Baltimore Penn Station

I think Philadelphia's 30th Street is pretty close to a neighborhood too, considering the colleges around.

I wonder how much of Baltimore's proximity to housing was related to the days when the NCR ran out of Calvert Street station. Basically they had to tunnel across the city, or they would have had to bridge the inner harbor, which wasn't an option.

Bobby S wrote:I was hoping to find a cool place with "at least" SAM ADAMS lol I tried to google map the neighborhoods and they didn't seem like they have any Microbeer Bars nearby! Again, I took the Light Rail from "Pratt St. Ale House" which was good even though it is not the Wharf Rat!! LOL Any GOOD BARS in walking distance near PENN STATION???

I think that walking distance depends on the length of your legs, and the degree of your thirst. Try www.mickosheas.com It's worth the trip regardless of the medium you use to get there. It's 328 N. Charles St., and Penn Sta. is 1515 N. Charles St. What's a dozen blocks for a pint of Guinness (or whatever your poison of choice is), and some Irish soul food? -- "Brilliant." Seriously, this is an Irish pub, that serves real food. It is not a mere watering hole.

while this thread has gracefully degraded into miscellany, I've been meaning to ask if the old W&M line along the Gwynn Falls is still used? If so does it connect at both ends or is it just a spur?
Too bad the bike trail people want it removed, it could make a nice little urban excursion railroad, which would be unique, I presume, for North America. Maybe it could tie in somehow to the B&O museum?

I believe it is still in use, though not frequently. I even think there are still a few online businesses on the line.

Yes, it is still used.

Last I was able to discern, it hosted two daily round trips of a Rock Runner train, and a "Hanover Local" frieght round trip, for a total of about 6 passages a day.

If the connection were re-established to the NEC north(east) of West Baltimore MARC, it could in theory make a decent 403b type train between Harrisburg and DC travelling close to Hanover, Gettysburg, and York PA.

The Metropolitan wrote:

Bobby S wrote:I was hoping to find a cool place with "at least" SAM ADAMS lol I tried to google map the neighborhoods and they didn't seem like they have any Microbeer Bars nearby! Again, I took the Light Rail from "Pratt St. Ale House" which was good even though it is not the Wharf Rat!! LOL Any GOOD BARS in walking distance near PENN STATION???

http://www.thebrewersart.com/

3 and a half blocks south of the station, not a hard walk at all, and even easier to stagger back due to the downgrade of Charles Street.

I'll second the brewer's art, definitely a cool place with good beers. Tapas teatro has pretty good food as well. there's an interesting dive bar up there, can't recall the name (like any good dive bar). I was having a beer when the bar tender got up on the bar and performed a mini-trapeze act.
the owl bar in the old belvedere hotel serves good pizza. woudl be nice if baltimore had a bridgetwater's type place in the station.
http://www.theowlbar.com/index2.php#/home/

The Metropolitan wrote:You've actually made me realize something: Looking at the all stations on the NEC, Baltimore may actually be the closest to being immersed in a living, breathing, functioning neighborhood. Most others are either in CBDs or set in areas that don't have a lot of activity outside the station.

I don't know about that; neither New York Penn nor Boston Back Bay ever struck me as being out in no-man's-land, or in the kind of place that was deserted from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m.

Ridgefielder wrote:

The Metropolitan wrote:You've actually made me realize something: Looking at the all stations on the NEC, Baltimore may actually be the closest to being immersed in a living, breathing, functioning neighborhood. Most others are either in CBDs or set in areas that don't have a lot of activity outside the station.

I don't know about that; neither New York Penn nor Boston Back Bay ever struck me as being out in no-man's-land, or in the kind of place that was deserted from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m.

Not at all what I was saying.

Boston and New York have plenty going on, but the areas around the station are more commercial in nature, with skyscrapers within a few minutes walk, more of a commercial business district (CBD). Baltimore's setting is more of a dense, occupied residential context with a mix of apartments, condos, and smaller commercial frontage that is more geared to serving the residents and visitors of the area. Aegis is the only significant commercial office tenant nearby.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't railroading in Baltimore begin with B&O's Camden station and the Baltimore/Susq aka NCR Calvert station as the two main stations.

Baltimore Union station was built later on as a union station for the 3 railroads coming into Baltimore (NCR, PRR, WM). Because of the way things panned out, Baltimore Union became Baltimore Penn. Calvert St closed down and is now a post office.

Funny how things work out.

The Metropolitan wrote:

Ridgefielder wrote:

The Metropolitan wrote:You've actually made me realize something: Looking at the all stations on the NEC, Baltimore may actually be the closest to being immersed in a living, breathing, functioning neighborhood. Most others are either in CBDs or set in areas that don't have a lot of activity outside the station.

I don't know about that; neither New York Penn nor Boston Back Bay ever struck me as being out in no-man's-land, or in the kind of place that was deserted from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m.

Not at all what I was saying.

Boston and New York have plenty going on, but the areas around the station are more commercial in nature, with skyscrapers within a few minutes walk, more of a commercial business district (CBD). Baltimore's setting is more of a dense, occupied residential context with a mix of apartments, condos, and smaller commercial frontage that is more geared to serving the residents and visitors of the area. Aegis is the only significant commercial office tenant nearby.

Oh, okay, got it. In that case, yes, I agree with you. Although there is a pretty densely-populated residential area within a few blocks walk of Back Bay station, the area immediately adjacent is all hotels, office buildings, stores, and such.

Resurrecting an old thread. Gprimer, I couldve sworn I gave argument to you that the Cockeysville industrial was still being used and thats the name given to Amtrak and that the name wasnt changed or the line wasnt abandoned, but it looks like I didnt. I have recently done some digging and found out that NS doesnt provide freight service on the branch anymore except to the transload facility near the light rail shops. Is that still being used? The industrial tracks barely look used although I checked google satellite views and the yard does have cars but I dont know when those views were taken.

This gentleman seems to think it is long overdue:

Baltimore's Penn Station has a tired name to match the building

A brief fair use quote or two:

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/bl ... -tired.htm

There has been much talk in recent months about improving Baltimore's Penn Station inside and out.

In addition to improvements being considered for the station itself, Penn Station also is at the center of a prospective $500 million mixed-use development being planned by Beatty Development Group LLC.

Although most people agree Penn Station is in desperate need of improvements, the recent discussion about its future has ignored one easy and potentially overdue fix: the name.


Amtrak owns Baltimore's Penn Station and certainly would have something to say about a prospective name change. But if this is the time to discuss what the Penn Station building looks like in the future, it also seems like the time to at least ask whether Penn Station is the best possible name for it.

Personally, as long as NWK and NYP remain Penn, Baltimore should as well. It fits the rail line profile and there is no confusion with Camden Station.To me, this sounds like a real estate/marketing ploy.

I got "We couldn't find the page you're looking for."
What are some of the names they're proposing? Is it anything like the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30th_Street_Station proposal to rename 30th St "Ben Franklin"?

ThirdRail7 wrote:

Personally, as long as NWK and NYP remain Penn, Baltimore should as well. It fits the rail line profile and there is no confusion with Camden Station.To me, this sounds like a real estate/marketing ploy.

It seems very silly to change the name of the station. But most "marketing ideas" seem silly.

it does seem like a solution in search of a problem. philadelphias penn station was renamed 30th because thats what locals called it. if locals call it penn station then leave well enough alone. if people learn a little history it wont hurt them.