Pic: what station interior?

Which station is this?

http://img423.imageshack.us/img423/1543/ghjghj0rw.jpg

Is there some clue that made you think it might be a station in New York State? It could be Utica... but I'm no expert.

-otto-

The photo seems vaguely familiar, but my brain cells aren't functioning the way they used to.

It may be the waiting room inside the original Grand Central in New York City, which was pulled down bit by bit during the early 1900s to make way for the current terminal. In any event, Old Grand Central's main waiting area (I believe there were two) looked very similar to the one in the photograph.

I would agree (though not 100% sure) that it is Utica. In the far right rear corner would be the entrance (exit) to the platforms. Along the right side of the photo would be the newstand, barber shop, etc. As a child (though much after this photo, based on what everybody is wearing) we would pick up my aunt who would take the train upstate from New York City (she used to take it to the Herkimer station, but that closed in the early 60's). I realize that many stations in that era were built in a similar fashion, but like I said, I would bet that it is Utica. Following link has additonal photos / info on Union Station in Utica.

http://www.newyorkrailroads.com/uticaunionstation/

I first thought it looked like utica. However, after looking at several photos of utica ... the lights on the ceiling are different - utica has one row, the mystery station has two.

Also, the pillars are different - on the left of the mystery station, the pillars support arches ... not true with utica.

another shot:

http://www.trainweb.org/rshs/GRS%20-%20Utica.htm

That being said - they look similiar.

Despite my earlier fears, it appears that my memory banks are still a treasure trove of semi-useless information. The mystery photo is indeed the waiting room at New York's old Grand Central Station, constructed in 1898 when the original depot was enlarged.

The photo is from the Library of Congress, and appears in Belle & Leighton's book, 'Grand Central: Gateway to a Million Lives.' In the book, the image has a higher resolution, so you can see the names of various destination cities (Albany, Troy, etc.) carved into the frieze above the arched windows.

This appears to be the waiting room for "respectable" passengers. The railroad maintained a separate waiting room for "immigrants." Like many magnificent public spaces in New York during that period, it had an extremely short life span. It existed for barely 12 years before it was demolished, in 1910, to make way for the current Grand Central Terminal.

Although I don't off hand remember to name of the firm, Utica Union Station and GCT were designed by the same firm. And they were built in
the same era. The picture in question is definitely NOT Utica.

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