Nostalgia & History > Hou Union Station outside views

In 1966 & 67 I snapped these views of Houston Union Station knowing that things were changing - that an end of an era was near. It was obvious that things were changing by the neglect and mostly vacant track, platforms and buildings. The first shot of the front entrance and vestibule I assume is still around minus the old neon "UNION STATION" sign. Back in the day, a full outdoor ad sign advertised, "Next time, take the train!" I recall seeing the sign in 1964 and thinking it seemed faded and out of fashion then. If you look close, you will see that the doors to the main waiting room have been cordoned off as construction workers were in the process of moving all passenger service space to the empty Union News coffee shop location on the Texas Avenue side of the station.

The middle photo shows a view of Track 1 with Prairie Avenue and the old HBT freight station building, which in 1966 still had some business in and out of the freight tracks. The cars on Track 2 belong to the MOP passenger train #310 for New Orleans, the Orleanean. The consist for the night run to New Orleans was a pair of coaches, RPO and two storage mail cars. The buildings adjacent to track 1 consisted of a boiler plant, Pullman office with laundry and the baggage claim room.

Last photo is the Houston segment of the Texas Eagle, train 41 laying over for the return trip to Palestine, Texas. This is the same train set that had MOP diner-coach #580 on it, the one that carried the admonition in the kitchen, "A clean diner is a safe diner." Off to the right, obscured by the platform canopy posts, is Santa Fe's California Special. In about a month that underrated train shall have its lunch counter and Pullman cut from it. The lounge and coaches shall solider on until the discontinuance in June 1968.

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What is the history of the location where Amtrak stops today in Houston?

Amtrak moved the Lone Star(#15&16) out of Union Station on July 31, 1974. That also marked the first day I began working for Amtrak as a coach cleaner at the current location 902 Washington Ave. - the old SP depot. That structure was constructed and opened in 1959 to replace Southern Pacific's Grand Central Station(GCH). I HIGHLY recommend getting a copy of the book, "Southern Pacific Railroad in Eastern Texas" by David M. Bernstein. That book chronicles the birth and death of GCH better than any other reference book I have found.



reindeerflame Wrote:
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> What is the history of the location where Amtrak
> stops today in Houston?

Thanks for the info.

So, is Houston Union still standing today (presumably vacant?). What is the address?

The head house of Union Station remains today as a portal to Minute Maid Ballpark. The platforms are the site of a baseball field. So one can say it was re-purposed - from a train station to a baseball park. They did a pretty darn good job restoring it IMHO given its age and building technology. For example, some of the structural beams were wrought iron. And the floor was pretty worn and uneven. I recall during the restoration, they pulled out gas lines used for the original light fixtures. The old address was and still is 501 Crawford Ave.





reindeerflame Wrote:
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> Thanks for the info.
>
> So, is Houston Union still standing today
> (presumably vacant?). What is the address?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/18 14:22 by Hou74-76.

Thanks for the opportunity to share in learning a bit about history.

That MP train almost has to be the HOS section of the Eagle.

Yes, as I wrote in my text, it is train #41 that ran between Palestine Texas & Houston. I think Rodger Puta captured some great shots of the switching procedure at Palestine where cars joined up with the Eagle from San Antonio. On the track board in Houston it was labeled as, Texas Eagle.



MEKoch Wrote:
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> That MP train almost has to be the HOS section of
> the Eagle.

It looks like Guastavino tile work in the porte cochere.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Station_(Houston)
Say what you will about the Enron debacle, but they are a big reason the station was saved.

Always wanted to see the station front. Thank you !