start of World War I, the station was opened as the Pacific terminus for the CPR’s transcontinental passenger trains to Montreal, Quebec and Toronto, Ontario.  Canadian soldiers, on their way to the war, departed on this depot.
  • In 1916, the paintings lining the walls above the columns were completed.
  • On May 29, 1939, residents welcomed King George VI and Queen Elizabeth here (British Columbia’s first visit by a reigning monarch)
  • In 1977, Waterfront Station‘s transformation into a public intermodal transit facility began.
  • In 1977, SeaBus began operating out of a purpose-built floating pier that was connected to the main terminal building via an overhead walkway above the CPR tracks.
  • In 1978, when Via Rail took over the passenger operations of the CPR and the Canadian National Railway, it continued using both railways’ stations in Vancouver
  • In 1979, Via Rail ceased using this CPR station when it consolidated its Vancouver operations at Pacific Central Station, the CN station near False Creek.
  • On October 27, 1979, the last scheduled Via Rail passenger train to use Waterfront Station departed, with 200 passengers (plus 50 train aficionados who tagged along to Mission), for Montreal, 15 mins. late.
  • In the early 1980s, the CPR’s passenger platform and some of its tracks were torn up to make way for the guideway of the original SkyTrain line (Expo Line).
  • On December 11, 1985, the Expo Line was opened.
  • During Expo 86, SkyTrain operated special shuttle trains between Waterfront Station and Stadium–Chinatown Station(then named Stadium station), connecting the Canadian Pavilion at Canada Place to the main Expo site along False Creek.
  • In the early 1990s, Royal SeaLink Express, a private ferry company, ran passenger ferries from a new dock on the west side of the SeaBus terminal to Victoria and Nanaimo  but ultimately folded.
  • In 1995, platforms were built adjacent to the SkyTrain station for the West Coast Express, which uses the existing CPR tracks. The platforms for the West Coast Express were built in the same location as the old CPR platforms.
  • In 2002, Millennium Line trains began to share tracks with the Expo Line at Waterfront Station.
  • In 2003, HarbourLynx began operating out of Royal Sealink’s old facility at the SeaBus terminal.
  • In 2006, following major engine problems with their only vessel, HarbourLynx folded as well.
  • In late 2016, an Expo Line branch to Production Way–University station was created in replacement of the Millennium Line service between VCC–Clark and Waterfront Station.
  • In 2009, the Canada Line opened
  • In 2018, as most Canada Line stations were built with only up escalators initially, TransLink announced that Waterfront Station‘s Canada Line platforms, as well as two other stations on the line located within Downtown Vancouver, would receive an accessibility upgrade which includes additional escalators.
  • In early 2019, construction began on the additional escalators
  • In December 2019, the installation of additional escalators was completed.
  • In 2020, work on replacing the escalators connecting to the Expo Line was started by TransLink.
  • For three weeks in June 2020, access to the Expo Line from Cordova Street was closed, forcing passengers to access the Expo Line from the Howe Street entrance. Because the construction blocked access to the elevators to the Expo Line platforms, a temporary shuttle bus service between the SeaBus terminal, the main concourse area, and Burrard Station was instated.

Ionic columns inside the main hall

Waterfront Station was one of the first stations to receive TransLink’s “T” signage (denoting a transit station).  Originally installed in the downtown core of Vancouver, this signage helped visitors during the 2010 Olympics as it made transit hubs easier to identify.

Waterfront Station serves as a common terminus point for both the Expo Line (through Vancouver to Northeast/South Burnaby, New Westminster and Surrey) and the Canada Line (through Vancouver to central Richmond and Vancouver International Airport). They have separate platforms which are accessible via the main station building, but require leaving the fare paid zone when transferring between other modes.

The SeaBus passenger ferry, to Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver, stops on the Vancouver side at Waterfront Station, near the Vancouver Convention Centre. Additionally, Waterfront Station  provides West Coast Express commuter rail (Port Moody, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge and Mission) a connection to the SeaBus passenger ferry. The station is also accessible to various local, suburban, and express bus services provided by TransLink.

Escalator to Expo Line

Expo Line

Waterfront Station: 601 West Cordova St. (between Granville and Seymour Sts.), Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia V6B 1G1, Canada. The station has also two street-level entrances – Howe Street to the west (for direct access to the Expo Line) and Granville Street to the south (for direct access to the Canada Line).  Coordinates: 49°17′09″N 123°06′42″W

Washington Union Station (Washington D.C., U.S.A.)

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Washington Union Station

The 61.62-km. (38.3-mi.) Peter Pan Bus Lines bus ride, via the MD-295 S and Baltimore-Washington Parkway, from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. took us less than an hour and we arrived at the Washington Union Station (the U.S. Capitol’s major train station and transportation hub) parking garage by 9 AM.

What awaited me when I arrived at the 183 m. (600 ft.) long main hall of the station was a soaring masterpiece done in the Neo-Classically-influenced Beaux-Arts style.  Train stations are great expositions of art in public places and the Washington Union Station is one of the grandest examples of this.

Bus parking garage

The station, opened in 1907, is the only railroad station in the nation specifically authorized by the U.S. Congress.  It is the southern terminus of the Northeast Corridor, an electrified rail line extending north through major cities (Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston) and the busiest passenger rail line in the nation.

The station is jointly owned by Amtrak (their headquarters, Amtrak owns the platforms and tracks through the Washington Terminal Company a nearly wholly owned subsidiary, with 99.9% controlling interest) and United States Department of Transportation (they own the station building itself and the surrounding parking lots).  Itis Amtrak railroad’s second-busiest station (with annual ridership of just under 5 million) and the ninth-busiest in overall passengers served in the United States.

Main hall

Union Station, an intermodal facility, also serves MARC and VRE commuter rail services, the Washington Metro, the DC Streetcar, intercity bus lines, and local Metrobus buses.

In 1988, a headhouse wing was added and the original station was renovated for use as a shopping mall, with many shops, cafes and restaurants (the station’s former presidential suite is also now occupied by a restaurant), making it one of the busiest shopping destinations in the United States.  Today, Union Station, one of Washington DC’s busiest and best-known places, is visited by over 40 million people a year.

The author and Jandy at the main hall

The building was primarily designed by William Pierce Anderson of the Chicago architectural firm of D.H. Burnham & Company. Famed architect and planner Daniel H. Burnham (the same architect who planned Baguio City), assisted by Pierce Anderson, was inspired by a number of architectural styles and Classical elements.

For the exterior and main façade, he was inspired by the Arch of Constantine (Rome, Italy) while the great vaulted spaces of the Baths of Diocletian inspired the interior.

Check out “Arch of Constantine”

Grace, Cheska and Kyle

The station was also built on a massive scale, with a façade stretching more than 180 m. (600 ft.) and a waiting room ceiling rising 29 m. (96 ft.) above the floor.

Statues of Centurions (Louis St. Gaudens)

Stone inscriptions and allegorical sculpture were also done in the Beaux-Arts style and expensive materials such as marble, gold leaf, and white granite, from a previously unused quarry, were also used.

Statues of Centurions (Louis St. Gaudens)

In the Attic block, above the main cornice of the central block, stand six, 5.5 m. (18 ft.) high colossal statues, entitled “The Progress of Railroading,” representing deities related to rail transport in the United States created by Louis St. Gaudens, modeled on the Dacian prisoners of the Arch of Constantine and cut by Andrew E. Bernasconi, a high-grade Italian stone workman, between 1909 and 1911.

Their iconography expresses the confident enthusiasm of the American Renaissance movement – Prometheus for Fire;  Thales for Electricity; Themis for Freedom or Justice; Apollo for  Imagination or Inspiration; Archimedes for Mechanics; and Ceres for Agriculture (the substitution of Agriculture for Commerce in a railroad station iconography vividly conveys the power of a specifically American lobbying bloc).

The triumphal arch-like station entrance with the Columbus Fountain in front

St. Gaudens also created the 26 centurions for the station’s main hall. Treating the entrance to a major terminal as a triumphal arch was drawn, by Burnham, upon a tradition launched with the 1837 Euston railway station in London.

The Progress of Railroading

The monumental end pavilions were linked 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 much to the Court of Heroes at the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 (where Burnham had been coordinating architect) in Chicago.

The monument end pavilion linked with long arcades enclosing loggias

 

The prominent setting of Union Station’s façade at the intersection of two of Pierre (Peter) Charles L’Enfant‘s avenues (with an orientation that faced the United States Capitol just five blocks away), 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 patte d’oie (“goosefoot”) of formal garden plans made by Baroque designers such as André Le Nôtre. Frederick Law Olmstead designed the landscape around the station.

Full-length portrait of Christopher Columbus

The Columbus Fountain (also known as the Columbus Memorial), the centerpiece of Columbus Circle in front of the station, is a public artwork by American sculptor Lorado Taft unveiled on June 7, 1912.  This semicircular double-basin fountain has a 13.7 m. (45 ft.) high shaft, in the center, whose front bears a full-length portrait of explorer Christopher Columbus wearing a mantle and staring forward, with his hands folded in front of him.

The globe representing the Western Hemisphere

Beneath him is a ship prow featuring a winged figurehead that represents the observation of discovery. On top of the shaft is a globe, representing the Western hemisphere, with four eagles on each corner connected by garland.

Elderly man representing the Old World

Two male figures (an elderly man, representing the Old World, on the right, and on the left, a figure of a Native American, representing the New World) decorating the left and right sides of the shaft.

American Indian representing the New World

At the back of the shaft is a low-relief medallion with images of Ferdinand & Isabella.  The left and right side of the fountain are guarded by two lions placed away from the base.

A pair of lions

Washington Union Station: 50 Massachusetts Avenue NE, Washington, D.C.  Coordinates: 38°53′50″N 77°00′23″W

30th Street Station (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.)

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30th Street Station

The 52,000 m² (562,000 ft²) 30th Street Station, the main railroad station in Philadelphia and one of the seven stations in Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority‘s (SEPTA) Center City fare zone, sits across from the former United States Post Office-Main Branch. A major stop on Amtrak‘s (National Railroad Passenger Corporation) Northeast and Keystone Corridors, it is Amtrak’s 3rd-busiest station and the busiest of the 24 stations served in Pennsylvania. On an average day in 2013, about 11,300 people boarded or left trains in Philadelphia, nearly twice as many as in the rest of the Pennsylvania stations combined. This was to be our entry point to Philadelphia (from New York City) and exit point from Philadelphia to Baltimore (Maryland).

The main concourse

Originally known as the Pennsylvania Station–30th Street (in accord with the naming style of other Pennsylvania Stations), the enormous, steel-framed structure was designed by the Chicago architectural firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst and White (the successor to D.H. Burnham & Company). Construction began in 1927 and the station opened in 1933, starting with two platform tracks.

The author and son Jandy at the waiting area

From 1988-1991, the building was restored and renovated, at a cost of US$75 million,  by Dan Peter Kopple & Associates, with updated retail amenities added including several shops, a large food court, car rental facilities, Saxby’s Coffee, Dunkin’ Donuts, both in the South Arcade and South Concourse, and others.

Dunkin’ Donut outlet

Above the passenger areas, 280,000 sq. ft. of office space was modernized to house approximately 1,100 Amtrak employees.  The former mail handling facility was converted into an underground parking garage. The 30th Street Station is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Train Schedule Display Board

The building’s architecturally interesting exterior, an adaptation and transformation of Neo-Classical elements into a more modern, streamlined Art Deco architectural style, has a pair of soaring, columned porte-cocheres on the west and east façade, its best known features.

Waiting Area

The cavernous, 290 by 135 ft. main passenger concourse, notable for its stylistic and functional elements, has ornate Art Deco décor, with a vast waiting room faced with travertine and a soaring  coffered ceiling, painted gold, red and cream, with beautiful chandeliers.

Ticket offices

Works of art are located throughout the building. Prominently displayed within the waiting area is the Pennsylvania Railroad World War II Memorial, sculpted in 1950 by Walker Hancock. Honoring 1,307 Pennsylvania Railroad employees (listed in alphabetical order on the four sides of the base of that sculpture) killed in World War II (out of the more than 54,000 who served), it consists of a bronze statue of the archangel Michael lifting the body of a dead soldier out of the flames of war.

Pennsylvania Railroad World War II Memorial

The Spirit of Transportation, a bas relief sculpture of Karl Bitter, was executed in 1895 and originally placed in the waiting room of Broad Street Station, Philadelphia. On January, 1955, it was moved to current site in the North Waiting Room. The Spirit of Transportation is represented in triumphal procession of progress. It features a central female figure sitting in a horse-drawn carriage, while children cradle models of a steamship, steam locomotive and dirigible, a prophetic vision of a mode of transportation to come.

Spirit of Transportation bas-relief sculpture

The station was featured in the 1981 film Blow Out, the 1983 film Trading Places, the 1985 film Witness, the 2000 film Unbreakable, the 2010 video game Heavy Rain, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2 Episode 7, and the 2015 film The Visit. It is within walking distance of various attractions in West Philadelphia, notably the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, and the University City Science Center, all in University City. 

Kyle, Grace, Cheska and Jandy waiting for our train to Baltimore at the train platform

30th Street Station: 2955 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Grand Central Terminal (New York City, U.S.A.)

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The historic and beautiful Grand Central Terminal, a world-famous landmark in Midtown Manhattan and one of the most majestic buildings of the twentieth century, was designed by the architectural firms of Reed and Stem and Warren and Wetmore and opened to the public on February 2, 1913.  On December 8, 1976, it was declared as a U.S. National Historic Landmark.

Grand Central Terminal

This massive, granite, Beaux-Arts-style  building has both monumental spaces and meticulously crafted detail, especially on its facade. At the top of the building is “The Glory of Commerce,” a cluster of sculptures designed by French sculptor Jules-Felix Coutan, carved by the John Donnelly Company and assembled by William Bradley of Long Island City, Queens.  Depicting  Minerva, Hercules, and Mercury (representing Wisdom, Speed, and Strength, according to Roman mythology), it was, during its unveiling in 1914, the largest sculpture grouping in the world. The exterior clock, just beneath Mercury, is the largest piece of Tiffany glass in the world, measuring 4 m. (13 ft.) in diameter.  The eagles, perched on the corner of the building, actually adorned the previous Grand Central Station, which opened in 1869.

The cavernous interior

Here are some interesting trivia regarding this terminal:

  • The terminal is one of the world’s most visited tourist attractions, with 21.9 million visitors in 2013.
  • So much granite was used that the building emits relatively high levels of radiation. At an average dose of 525 mrem/year, a level higher than permitted in a nuclear power facility.
  • Grand Central Terminal’s 20 hectare (49-acre) basements are among the largest in New York City.
  • The exact location of M42, a “secret” sub-basement under the terminal that contains the AC to DC convertersused to supply DC traction current to the tracks, is a closely guarded secret and does not appear on maps.
  • It covers 19 hectares (48 acres) and has 44 platforms, more than any other railroad station in the world.
  • The Main Concourse was featured in dozens of films, among them Alfred Hitchcock’s “North By Northwest” to the animated DreamWorks film” Madagascar” as well as scenes from the Avengers, Superman and the X-men.

The cavernous, 84 m. (275 ft.) long, 37 m. (120 ft.) wide and 38 m. (125 ft.) high Main Concourse, the center of Grand Central, is usually filled with bustling crowds and is often used as a meeting place. Since the introduction of ticket vending machines, the ticket booths here now stand unused or have been repurposed.

Bay Balcony

Its interior has 35 restaurants, such as the famous  Oyster Bar & Restaurant (the only business that remained from the very day that Grand Central opened in 1913), Shake Shack and various fast food outlets (Starbucks, etc.) surrounding the Dining Concourse on the level below the Main Concourse, as well as delis, bakeries (Magnolia Bakery, etc.), pharmacy (Rite Aid),  full-service watch repair shop (Central Watch), fourth floor tennis club (Vanderbilt Tennis Club, opened in the 1960s and now owned by onald Trump), newsstands, a gourmet and fresh food market, an annex of the New York Transit Museum, and 65 retail stores (Apple Store, Vineyard Vines, M.A.C. Cosmetics, etc.).

Some of the restaurants and retail stores within the terminal

Right outside the Oyster Bar is the Whispering Gallery.  One of the most popular spots in the Terminal, people often crowd this relatively plain-looking space, their faces pressed into the corner as the gallery perfectly transmits sound from corner to corner so much so that you can have a conversation, at the barest whisper, with a friend, hearing each other as though you were standing face to face.  The precise arch of the ceiling and the tiled surface caused this architectural anomaly.

The main information booth, in the center of the concourse, has the Main Concourse Information Booth Clock, a 4-faced brass clock, on top. Perhaps the most recognizable icon of Grand Central, it was designed by Henry Edward Bedford and cast in Waterbury, Connecticut. Each of the four clock faces is made from opalescent glass (now often called opal glass or milk glass), though urban legend has it that the faces are made of opal and that Sotheby’s and Christie’s have estimated their value to be between $10 million and $20 million.

Information board

The original blackboard (with arrival and departure information) by Track 36, dubbed a Solari board (after its Italian manufacturer), was replaced, in the main concourse, by an electromechanical display over the ticket windows that displayed times and track numbers of arriving and departing trains.

This New York institution, an indicator of just how busy Grand Central was, once contained rows of flip panels that displayed train information as its many displays would flap simultaneously to reflect changes in train schedules. Today, high-resolution mosaic LCD modules replaced the flap-board destination sign.

The elaborately decorated astronomical ceiling

The starry, stunning and elaborately decorated astronomical ceiling of  the Main Concourse, depicting the constellations of the Zodiac (astronomically inaccurate in a complicated way as other constellations are reversed left-to-right), was conceived in 1912 by Architect Whitney Warren with his friend, French portrait artist Paul César Helleu, and executed by James Monroe Hewlett and Charles Basing of Hewlett-Basing Studio, with corps of astronomers and painting assistants working on it. In the late 1930s, the original ceiling was replaced to correct falling plaster. A 12-year restoration effort, completed in autumn 1996, removed tar and nicotine from tobacco smoke from the ceiling and restored to its original design.

Next to the Main Concourse sits Vanderbilt Hall, named for the family of Cornelius Vanerbilt that built and owned the station.  Serving as the entrance area from 42nd Street at Pershing Square, it was formerly the main waiting room for the terminal.  Today, it is used for the annual Christmas Market and special exhibitions, and is rented for private events.

Jandy with the Main Concourse Information Booth Clock behind him

Grand Central Terminal: 89 East 42nd St. at Park Ave., New York City, New York 10017. Open aily, 5:30 AM – 2 AM. Website: www.grandcentralterminal.com. The Grand Central Market is open Mondays – Fridays, 7 AM -9PM; Saturdays, 10AM – 7PM; and Sundays, 11AM – 6PM..

How To Get There: The closest subway station is at the terminal itself (Grand Central Station) and is serviced by 4, 5, 6, and 7 trains as well as the S shuttle train from Times Square –42nd Street.

Train Ride from Salzburg to Vienna (Austria)

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OBB Railjet

After a 2 day/3 night stay in Salzburg, it was now time to make our way to Vienna, Austria’s capital, by train.  As our hotel (Hotel Garni Evido Salzburg City Center) was very near the Salzburg Hauptbahnhof (German for Salzburg main station; abbreviated as Salzburg Hbf and occasionally translated as Central Station), we left early in the morning and just walked going there, with luggage in tow.

Salzburg Hauptbannhof (Salzburg Train Station)

At the station, we boarded the 8:51 AM Railjet (RJ), a high-speed train of the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and Czech Railways (ČD). OBB connects all of Austria with its major cities of neighboring countries (Germany, Hungary, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Italy), at regular intervals, and also takes passengers to Vienna Airport.

Interior of Economy Class coach

We had a choice of comfortable and individually excellent classes of comfort categories – Business Class (includes beverages and a wide choice of snacks, hot towels, a selection of newspapers and magazines, at-seat service and seat reservation), First Class (includes a welcome drink, cold towels and a large selection of newspapers and magazines) and Economy Class (has a railjet trolley service with coffee, cold beverages and snacks). We chose the latter.

The author

Railjet, the premier service of the ÖBB, consists of 7 individual coaches pulled by Taurus high-speed Siemens EuroSprinter electric locomotives and has a seating capacity of 408 persons.  Passengers here have the highest possible levels of comfort – free Wi-Fi, on-board entertainment, an on-board restaurant and children’s cinema.

The author’s grandson Kyle

ÖBB Railjet trains run twice an hour from Salzburg to Vienna, with two stops at St. Pölten (1 hour 41 mins. from Vienna) and Linz (55 mins. from Vienna).  The fast service (travelling at a maximum speed of up to 230 kms./hour or 143 mph), took only 2 hours and 49 minutes of travel.

Rural scenery seen during our journey

During our journey on the ÖBB Railjet, the Passenger Information System kept us up to date, with timetable information displayed on 80 monitors throughout the train and digital maps show you the actual route of our train.

Passenger Information System

The Passenger Information System also has an electronic reservation display so we can easily find our seat.

Wien Hauptbannhof (Vienna Central Train Station)

We arrived at Wien Hauptbanhof (German for Vienna Central Train Station, abbreviated as Wien Hbf) by noontime and were all welcomed by our cousin, Vienna resident Marivic “Vicky” Dionela.

Gare de Paris Est Train Station (Paris, France)

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Gare de l'Est Train Station

Gare de l’Est Train Station

It was our last day in Paris and, after breakfast at the hotel, we all  walked, with our luggage in tow, to the nearby Gare de Paris Est Train Station, one of six large SNCF (Société nationale des chemins de fer français or “National society of French railways” or “French National Railway Company”) termini in Paris. Here, we were to take  the train to Munich (Germany), the first leg of our trip to Salzburg (Austria).

Gare de l'Est Train Station (1)

One of the largest and the oldest railway stations in Paris, it is the western terminus of the Paris–Strasbourg railway and the Paris–Mulhouse railway. It provides train transportation to major cities in Central Europe such as Zurich, Switzerland; Munich, Germany and Vienna, Austria.

Hall Alsace which gives access to the yellow train platforms, lanes numbered 2 to 12

Hall Alsace which gives access to the yellow train platforms, lanes numbered 2 to 12

Opened in 1849 by the Compagnie du Chemin de Fer de Paris à Strasbourg (the Paris-Strasbourg Railway Company) under the name “Strasbourg platform” (corresponds today with the hall for main-line trains), it was designed by architect François Duquesnay and was renamed the “Gare de l’Est” in 1854, after the expansion of service to Mulhouse.

Gare de l'Est Train Station (7)

The Paris East Train Station (Gare de Paris-Est) represents the Belle Epoque generation of railway buildings. The west wing is the original building built in 1847 and, in 1854, due to increased rail traffic, the east wing was built.

Gare de l'Est Train Station (1)

Central train platform

In 1885 and 1900, the Gare de l’Est station was renovated and, in 1931 it was doubled in size, with the new part of the station built symmetrically with the old part, thus significantly changing the surrounding neighborhood.

Gare de l'Est Train Station (5)

At the top of the west façade is a statue by the sculptor Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire, representing the city of Strasbourg, while the east end of the station is crowned by a statue personifying Verdun, by Varenne.  Strasbourg and Verdun are important destinations serviced by Gare de l’Est.

Gare de l'Est Train Station (6)

On October 4, 1883, the Gare de l’Est Station saw the first departure, for Istanbul, of the Orient Express . As a terminus of a strategic railway network extending towards the eastern part of France, the Gare de l’Est saw large mobilizations,  at the beginning of World War I, of French troops, most notably in 1914. In the main-line train hall, a monumental painting by Albert Herter, dating from 1926, illustrates the departure of these soldiers for the Western front.

Gare de l'Est Train Station (4)Paris Est Train Station: Place du 11 Novembre 1918, Rue du 8 Mai 1945, 75010 Paris, France. Open daily, 5:30 AM – 1 AM.