It's been a long time since I've made a postcard post, so I dug around, and thought I'd put up a postcard of Utica's railroad station, now known as the Boehlert Center at Union Station. According to Wikipedia, the station was originally built between 1912 and 1914 (replacing a structure from 1869), but has been undergoing renovations since 1978. Here is a postcard of the exterior, dated 1924:
Wikipedia indicates eight trains use the station daily, which is served by Amtrak. There are also various bus services in use, and on a seasonal basis one can take a train from Utica to Old Forge in the Adirondacks. Here is a link to another blog who has a picture of the exterior from the back, where the tracks are. Below is a picture of the station's exterior from a couple of years ago, to give you a "now and then" perspective"
Wikipedia notes that the original station had a tunnel which led from the interior of the main station area to the platform; the tunnel has since been replaced by an enclosed overpass. Below is a postcard depicting the intrior of the station:
Wikipedia notes that the station was built in the Italianate style, with the main waiting area 15,000 square feet in size, and ceilings 47 feet high. The eight columns were brought from grand Central Station in New York, and the benches are warmed with pipes channeling steam. The interior no longer has a Western Union office, but still houses a barber shop (apparently one of the few left inside of a train station), and a restaurant (though I don't remember one being there when I checked it out a couple of years ago). Here is a photograph I took in 2006, for the "now and then:"
The beauty of the marble, as well as the true height of the ceiling, shoes up much better in this photograph, I think. The place really is immense, and it is fun to imagine what it must have felt like to be inside when a train station like this was a transportation hub in any city (if you've ever been in Grand Central Station or something like that, you'll know what I mean). Here is another photograph of the interior:
Quite a sight! Amazing to think that a structure that required this amount of space and grandeur now sees only eight trains come through daily...if only airports were designed with a fraction of the visual appeal.
I remember arriving and/or departing at this station several times as a child, when we would come visit family from New York. Of course, as a child, the excitement of riding on a train expires quickly, replaced by almost terminal boredom (especially when said child is used to train rides that are the length of subway trips, not journeys up the Hudson River and through the Mohawk valley!). I also took Amtrak once in college, getting home from Connecticut by way of New York. That trip was far more interesting, though I still hadn't developed a taste for nostalgia like now.
Here is another web page offering far more history on this station, as well as several other really nice photographs. If I ever get doen to the station again (or, even better, ride a train into or out of the station!), I'll definitaly take more pics.