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Looks like they're getting serious about the renovations of King Street Station in Seattle.... to the point of erecting a temporary waiting room.
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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This is great! This is the most action I've seen so far. A temporary waiting room and everything?? Yes---bring it on!! I've always thought that arriving into Seattle after a nice train trip was a drag. An old, dreary, run-down station that used to be in a horrible part of town (before the sports stadiums went in). Looking good!
Posts: 2355 | From: Pleasanton, CA | Registered: Apr 2007
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It sounds like they're making some real progress. I'm trying to recall....isn't there going to be some sort of staircase..possibly up to a mezzanine or other structure at an upper level?
I will be at the King St. Station in late June. Looking forward to seeing what has developed.
Richard
Posts: 1909 | From: Santa Rosa | Registered: Jan 2004
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Richard, the linked website shows artist renderings of what the mezzanine level you're thinking of might look like. When we were there in 2004 it was a small drop-off parking lot.... looked like some planters were going in when I was there last summer.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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Mr. Vincent, how is the Milwaukee's station doing nowadays, it looked to me when I was last in Seattle during 1988, when the final cruise I took in this life called there, it had been converted to non-rail use.
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Union Station is doing fine these days. It no longer serves any trains, but the space has been converted to offices and meeting areas. Sound Transit has their headquarters in the building and the main lobby has been beautifully restored. Union Station always was the preferred station in Seattle and in 1971, it was disappointing that Amtrak moved all train service to dumpy King Street Station. But Union Station didn't have any through tracks, so KSS won the prize. Today, there's a light rail station (International District/Chinatown Station) just to the north of Union Station and the area south of the station is full of new office buildings. A new streetcar line is being built on Jackson St. that will connect Union Station/King Street Station/Pioneer Square to the Capitol Hill neighborhoods.
Posts: 831 | From: Seattle | Registered: Jan 2011
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I used that lightrail station last summer coming from the airport to catch a Talgo at King Street.
The Union Station Building is a much more inviting ediface than King Street but hopefully they will be more equal once the King Street renovation is complete.
Are there any interior photos out there of the temporary waiting room or the reportedly opening of the 'new' Amtrak ticketing area located where the original ticketing area was?
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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Seatlle is not the first time that a city with two stations lost the better station because the other station had the trains and the access trackage.
Memphis is an outstanding example of that. The station being used by Amtrak, Central Station, was the Illinois Central station primarily and located so that the ICRR could run through. The ICRR also carrier more passengers by far and was the only railroad that had service lasting until Amtrak. It was and is an uninspiring brick office building with a railroad station in the bottom of it. The inside of the station was not bad. In addition to the ICRR trains of the Frisco and Rock Island also used Central. Two blocks away stood Union Station. A beautiful building with nice facilities. At its opening it was served by five railroad companies, L&N, NC&StL, Southern, Missouri Pacific (SLIM&S at the time of opening), and Cotton Belt. I have heard that during WW2 the station was a mob scene. However, by 1960 it was approaching ghost town with only 7 arrivals and 7 departures. There was a morning set of trains, and an evening set, and that was it, and none of these carried any major passenger loads. All were gone and the station demolished before Amtrak even started.
Posts: 2808 | From: Olive Branch MS | Registered: Nov 2002
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I'm certain, Mr. Harris, that during 1912, Memphis Union Station would have been "King of the Hill", but by the time I laid eyes upon it during September 1962, "it ain't what it apparently once was":
I arrived aboard the Cincinnati-Memphis train that was combined with the Humming Bird Cinci-Bowling Green.
At that time there was still a transfer bus between Central and Union. So far as I was concerned, Central, while of course still relatively busy, was no prize. It was just plain in the wrong part of town (understand somewhat rectified with gentrification).
I last alighted a train there during August 2003. This was simply to accompany a friend on a drive from there to Chicago. #59, City of New Orleans (CONO in Forumese), represented the most expedient and cost effective way to get there. After an on time arrival, I was in a taxicab to a hotel near the Airport for a meet up. I honestly saw enough of the place during my '62 visit (really can't recall how I passed time until boarding of IC #6's pick up Sleeper) but it seemed like no place to which I had any desire to return.
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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SDOT has a slideshow on its King Street Station webpage that shows the latest progress at the station. There's also a link to past slide shows on the left side of the SDOT/KSS page. I haven't been in the station since early April--maybe I'll walk through this afternoon.
Posts: 831 | From: Seattle | Registered: Jan 2011
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I lived in Memphis for about a year in 1983 and must say that Central Station now is a far more inviting place than the dump it had become 25-years ago.
The office tower now houses condominiums with a river view, the old waiting room is used for 'special events', and Amtrak utilizes a small but attractive space on the second floor (or maybe 3rd) located at track level.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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