PostNov 07, 2014#31
I'm pretty sure I posted this in another thread, but can't remember exactly where:
![]()
^That looks like the roofline of the Gokul Indian Restaurant building to the far left.
Here's another shot of the old Delmar Station (prior to construction of the limestone beauty). It's kind of amazing to think that there have been three different train stations at this location in the last hundred years including the current Metrolink station. There's quite a rich history of Delmar/Loop transit - notwithstanding its important role as a streetcar terminal. Apologies for the "water mark".
![]()
^That looks like the roofline of the Gokul Indian Restaurant building to the far left.
Here's another shot of the old Delmar Station (prior to construction of the limestone beauty). It's kind of amazing to think that there have been three different train stations at this location in the last hundred years including the current Metrolink station. There's quite a rich history of Delmar/Loop transit - notwithstanding its important role as a streetcar terminal. Apologies for the "water mark".
Say, Wabash, think you can dig up an image of that crazy old train station along the river somewhere on the Southside with the stairway going up the bluff? I think it may have been the Iron Mountain Railroad, but I'm not sure.
I'm not exactly sure which station you mean, but it sounds great. It sounds like it'd be along the same line as the Jefferson Barracks station posted above. I'll keep looking and see if I can track it down.
There are a few other abandoned stations around St. Louis (and beyond) that have stairways up bluffs:
This station in Kirkwood along the Frisco line used to serve the Meramec Highlands resort.
![]()
![]()
It was repurposed into a house in 2006:
![]()
Also, the Amtrak station in Poplar Bluff (which used to be on the St. Louis & Iron Mountain Railroad) has a station with a grand staircase directly behind it:
![]()
![]()
![]()
(The decay on the stairs reminds me of the old walls along Forest Park Parkway, the balustrades at Union & Lindell, and a lot of other masonry around Forest Park before Forest Park Forever swung into action).
There also used to be a station at Castlewood in West County that was right on the Meramec, with a building across the tracks overlooking the river:
![]()
There are a few other abandoned stations around St. Louis (and beyond) that have stairways up bluffs:
This station in Kirkwood along the Frisco line used to serve the Meramec Highlands resort.
It was repurposed into a house in 2006:
Also, the Amtrak station in Poplar Bluff (which used to be on the St. Louis & Iron Mountain Railroad) has a station with a grand staircase directly behind it:
(The decay on the stairs reminds me of the old walls along Forest Park Parkway, the balustrades at Union & Lindell, and a lot of other masonry around Forest Park before Forest Park Forever swung into action).
There also used to be a station at Castlewood in West County that was right on the Meramec, with a building across the tracks overlooking the river:
Great shots, but not the one I'm thinking of. There was a really scary-looking wood stairway zig-zagging up the bluff behind the station. Pretty sure it was somewhere south of Downtown, along the river.
Based on this link, I wonder if the station you're looking for is Carondelet or Robert Ave. Depot. I can't find any photos, though.
Or perhaps it was the Plum St. Depot at 1st and Plum. But I can't find any images of that either. It'd be long gone, of course. Here's a drawing.
http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/17312
Or perhaps it was the Plum St. Depot at 1st and Plum. But I can't find any images of that either. It'd be long gone, of course. Here's a drawing.
http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/17312
I think I found it. You weren't kidding, it's both crazy and scary-looking. It was located at 4078 S. Broadway in the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood.
A website with some back-story states that: "In a pictorial review of American railroad stations from 1831 to 1920, the author nominates Tucker’s station 'as the most unusual of all suburban stations.' A picture of the station was used in an advertisement for the American National Bank accompanying the picture were the statements - 'this must be the most unusual station ever built' and 'the south St. Louis bluff side station was unlike any other – before or since!'"
![]()
![]()
A website with some back-story states that: "In a pictorial review of American railroad stations from 1831 to 1920, the author nominates Tucker’s station 'as the most unusual of all suburban stations.' A picture of the station was used in an advertisement for the American National Bank accompanying the picture were the statements - 'this must be the most unusual station ever built' and 'the south St. Louis bluff side station was unlike any other – before or since!'"
That's it! Even crazier than I remember. Obviously, this was built long before the Americans with Disabilities Act.
More old shots of the Delmar Wabash train station:
![]()
(Courtesy of Lew Schneider)
![]()
(Courtesy of Lew Schneider)
Things have certainly improved since this shot was taken in 1988:
![]()
(Courtesy of Lew Schneider)
(Courtesy of Lew Schneider)
Things have certainly improved since this shot was taken in 1988:
Market just east of Vandeventer in the early 1950's:
![]()
Credit: TheOldMotor.com
And in 2012:
![]()
Central Ave in Downtown Clayton in 1959:
![]()
Credit: NextStopSTL
And in 2012:
![]()
It looks a little more spruced up now, but other than the streetcar, it's amazing how little has changed.
Credit: TheOldMotor.com
And in 2012:
Central Ave in Downtown Clayton in 1959:
Credit: NextStopSTL
And in 2012:
It looks a little more spruced up now, but other than the streetcar, it's amazing how little has changed.
^ Forest Park Pkwy rebuilt completely from scratch and they 1) failed to make its intersection with DeBaliviere ADA compliant, and 2) prohibited walking to the station from Pershing west of the Red Line.
- 9,563
you sure it wasn't ADA compliant at the time it was built? ADA compliance changes like 3 times a month.mill204 wrote:^ Forest Park Pkwy rebuilt completely from scratch and they 1) failed to make its intersection with DeBaliviere ADA compliant, and 2) prohibited walking to the station from Pershing west of the Red Line.
Yeah, this one really burns me up as well. And we're not the only ones. An informal foot path has developed between Pershing and Forest Park Parkway, and because the gate is padlocked, the fence has been pried open to allow people to squeeze through.mill204 wrote:Forest Park Pkwy rebuilt completely from scratch and they... prohibited walking to the station from Pershing west of the Red Line.
I found this on a website dedicated to historic streetcars in different American cities. The caption says "St. Clouis PCC 1659 on Hodiamont on July 8, 1961." Anyone have any idea exactly where this was taken? My guess would be Downtown Wellston, but I can't pinpoint where this would have been:
![]()
Not sure, but this photo is very close. The caption says "Market Street between 6th and 7th, 1953". There's a Stein's sign in the background, and the light poles look the same, but there's a Delmar bus, so I don't know. Both great shots, though.
http://theoldmotor.com/?p=64452
http://theoldmotor.com/?p=64452
- 8,155
^ good catch... here is the photo
![]()
this is the same location about a decade later as you can also see the Globe in both photos and the light posts are the same.... it appears that a demo of several buildings to the Stein's side of the street had occurred in the period betweem the two photos. I think your photo does show this is indeed downtown as the scale and density is too great to be Wellston or Delmar Loop.
edit: while I think it is downtown, it doesn't resonate with me as being between 6th & 7th on present day Market. But there is a 608 address in the photo so it is driving me crazy.... I'm wondering if maybe this was more on the northern part of downtown where the convention center is now and that may align more with the Delmar line.
this is the same location about a decade later as you can also see the Globe in both photos and the light posts are the same.... it appears that a demo of several buildings to the Stein's side of the street had occurred in the period betweem the two photos. I think your photo does show this is indeed downtown as the scale and density is too great to be Wellston or Delmar Loop.
edit: while I think it is downtown, it doesn't resonate with me as being between 6th & 7th on present day Market. But there is a 608 address in the photo so it is driving me crazy.... I'm wondering if maybe this was more on the northern part of downtown where the convention center is now and that may align more with the Delmar line.
^ okay, I'm pretty sure now that they were mistaken about Market being called Franklin.... Franklin indeed did run through the present-day convention center/dome site and it later was re-named MLK Drive (before running along what was formerly known as Easton Ave.)
So I'm 99% sure this is where the Ed Jone Dome is now.... and then there is this historical image of Frankin Avenue
![]()
So I'm 99% sure this is where the Ed Jone Dome is now.... and then there is this historical image of Frankin Avenue
I recently borrowed a book from work (think it must have been for research/inspiration) called "The St. Louis Streetcar Story" by Andrew D. Young. I haven't dove in yet, but I think I saw a copyright from 1988. I'll pass on anything interesting.
Yep. And the Hodiamont line ran up Franklin. I think we've got it figured out!roger wyoming II wrote:^ okay, I'm pretty sure now that they were mistaken about Market being called Franklin.... Franklin indeed did run through the present-day convention center/dome site and it later was re-named MLK Drive (before running along what was formerly known as Easton Ave.)
BTW, The St. Louis Streetcar Story has a photo of this block (looking west from 7th) on page 56.
Whoa. I'm impressed. Thanks for the help. While I thought this was up around Wellston, I also thought those two little towers in the background looked really familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. You guys are spot on. Now I realize they're the two steeples of the Shrine of St. Joseph at N 11th & Biddle.
That's an amazing photo from 1953. What a great street.
That's an amazing photo from 1953. What a great street.
- 8,155
^ nice catch on the Shrine!
Initially I thought this might be somewhere in Midtown before pinning it down.... its crazy too think what this city was like in its heyday.
I'm not positive, but I think Franklin may have serviced the Veterans/MLK Bridge, which had opened up just two years prior to the 1953 photo. great find on the 53 photo, framer!
Initially I thought this might be somewhere in Midtown before pinning it down.... its crazy too think what this city was like in its heyday.
I'm not positive, but I think Franklin may have serviced the Veterans/MLK Bridge, which had opened up just two years prior to the 1953 photo. great find on the 53 photo, framer!
Staying on this old Franklin Street area, Steve P. has a post on a new book out about convention center developments that includes an in-depth chapter on the Cervantes Center.
http://www.urbanreviewstl.com/2014/12/r ... t-sanders/
I'll try to give it a read sometime..... Steve mentions there were competing locations for the center including near Union Station. That may have been a better area or at least somewhere that abutted the elevated 40 lanes which already serve to fortress downtown. Besides the demo for the present site, its location blocks off a harmonious transition to the Columbus Square area.
I think Steve also has a post of photos of the pre-clearance Dome and Convention area and I'l try to dig that up at some point.
http://www.urbanreviewstl.com/2014/12/r ... t-sanders/
I'll try to give it a read sometime..... Steve mentions there were competing locations for the center including near Union Station. That may have been a better area or at least somewhere that abutted the elevated 40 lanes which already serve to fortress downtown. Besides the demo for the present site, its location blocks off a harmonious transition to the Columbus Square area.
I think Steve also has a post of photos of the pre-clearance Dome and Convention area and I'l try to dig that up at some point.
The Flashback Friday on Metro's NextSTL Blog was really great on Jan. 23rd :
![]()
Photos like that one, and this one which I previously posted:
![]()
make me think of how, despite many heartbreaking setbacks, there are pockets of St. Louis transit that are better today than they've ever been.
Photos like that one, and this one which I previously posted:
make me think of how, despite many heartbreaking setbacks, there are pockets of St. Louis transit that are better today than they've ever been.