The last great arched trainshed in the US?

Click here to see a picture of the shed at Chicago Grand Central referenced by Nellie Bly:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Grand ... terior.jpg

While not a true ballon train shed, I submit that Mt. Royal Station, Baltimore, is a great train shed with active CSX tracks, and quite a lot of trains through it each day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CSX_t ... tation.jpg

Chicago Central Station was knocked down in 1972 after Amtrak shifted the IC trains to CUS. At that time, it was no longer a balloon shed, that had been removed by IC in the 1960's I believe and replaced with a steel roof.

Edit: baloon roof removed 1962, at the same time the arch-roof waiting room got a nice hanging acoustic tile ceiling.

R36 Combine Coach wrote:While not a AAR/FRA railroad, one main arched trainshed in use is the new Coney Island Stillwell Terminal on the NYC Subway in Brooklyn, which opened in 2004. It may be the only active one with Harrisburg.

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pho ... =fbx_album
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1 ... =fbx_album

I thought of that one and the lirr "shed" if you will in Jamaica which is over the tracks and the airtran.

train2 wrote: Other stations that are not arched but open space are stations like Main Street station in Richmond, Va. which was at one time a mall (when I was last in it) and now sees trains again, however trains stop on the outside and do not enter what I would call the shed.

Having recently traveled on Amtrak to Williamsburg, VA, passing through Richmond along the way, it piqued my interest in this station. What is currently under the shed there?

Also, does the Auto Train pass through the station on the elevated track, despite not making any station stops?

Does Buffalo, N.Y.'s subway-surface light rail line still use the old Delaware, Lackawanna & Western train shed as a carbarn or shop?

What about the Pittsburgh, PA Station. Granted it's seen modifications, but as a I presently remember it, it is a pretty big open area. Perhaps not arched but flattop, almost similiar to Harrisburg, PA?

If one were to look "across the pond" most rail stations have preserved the arched trainshed, or built anew, in the midst of developing high speed corridor trains.

The shed at Richmond Main Street covered some stub tracks that ended at the headhouse. They were used for trains from the north or west terminating in Richmond. SAL trains stopped at platforms west of the shed, and C&O trains for Newport News at platforms east of the shed.

There are lots of balloon trainsheds elsewhere in the world. St. Pancras in London has an especially nice one, and King's Cross (also in London) has a pair of cast iron barrel vaults that are very impressive. The shed at York is not only a ballon shed, it's located on a curve -- the only one of its kind, I think. In Europe, Koln, Frankfurt, and the Gare Austerlitz in Paris have nice arched trainsheds. Fraunkfurt has five arches.

Milan Centrale has a huge balloon shed. So does Madrid Atocha, but it's not used for trains anymore. There are palm trees in it.

A couple of the Buenos Aires stations have sheds, as I recall, but they are not the classic American "balloon" sheds.

Hualampong Station in Bangkok has a low arched shed that looks somewhat like St. Louis. It was built by the French.

Matt Johnson wrote:

train2 wrote: Other stations that are not arched but open space are stations like Main Street station in Richmond, Va. which was at one time a mall (when I was last in it) and now sees trains again, however trains stop on the outside and do not enter what I would call the shed.

Having recently traveled on Amtrak to Williamsburg, VA, passing through Richmond along the way, it piqued my interest in this station. What is currently under the shed there?

Also, does the Auto Train pass through the station on the elevated track, despite not making any station stops?

I think it's currently office space now. The AT (on its way south) swings west at Acca Yard on the freight bypass, as do all of the Florida and Carolina trains. The only trains that pass (and stop at) Main Street are the Newport News trains. The trains that terminate/originate in Richmond do so at Staples Mill.

St. Pancras:







off continent, I know...

Impressive nonetheless. It's probably a giant money pit to maintain such a shed, but I wish a few of our major stations felt like something other than a glorified subway station.

Boston South Station had an arched trainshed when it opened in 1898; in fact, I think it may have been the largest such structure in North America. The salt air attacked the ironwork and the shed was demolished in the '30s. Even so, though, I think that makes BOS the only existing station still in railroad service that once *had* a balloon shed.

http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/ ... uthstn.jpg

Yes ,Buffalo, N.Y.'s Metro light rail line uses the old Delaware, Lackawanna & Western train shed as a carbarn & shop area. Shop area is in a new bldg. & on the east end towards Michigan Ave

At the Indianapolis Train Station, isn't the train shed still in use, mostly for passenger cars used for hotel rooms, part of the hotel complex.