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Nov. 27, 1910: Pennsylvania Station opens in New York, immediately creating confusion among train travelers who thought they had arrived in the wrong state. In fact, the station was named for the Pennsylvania Railroad, which built it and several others.
Every state in the nation now has a Pennsylvania Station, except Pennsylvania, where a law requires railroad depot names to only hint vaguely at their location—hence Northeast Philadelphia Station, 30th Street Station and Right Near The Big Building Station. But the New York example is the most notorious. The original station was a beautiful, Beaux-Arts structure designed by McKim, Mead and White. In 1964, the struggling Pennsylvania Railroad demolished the above-ground portion of the station and sold off the development rights to the space over the facility—apparently anticipating a boom in floating buildings. What remained was, and is, a dark warren of corridors where travelers and commuters are often lost forever. Fittingly, perhaps, the Pennsylvania Railroad continued to struggle and after a series of mergers filed for bankruptcy in 1970. The railroads that currently use the station—Amtrak, NJ Transit and the Long Island Railroad—have periodically attempted to improve the look and feel of the building, to no avail. Pennsylvania Station will always be a soul-crushing dungeon where dreams go to die. — Jeffrey Kanige CategoriesComments
From: Nathaniel C. Guest,
The statement that every state in the nation has a Pennsylvania Station is also incorrect, as is the statement about there being a law regarding station names in Pennsylvania. Additionally, Thirtieth Street Station was officially known as Pennsylvania Station, "Thirtieth Street" being it's common name. In fact, into the 1980s, there was a red and gold sign above a principal entry that said "Pennsylvania Station." Not to be a nit picker about details, but these sort of mistakes may in some folks' minds call into question the validity of some of the author's other thoughts--a sad possibility because they seem meritorious.
Posted on:
December 5, 2007 10:58 PM
From: Matthew Wurtzel,
Just to clarify a few "issues" with this post. Portions of Jeff's posts are meant to be sarcastic, and therefore not taken literally. The part about Pennsylvania law is a perfect example.
Posted on:
December 6, 2007 4:42 PM
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Your comment about the Commonwealth of Pennslyvania not having a "Pennsylvania Station" is wrong. Harrisburg's & Pittsburgh's Amtrak stations are indeed Pennsylvania Stations.