As a kid, I loved traveling by train. And one of the biggest reasons was where they started and ended their journeys. Glorious buildings, gawk-inducing for their size, scope and architecture.
I grew up in Nashville and was crushed to see Union Station later fall into disrepair before being resuscitated as a hotel (photo below). I can still picture myself at Union Terminal in Cincinnati near old Crosley Field and Grand Central Terminal in the City That Never Sleeps.
So coming across this compilation of once-beautiful, now-abandoned train stations was bittersweet, mostly the first part.
As airline fares go up and the way they treat us go down, I imagine I'm not the only one who wishes this country would take a serious look at making passenger trains, and the stations from which they embarked, a viable part of our culture again.
Not holding my breath, though.
