TV special on Penn Station's history?

Today at work a few people mentioned a special, most likely on History Channel, about the history of Pennsylvania Station in NYC. Did anyone on this board see it? Anyone know if it will run again, or if there's a link to it online now? Thank you.

I think Penn Station was one of the stories in their Trains Unlimited show years ago. Maybe they replayed it?

Jay

It was a History Channel show in the "Trains Unlimited" series back in 2001. The History Channel web site has no info on it at all. After an exhaustive Internet search, I just now purchased what I believe to be the only VHS copy still available through a reseller on Amazon. Pricey ($55), but I bit because I'm passionate about the loss of Penn Station. Great reading on Penn Station is the book "Conquering Gotham" by Jill Jonnes. It's the full story of the conception and building of Penn Station.

Cross-posting to Amtrak, NJT, and the TV forum.

If its the show I'm thinking of, then don't purchase it thinking its about Penn Station's history.

The TRAINS UNLIMITED show was called "Great American Train Stations". It shows Penn Station only briefly in the beginning and at the end, showcasing it as a "martyr" for the preservation of other great stations. St Louis, Washington Union, LAUPT, and GCT are among those that are featured.

I purchased it off amazon.com for ~ $15-20 (VHS) and converted it to DVD.

The show in question is indeed a 'Trains Unlimited' episode, originally from the History Channel (back when they actually did 'history' instead of the mostly sludge they dish out now). It is about NY Penn and its history and demise; the episode was titled "Pennsylavnia Station- Manhattan Gateway". The main talking head was William Middleton.

The show ran about three times last week on WNYE, a New York City PBS outlet; I see it on Optimum Cable (Cablevision).

Well worth watching (again?) if you have the chance.

Jonnes, Jill. Conquering Gotham – A gilded age epic: The Construction of Penn Station and its tunnels.
New York: Penquin Group, 2007

Beautiful structure, but destroyed in the late 1963 to make way for MSG and the stuffy, crowded "airplane" terminal they have now.

What's the word on Amtrak's future at Penn in terms of upgrades or expansion across the street?

nyrmetros wrote:What's the word on Amtrak's future at Penn in terms of upgrades or expansion across the street?

There's a topic on Moynihan Station in Amtrak forum.

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... &start=165