Bethlehem Union Station: a few mysteries

In February, 1961, the Lehigh Valley discontinued its final passenger trains. Its Bethlehem, PA. facility at Union Station was of course a joint property with the Reading Company, which kept running passenger trains there beyond its own 1971 bankruptcy, and even past the creation of Conrail.

After LV dropped its last psgr trains, for how much longer did Bethlehem Union Station remain open to the public?

I have seen photographs taken in the mid-1960s that show the building to be closed, windows boarded up, etc. Of course one could still use the south-side covered platforms for boarding RDG trains, but when were Union Station's ticket offices finally closed and the building taken out of service as an operating psgr waiting room?

Here's two more related questions that have bugged me for years:

When did the auto ramp that curved down from the northbound lanes of Bethlehem's Hill-to-Hill Bridge, below to Union Station finally get removed? Same for the covered pedestrian staircase next to the ramp, going down to the northwest corner outside Union Station? You can see these features in many old photos, but both of them are now long gone. When were they taken down?

Thanks very much for any help you can provide.

Good questions, Mr. Gowen. I was also curious about those items.

Also, I still can't see you Avatar graphic. It shows up as a red X for me.

Does that station still stand? I remember taking trains up that way in the fifties.

Elwood

Elwood wrote:Does that station still stand? I remember taking trains up that way in the fifties.

Elwood

Yes sir, the station is still standing. Just last year, the abandoned building was rebuilt into an outpatient medical facility for St. Lukes Hospital. You can't catch a train from there, but the building sure does look nice.

Some pictures are on my webpage, available here:
http://jrevans.fbody.com/beth_10252003/

Here's one of the pictures: