Denver Union Station

John,  

 

Only DUS railway tracks come in from the north.  Amtrack is stub ended, the train backs in and leaves.

 

The RTD tracks come in from the south and will return same way.  The tracks to Golden split off and head west.  In 2 - 3 years, there shouold be tracks going west and north to the airport.

 

Complicated, huh??

 

ChipR

 

 

John:  At least Denver has kept it's Union Station operating, at least, partially as what it was first intended to be.  I can actually applaud the City and the planners for what they have done. 

 

Of course, they aren't going to have 83 passenger trains there per day.  They actually have only two, as I recall; the Eastbound and the Westbound California Zephyr.  So they certainly don't need to head south out of town since both trains arrive from the North at the station itself.  But to repurpose the huge structure and the surrounding area as a transportation center as they have really makes sense.

 

I just wish that here in Cleveland our city fathers would do something like that.  We have the famous Terminal Tower, built in the early 1930's which still stands.  Yes our rapid transit lines are routed through the basement of the station, but since the mid-1970's, long distance passenger service is served by a ridiculous, small and rather crummy station down near the lake front where it had no access to rapid transit, buses and has a small, decrepit parking lot.  If our four long distance trains were returned to Terminal Tower, and there is a location, just south of the structure, we could also boast a "transportation center" and it would be located close to major hotels, the Indians ballpark, the Cavaliers arena and to a recently opened "Horseshoe Casino".

 

The Van Swearingens are turning over in their graves at what their monumental structure, which was the tallest building in the world when it was built, has become.   It could do the community proud at what it could ultimately become.

 

Again, I think that what Denver has accomplished is just wonderful, and sets a great example for other cities.

 

Paul Fischer

 They threw out one of the biggest O scale layouts in the country!

 There is no more Ski Train !

  They got rid of all the 100 year old high back wooden benches.

  Imagine all the people who sat there over the years. All the vets that left for 2 world wars. (What did they do with the benches).

   Try driving up close to drop off senior citizens to board the Amtrak.

  The close by parking has been replaced with a fountain park. How many little kids live in downtown Denver. How many months in the year can you use a fountain park.

  I like the new improved interior lighting but as a railfan this project stinks !

  They turned a classic station into an oversized Starbucks.

Denver Union station is on the stub end of a wye. The stub splits into at least 4 tracks directly behind the station. These are for Amtrack and soon for standard gauge passenger service to Denver International airport. I think a second commuter line will be SG and use these tracks too. Behind the SG tracks is 2 blocks of walk ways with an underground bus terminal underneath. Past the bus terminal is the light rail station. Inside Denver Union Station are restaurants and a hotel. Surrounding all this  are new office and apartment buildings. They did a really nice job on this. It all opened this summer. The basement O Gauge layout was a downer.

I think they did a great job on this as well.  I found some older maps showing the tracks around union station.  That whole half of the town used to be covered in railyards?  Why were they all removed.  More freight moves on  those lines than ever.

The co-ordination between the various entities involved with the whole Denver transportation system has been really quite amazing. Things are falling into place fast and when the connection to the airport is done travelers will have some nice options other than renting a car and driving in Denver or trying to rent a cab.

 

They kept a couple of the old benches just for nostalgia, I suppose, but I don't miss them a bit, to tell the truth. They might have been "picturesque" but certainly weren't comfortable. All of the old tracks that used to be behind the station no longer served a purpose - they did a lot of shuffling of goods into places like Denargo Market, which no longer exists, and into all of the warehouses that used to be east of the station in the area where Coors field now sits. As a youngster I can remember those streets being shared by auto traffic and train traffic at the same time. Now there are a lot of different housing options, restaurants, shops, etc. sharing that space. Cleaned the whole area up a bunch.

 

If it plays out like planned, and so far it's looking good, travelers coming in via train or plane and local commuters will be able to connect either by light rail, mall buses or the airport shuttle to the main downtown hotel areas, the tech center or the airport areas with little problem.

 

 

I remember Denver Union Station from the 1950s.  It was a lot busier then.  I was young but remember it well, very bustling place.  

 

But at least its still a train station today, not a hotel or abandoned - that's something. 

Yup, Lee, things could have been a whole lot worse - it could have ended up as a Walmart or Home Depot, you know.

 

Reminds me of a trip back in '68. Christmas leave from Fort Sill. Went by train from Oklahoma City, as I recall, to somewhere in Kansas, on the Rock Island to Colorado Springs (tracks removed years ago), on to Union Station then to Ogallala on the Union Pacific. Quite an adventure. The Rock Island really rocked back then. Literally. Some sections of track we were only going about 30 mph.

 

This spring was an entirely different story. I decided to spend a little time traveling by rail to see the country. Here's how it worked, in case you're interested, and why I like how the whole thing is playing out

 

I booked one night in a Fly'n drive hotel near the airport. Drove to the hotel and took the free shuttle to the airport. Jumped on the shuttle bus (soon to be rail) which took me to Union Station. I had a little free time so jumped on the free mall shuttle and zipped downtown for a really nice meal at an Italian restaurant I like. Took the mall shuttle to the station and boarded the train. Went to Chicago and spent a few days there, on to Buffalo for a few days then into Canada for a few days. Flew back to Denver, took the free shuttle to my hotel for the night and headed home the next day. 

 

I enjoyed it all very much

 

I've used just about everything connected with the new version of the station - train, bus, mall shuttle, light rail - and it seems to me that it is all working very good. When the airport train is completed in a little while, it will be even better. By the way, they just recently took delivery of the trains for the airport run, so things are coming along.

Here is something that is related to this topic. Other links on the left side of the page.

 

http://rtd-fastracks.com/ep3_115

 

Just as an aside, I used to work up in the headhouse of the grain elevator in the background on some of these pictures. More years ago than I care to admit. I ran the scales and would load either railcars or trucks. Sometimes I would run the conveyor belts. Loved those warm spring days. I would take my breaks out on top of the bins and watch the world go by. A great view from up there.

Thanks for the link.

Interesting that the bodies are made in Korea and shipped to Philadelphia where they are assembled and finished (60 percent US). Since the new North lines run close to the freight lines they have to use standard sized cars instead of light rail. This wasn't the case when the South SanteFe light rail line was built. It runs right next to the UP/BNSF Joint Line. There was a freight derailment a few years ago that came pretty close to taking out the Light Rail train.

Thanks for the link - I had not seen this before.  As someone who lives near a city (and in a state) that continues to struggle with what it wants to be, I applaud Denver and Colorado for pulling this off. No wonder DUS is in the top 25% of attractions in Denver. Maybe next time I fly through there I'll plan a stop-over and check it out.

I sure do miss the Denver Society of Model Railroaders.  We feared we would be kicked out of DUS, and sure enough, we were.

 

ChipR

I visited Denver Union Station in September. I can understand one of the above comments that it's been turned into something like a large Starbucks, but not really. It's more than that. For the most part, it's very nice, a variety of shops and restaurants, and it's still possible to imagine the large interior room as a train depot. Some would say it takes more effort at imagining that than others. At least the building was preserved, and the exterior and iconic signage remain intact, which is great. And it's a popular place, and still has to something to do with train transportation, so all that's positive.

 

I did find area in back of the station, where the tracks are and the trains back in, a bit cold and antiseptic feeling, with a little too much of a feel of concrete; it's too modern and utilitarian for my taste.

 

Having lived in Denver 40 years ago, I remember the trains running through, but apparently, in talking to an old head Amtrak employee at the station, that hasn't been true in years, and trains have used the back-in method now for a long time. It's not nearly as nice as a run-though setup, but that's that. Downtown development to the south long ago did away with any railroad line that way.

 

Down in the basement, it's pretty sparse. Management offices and whatnot, concrete floors and utility stuff. Looks like a model railroad layout of some kind could have been fit in there somewhere, but I don't know much about that decision to exclude the layout. 

 

Well, even though it doesn't chuff and chug and belch smoke, the DIA line is still a railroad. 

 

Just put up tonight: http://denver.cbslocal.com/201...to-dia-now-in-place/

 

I agree with you about the look of the platform out back of the station - lacks any character is the way I would put it. But now a person con walk over that direction, down into Little Raven and even walk across I-25 over to "O" lingers to grab a bite to eat. Used to be a pain to get to that part of town from downtown. And to top it off, an astounding amount of older structures have been retained and revitalized because most of the new development was in areas that had very few structures.

If nothing else, it will bring more life to the station's neighborhood 24/7, and stimulate further development. Having a transportation center is an excellent concept. Some of it looks very StarTrek-ish, but people will get used to it. I hope they keep the "Travel by Train" sign! 

Paula and myself have traveled the USA exclusively and extensively by train to avoid the dehumanizing treatment by the airport Gestapo. We have taken dozens of trips to Chicago, The Dells, New Orleans, Orlando and have gone cross country toSeattle. We always go in a full bedroom sleeper w private bath. It has been an enjoyable way to travel and being railfan's we keep up on passenger rail. What happened to Denver Union station was good in that a historic structure was saved. What is unfortunate, is that it was modernized in the style of a shopping mall and the platforms that were constructed in back are also of very modern styling. We have a trip planned to Denver on the California Zephyr next summer and will see all of the progress firsthand! What ever the case its better than the fate that befell Pennsylvania station and all of the once magnificent Stations that were once at Chicago, Gary, Detroit, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Austin etc. Some of those stations have either been leveled, are in ruins or have been repurposed as condos or office buildings.

Yes, the night of my college graduation in Lincoln, Ne., I boarded UP in Omaha.  My seat was coach.  To get the right track, for some reason we had to shuffle out onto the Mo. river bridge and back.  It was getting dark by then.  We hit it pretty hard on the double track all night.  The morning found us on single track west of Julesburg Co.  We kept pretty close to the South Platte river all the way into Denver Union Station.  I am thinking we backed in. Pretty busy place back then including the shopping near by. 

A few photos. Pre renovation...

 

 

And post renovation...

 

Mill City; great photos.

What became of this arch? I never saw it when I was there, and I suspect it is long gone.

Sorry folks, but I'm going to ramble on a bit. If you get bored, just shake your head in sorrow and pass on by 

 

Nice photos of before and after, and I do think the pictures make the place look bigger than it actually is. 

 

Don't know if you noticed the light fixtures, but in the before pics they are kind of ugly flat panels and the more elaborate ones that are in place today. The ones you see today are reproductions based on an earlier set of lights. The original set were taken down years ago because they were so heavy and the ceiling supports were deteriorating. During renovation they redid the supporting structure and, because the original fixtures were falling apart, had a faithful reproduction of the original made. They might not be the real thing, but I like them. You will also note in the after pictures that a few of the original benches were retained. Nice touch, I think.

 

That arch was removed years ago. In fact, probably the late thirties or early forties (don't quote me on that). While we often bemoan the fact that history is being destroyed, with good reason, we have to keep in mind that it has been happening for years. Centuries, even.

 

It's also good to keep in mind that Denver had more than one station, even after Union Station was built. Kind of like modern day London. Just a quick run through and counting on my fingers and I can think of at least seven that I have used, depending on where you're heading and which railroad you're going to use. Denver used to be that way. As rail traffic waned, so did the stations.

 

Through traffic at Union Station no longer makes any sense. When there were multiple trains coming and going the lines heading west out of the station would connect with the current freight lines for traffic headed south towards Colorado Springs, New Mexico, and connections with the mining areas of southern Colorado. Also connection heading northwest to Golden, Arvada, Boulder, etc. But it's hard to justify maintaining that much track with little to no traffic.

 

The current Y that Amtrak uses to turn around has been there for decades. The bottom of the Y not only serves Union Station but also the freight line that runs north of the station (you can see the trains or even walk over the thing) then curve to the south a bit further on. One part of the Y heads east through a yard and another Y, roughly running parallel to I-70 all the way to Limon. This is the route of the old Rock Island Rockets coming in from the east. At Limon the train would split, with part of it headed to Denver and the other part to Colorado Springs. [Interesting side not: the Rock Island had a modified B unit with controls and windows installed. When they got to Limon, the B unit would run into Colorado Springs and the A unit on into Denver.]

 

The third branch of the Y heads northeast through an extensive yard along Brighton Blvd almost to I-70, about where the Colosseum and Forney's Museum are (if you are ever in Denver, by the way, it's worth a visit) and follows hwy 85 north to about Brighton. Here it splits with a line running north to Cheyenne and the other running along I-76. This is the route of the old Burlington Zephyrs and the current Amtrak. When it gets to Brush, it divides again. Heading east through Akron, Wray and on to McCook is the Amtrak/Zephyr route. Continuing northeast it runs to Sterling, where it connects with the old Burlington Hi-Line, an on through Julesburg to the Big Springs Junction in Nebraska, where the UP City of Denver turned off with the other "City" trains heading west through Cheyenne.

 

Didn't want to get to complicated here, so I kept it pretty simple. If you do a sattelite view of Union Station in google maps, it can get kind of interesting.

I don't remember that arch in the mid 50s.  I think it was definitely gone by then.

I did some research, and several sources say it was taken down in 1931.

The space age umbrellas over the tracks remind me of the ghastly renovation of the Chicago Bears' Soldier Field.........which looks like a space ship landed in the field. But, as noted, thank goodness a wonderful, historic railroad edifice was saved. Only rode out of it once, on an 8444 trip in 1973, which went up the Dent Subdivision to Laramie. Glenn Monhart's Seaboard Air Line E6 was parked on an adjacent track. Denver Union Station was, at that time, as God intended!

  Oh yeah ! Those wire and particle board chairs look real comfortable outside the Terminal Bar. I'm sure they will last a hundred years. I'd hate to be stranded in that station with a bunch of little kids to care for while the Amtrak is hours behind. The old benches they could climb on and sleep on.

  Give me back that old greasy spoon lunch counter they had in the back of the old station and the little newstand.

  If you want a drink just go to Hickenloopers joint across the street.

Thank you, tripleo, for the historical background. It's certainly great when these venerable buildings are restored and/or repurposed. I must agree that the reproduction chandeliers are more appropriate than the lackluster flat square boxes, they never seemed square to the room, as evident in the first two photos above. The detailing of the new fixtures are more in keeping with the sconces.

 

  

However, the design esthetic of the room miserably fails in the choice of faddy, pseudo ultra-lounge furnishings. I likened this "in" style as the new shag carpet. It doesn't play to the strengths of the room and contrarily competes directly in a feeble attempt to establish it's own statement. Another mystery is why was it necessary to replace the original benches? I presume they wouldn't coordinate with the dreadful tuck & button couches and wing back chairs, and certainly not with the prison tables, benches, and stools out front of the lower lounge. The upside is that when they discover the error of their way, all that crap can be pulled-out and sent to the same place the shag went, to the corn field.