This image appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on 8-11-2017 and it once again reminded me of what an architectural gem the train station in downtown Pittsburgh is. I have always admired this building and only feel more that way as I grow older. Here is a bit about the station. Note: It has been suggested that the cap from a bottle of Crown Royal would make a decent decoration in HO scale for the center of the rotunda roof. ~ Andy A number of years ago a lawyer acquaintance agreed to let me take a photo of the station from his office suite on one of the upper floors of the Gulf Building on Seventh Avenue. This is a view you could never get from street level, showing the building's atrium. I am told that this was often done in older buildings (before air conditioning) to help with ventilation, so that more offices had windows. Passengers take an escalator from the waiting room up to the platform level. There are three stub-end tracks on the right and two through tracks on the left. Here passengers board the Pennsylvanian, Amtrak Train #42, which has spent the night at the station and will depart for Philadelphia, New York and points east at 7:30 am. The train is a popular and economical way to travel for the elderly and college students. This bird's eye aerial views shows the station relative to its surroundings. The Fort Wayne Bridge crossing the Allegheny River is at the lower right. The two mainline tracks make a pretty tight bend coming into the station. This view also shows the train sheds over the station platforms, which were cut to allow construction of Interstate 579. Any way you look at it, this is a magnificent building. While it is a shame that it no longer serves the number of trains it once did, at least it is still here and the interior office space has been converted to apartments/condos.
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December 2023
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