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I have visited many of the stations in the photos. Last year I was on a visit to Kansas City and was really impressed with the restoration of the train station, even though it currently has only a few Amtrak trains per day that pass through.
One that did not make this list was the Erie-Lackawanna terminal in Hoboken, NJ. This was the main point of departure to other destinations in the USA for millions of immigrants in the late 1800s and early 1900s after arrival and processing through the Ellis Island immigration station, including my paternal grandfather and great grand parents. The old docks for the ferry from Ellis Island are still outside along the Hudson River. The inside of Hoboken terminal has someof those historical photos and you can feel the history in the hallways. It is a very busy commuter rail terminal for New Jersey Transit and PATH subway trains to NYC.
I also like the Winter Park Station, served by Amtrak Silver Service, (hopefully soon again) Sunset Limited, and SunRail Commuter Rail. It also got a renovation recently.
Worcester's Union Station sat abandoned and decrepit when I attended school in the city during the 80's. It went unused from 1974 until 2000, when it reopened after a 32 million dollar renovation.
Worcester's train station is huge and fancy looking considering that it doesn't have that many trains for its size (though 20 trains each way a day isn't serviceless). Still at least they're using the old station and it gets more than once a day service. One old local station here is used as a bar and restaurant.
There's an adjacent platform for a once a day in each direction Amtrak service, which may be increased soon.
I also like the Winter Park Station, served by Amtrak Silver Service, (hopefully soon again) Sunset Limited, and SunRail Commuter Rail. It also got a renovation recently.
While unimpressive in size compared to some of these magnificent ones posted, the mere fact that this building survived the wrecking ball that destroyed 90% of downtown Phoenix's pre-war structures is reason for it to be celebrated. However, despite some real progress in reviving its downtown, Phoenix still makes bad decisions - and when they're bad, they're really bad. Amtrak service moved to Maricopa, an exurb of Phoenix, without much of a fight and so Union Station has been closed to the public since 1996. It's currently a Sprint communications hub, and an adjoining handsome warehouse holds other telecom infrastructure.
What's worse, though, is that it is unlikely to see a restoration on the scale of other cities. Maricopa County, despite all of the vacant land available in the metro, decided it needed to house its operations adjacent to - and within - the warehouse district. Union Station's neighbors were demolished for two jails, a Sheriff's complex, a courts tower or two, and a couple of admin buildings. Its sister station, the Santa Fe Depot, has a massive garage attached to it, a "compromise" from the County who wanted to demolish it. I can't envision private investment ever taking off in close proximity to jails. The LRT system also has no plans to make a future connection possible, either.
Yes it does, I actually went and look at the architect of the two because they look really similar. It really is a shame that these beautiful buildings sit unused.
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