Demolished! 11 Beautiful Train Stations That Fell To The Wrecking
- Thread starter rrdude
- Start date
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DowneasterPassenger
Lead Service Attendant
Brings a tear to my eye...
On page 2 you can find my personal saddest example, Portland Maine Union Station.
Passenger train service from Boston to Portland was discontinued the year I was born there, 1960, and Union Station demolished shortly afterward. In a famous moment at the start of the historic preservation movement, Jackie Kennedy made an appearance in Portland to plea for the preservation of the old building, to no avail.
What we got was a shopping center, which by today's standards is nothing more than a strip mall. I suppose in those days it was a novelty to be able to drive into a big parking lot and shop at five or six stores at once, so it seemed like a great idea at the time.
Amtrak reappeared 40 years later and the city built a new station, less convenient to the center of town and off the main line from Boston to points north. The current station is actually on the mountain division, meaning that extending service to Brunswick and further north will require a backup move in Portland, which was not needed at the old Union Station.
