American railroad stations (or depots, as the smaller buildings are commonly known) were once an all too common sight in our country as almost every town, large and small, could claim one, which was largely due to the fact that railroads once went literally everywhere, reaching almost any and every town.

While Pennsylvania Station in New York City was without question this country’s most famous railroad station and arguably the most beautiful (along with the New York Central’s Grand Central Terminal), those which served the smaller towns and cities across the country were much more than just buildings to load and unload passengers. For many years, until the automobile became a reliable means of transportation the railroad depot was the center of life for these towns and cities as it was the only means to and from the outside world for almost everyone (unless you would rather take the journey by horseback, which would not only take much longer but also was very grueling and tiresome). Because the depot was the focal point of small towns the phrase “down by the depot” became commonplace.

Not only was the depot used to board and de-board your train wherever it may be taking you, but it also nearly always delivered the goods you purchased. For instance, if you had a small business such as a farm and needed a few items shipped that were either sold or up for sale you would simply stop by the depot and talk with the station agent who would set you up with a price (which was determined by weight) and give you a receipt known as a waybill.

And, the same can be said if you had an item(s) waiting at the depot to be picked up. When you believed it had arrived (much like postal mail) you simply stopped down at the depot and asked the station agent about items you were awaiting.

In many ways, what railroads did back then (before automobiles became reliable and efficient) is much the same thing that trucking companies and deliverers like UPS and FedEx do today by shipping small, mostly lightweight, items. Of course, what made the idea profitable for railroads back then (by shipping merchandise of any kind, large and small) was the fact that they were the most reliable and quickest means of transportation (they had a near monopoly on the market, which is a major reason why they were regulated so heavily by the government and in turn caused the catastrophic industry collapse in the 1970s).

It was this waiting for something to arrive, shipping your goods, and catching the train that fostered a community gathering at the depot and many folks went down simply to mingle and talk about the latest things going on in the area with their neighbors. Because, remember, back during the latter half of the 19th and early 20th centuries most folks did not live in the large cities being scattered about in small towns and communities (and most of those were in the country). So, with no other means of transportation other than either on foot or horseback traveling was often long (compared to today) and not that comfortable which made for fewer trips to town and usually only when necessary.

However, the local (and often small) hometown depot was not the only type of railroad station constructed and as the railroad industry progressed and grew, so did its stations which became more and more ornate and grand, ultimately culminating in this country’s (and perhaps to even some extent the world’s) greatest and most stunning station to ever be built, New York City’s grand Pennsylvania Station (better known as Penn Station) constructed by the mighty Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) and opened in 1910. These large and grand stations, however, worked on essentially the same principal as their smaller siblings with folks mingling and coming together. The one difference, of course, is that these larger stations moved many more people and often included additional features such as restaurants, shops, and other amenities. One other difference is that large stations typically did not take small, local, freight shipments to either be loaded of offloaded as this work was handled at a specialized freight depot designed simply for that purpose (to load and offload freight shipments).

Railroad stations built during the 19th and early 20th century also were true works of art, many with designs which reflected the Victorian or Roman eras as well as being constructed many times from the very same materials such as marble and crystal, which is a big reason why many are preserved and so coveted today (especially after the loss of Penn Station which used countless tons of many different types of marble in its construction). Even the stations and depots from that same time period built from wood and/or brick also were constructed with beautiful designs in mind (many of these are from the Victorian era), which is why those smaller towns and cities who have preserved their stations and depots take such pride in them and realize their beauty is unmatched (and many times these buildings are the centerpiece efforts in revitalizing their downtown areas, whether the tracks still remain in place and used or not).

As the automobile came of age, however, and our highway infrastructure became much more reliable the local railroad station fell from importance and no longer was the most essential building in towns. As the 1950s came so went the local depot in most smaller towns where the car or truck was much more accessible and reliable for the short to medium travels folks in those areas made (it was also a huge financial drain on the railroads to maintain these smaller depots where the little passenger traffic there quickly dried up after World War II, so they were very happy to discontinue these trains and shutdown the depots if possible). And, by the 1960s even the larger and more prominent railroad stations were not immune to closure or demolition, as was the case with Penn Station.

Penn Station in many ways would be the spinning image of the rise and fall of the railroad industry itself through the 1970s, as the PRR was desperate for cash during the 1960s and ordered its demolition to sell off the property and air rights. While many other railroad stations would meet a similar fate between the 1950s and 1970s, the loss of Penn Station signaled a change in this country’s attitude towards its historic structures as the outrage in the aftermath of its loss triggered a movement to preserve these buildings (the result of which thwarted later efforts to demolish the New York Central’s beautiful and breathtaking Grand Central Terminal, also located in New York City).

While Penn Station is no longer with us and the local depot’s use for both freight and passengers has long since disappeared in favor of more efficient and faster means of transportation, the grand station’s loss was a wakeup call to this country, and aside from Grand Central Terminal a number of other large, and small, stations and depots across the country have since been saved and preserved for use as both hometown community buildings to their original intent, as a place for passengers to catch their train to wherever their journeys may be taking them.

For more reading about railroad stations please visit the website below:

http://www.american-rails.com

My lifelong passion has been the study and history of the railroad industry. My website, American-Rails.com, is a culmination of this study as it covers the industry in great detail highlighting topics from steam and diesel locomotives to museums and excursion trains.