Queensgate is one of the 52 neighborhoods of Cincinnati, Ohio . It sits in the valley of Downtown Cincinnati and is dominated by industrial and commercial warehouses. Cincinnati's nickname of "Porkopolis" started here with hog slaughtering in the early 19th century.
104-598: Cincinnati Union Terminal is an intercity train station and museum center in the Queensgate neighborhood of Cincinnati , Ohio. Commonly abbreviated as CUT , or by its Amtrak station code, CIN , the terminal is served by Amtrak 's Cardinal line, passing through Cincinnati three times weekly. The building's largest tenant is the Cincinnati Museum Center , comprising the Cincinnati History Museum ,
208-760: A nurse in the Confederate capital of Richmond . The N&P was severed by the war. The portion east of the Blackwater River at Zuni, Virginia , was held by the Union for most of the war. The eastern portion of the City Point Railroad played a crucial role for Union General Ulysses S. Grant during the Siege of Petersburg, and was operated by the United States Military Railroad . The South Side Railroad
312-565: A book she was reading by Walter Scott . From Scott's historical Scottish novels, Otelia chose the place names of Windsor , Waverly and Wakefield . She tapped the Scottish Clan "McIvor" for the name of Ivor , a small Southampton County town. When they could not agree on a name for a station just west of the Sussex County line in Prince George , it is said that the young couple invented
416-628: A combination of smaller railroads in the eastern half of the United States. Today, former N&W trackage remains a vital portion of the Norfolk Southern Railway, a Fortune 500 company. The headquarters of the Norfolk Southern Railway and the parent Norfolk Southern Corporation are now located in Atlanta, Georgia . While the Powhatan Arrow (all- coach , Norfolk–Cincinnati/Columbus) was
520-621: A cost of $ 15 million, and had its own power plant at Narrows, Virginia . It shared electrical resources with N&W from 1925 to 1950, when the N&;W discontinued its own, shorter, electrified section through the Elkhorn Tunnel and Great Flat Top Mountain region. The VGN track was de-electrified in 1962, after the N&W-VGN merger. In 1955, the N&W operated in North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, and Ohio. In 1959,
624-420: A design consultant. In 1931–32, Cret altered the design aesthetic: thereafter, the terminal and its supporting buildings used modern architecture (later known as Art Deco ), even in places not visible or open to the public. The revised designs were approved as cheaper than the intricate Gothic designs, and more cheerful and stimulating with their colorful interiors than previous designs. Cincinnati Union Terminal
728-558: A group of innovative bi-level autorack railcars. These autoracks had end doors and were very large by the standards of the time; at 75 feet (23 m) long, each autorack could carry 8 completed automobiles. These autoracks were a big success and helped lead to the development of today's fully enclosed autoracks. Tri-level autoracks were developed in the 1970s. During the 1960s, autoracks took over rail transportation of newly completed automobiles in North America. They carried more cars in
832-409: A hollow center. Later on, the hands were modified and filled in. The 2016-2018 renovation restored the clock, and returned the clock hands to their original appearance. The relatively unornamented facade has two bas-relief carvings by Maxfield Keck on buttresses at the north and south ends of the arch. The north carving represents transportation, while the south represents commerce. The building has
936-594: A line with territory reaching as far north as Harrisburg, Pennsylvania . This would become referred to as the Shenandoah Valley Division. In 1885, several small mining companies representing about 400,000 acres (1,600 km ) of bituminous coal reserves grouped together to form the coalfields' largest landowner, the Philadelphia-based Flat-Top Coal Land Association.The N&W bought the association and reorganized it as
1040-413: A marble vestibule and the rotunda. The arch ends with a series of stepped gables . The domed section is flanked by two symmetrical wings, lower in profile, each of which curves 90 degrees to the east. These curve around the driveway, which was only used for private cars. The north wing carried three lanes of traffic beneath the rotunda and out the south wing; the inner for taxicabs, the middle for buses, and
1144-661: A new word in honor of their "dispute", which is how the tiny community of Disputanta was named. The N&P was completed in 1858. Of small stature, dynamic "Little Billy" Mahone became a major general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War . He was widely regarded as the hero of the Battle of the Crater during the Siege of Petersburg in 1864–65. Otelia Mahone served as
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#17329482591081248-458: A newsstand and tobacco shop, and was originally the only structure in the rotunda. It features a decorative sphere and a digital clock, possibly the first digital clock installed in a public space. The clock is no longer functioning. The northern curved wall housed 18 ticket windows, while the southern curved wall had a soda fountain, telegraph counter, drug store, and the entrance to the terminal's two dining rooms. The east wall included four shops,
1352-418: A power plant, and a water treatment plant. The roundhouse had 20 indoor stalls, 17 outdoor spaces, and a turntable with a 115-foot (35 m) diameter. The power plant had a 250-foot chimney and a set of three boilers. The plant's basement housed a water treatment plant, which used zeolite to purify city water, softening the water. Contrasting with the exterior's simple color scheme, the building's interior
1456-546: A practice rare outside Britain (where most railways either built their own locomotives or had outside contractors build locomotives to their designs). The locomotives were built at the Roanoke Shops at Roanoke. The Shops employed thousands of craftsmen, who refined their products over the years. The A, J, and Y6 locomotives, designed, built and maintained by NW personnel, brought the company industry-wide fame for its excellence in steam power. The N&W's commitment to steam power
1560-613: A promotional booklet published in 1939, the N&W wrote "For the second time in 12 years, the American Museum of Safety has awarded the Harriman Memorial Gold Medal to the Norfolk & Western Railway for the outstanding safety record during 1938 among class I railroads of the United States." It is further noted that the railway carried one million passengers more than 86,000,000 miles (138,000,000 km) without incident in
1664-583: A railroad builder ended in 1881 when northern financial interests took control. At the foreclosure auction, the AM&;O was purchased by E.W. Clark & Co. , a private banking firm in Philadelphia with ties to the large Pennsylvania Railroad . The PRR was seeking a southern connection for its Shenandoah Valley Railroad (SVRR), which was then under construction up the valley from the Potomac River . In 1881,
1768-453: A result of the extreme late-night schedule, ridership is among the lowest of Amtrak stations in Ohio and among the lowest for any station serving a metropolitan area of at least two million people. Union Terminal saw 11,862 boardings and alightings in 2016, 11,144 in 2017, 8,315 in 2018, 8,641 in 2019, 5,451 in 2020 and 7,164 in 2021. Ohio's total ridership for 2019 was 132,000 people. The terminal
1872-589: A small Virginia village on the Roanoke River , to be the junction of SVRR and the N&W. Big Lick was later renamed Roanoke, Virginia . Over time, Roanoke began to grow and in the 1950s, reached a population of over 90,000. At its founding, the N&W primarily transported agricultural products. Kimball, who had a strong interest in geology , led the railroad's efforts to open the Pocahontas coalfields in western Virginia and southern West Virginia . In mid-1881,
1976-402: A steel frame, masonry curtain walls, and concrete floors and roof slabs. The entire east facade and the outer walls of the entrance drives are faced with a light, fine-grained Indiana limestone , with a low granite base. The low walls and pylons in front of the building are made of the same limestone. Fossils of sea lilies , bryozoans , brachiopods , snails, and other organisms can be seen in
2080-629: A travel bureau, the Rookwood Tea Room, and a small theater. The shops were for men's apparel, women's apparel, books, and toys. The toy shop had star and moon light fixtures that reflected colors from the ceiling onto the toys, which were depicted in patterns on the shop's floor. The rotunda features a seemingly unlikely whispering gallery . The east wall's arch around its windows features decorated flues, elements typical in Art Deco design. The flues act as sound channels, allowing people 30 meters apart at
2184-498: Is Kansas City Union Station , while Grand Central Terminal is a head-house-style terminal. Carroll Meeks, a professor of architecture and art history at Yale University , compared its layout to a half funnel laid out on the ground, with the wide end collecting passengers and the narrow end ejecting them out onto the platforms. Cincinnati Union Terminal had a capacity of 216 trains per day, 108 in and 108 out, carrying 17,000 passengers. Three concentric lanes of traffic were included in
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#17329482591082288-490: Is based out of what was formerly the Harriet Beecher Stowe School, a majority-Black junior high school. 39°6′N 84°32′W / 39.100°N 84.533°W / 39.100; -84.533 This Cincinnati -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Norfolk and Western Railway The Norfolk and Western Railway ( reporting mark NW ), commonly called
2392-409: Is characterized by bright, warm colors, intensified with natural light in daytime and with illumination at night. These colors and lighting contrast with the interior's simple form and detail. Most of the interior metal work is made of aluminum, including doors, signs, ticket grills, and light fixtures. The floor was consistently patterned in the rotunda, through the checking lobby, and into and through
2496-709: Is connected to Route 49 of Metro, the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority 's bus system, which also connects to downtown Cincinnati, North Fairmount , and English Woods . The last bus of the night arrives at the terminal at 12:40 a.m., and the first bus in the morning arrives at 4:55 a.m. The terminal opened with service from seven railroads: the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad ; Chesapeake and Ohio Railway ; Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway ; Louisville and Nashville Railroad ; Norfolk and Western Railway ; Pennsylvania Railroad ; and
2600-603: Is located in the Queensgate neighborhood, created in the mid-20th century; originally it was part of the West End . The location is north of the Ohio River and west of downtown Cincinnati. The terminal lies directly east of the Gest Street rail yard , and directly west of an expansive lawn and parking lot, formerly Lincoln Park . The terminal lies at the western end of Ezzard Park Drive (named Lincoln Park Drive from 1935 to 1976, after
2704-485: Is operating as a Graeter's ice cream location. In 2014, the museum center and the Google Cultural Institute created a virtual tour of the museum using Google Street View , with about 65 works of art and their descriptive labels viewable. The station building was designed by the firm Fellheimer & Wagner , and is considered the firm's magnum opus . Fellheimer was known for designing train stations; he
2808-433: Is the building's most striking exterior feature. The only arriving passenger entry is from the east side of the terminal, due to rail lines to its north, south, and west. The central portion is semicircular, with a half-circle of frosted windows divided vertically by flat limestone mullions , and a long polished aluminum and glass marquee lies directly beneath the windows. Beneath this are nine aluminum-faced doors leading to
2912-566: Is unknown who designed it, though the Cincinnati Watch Company believes it was most likely Paul Cret. It was constructed by the Seth Thomas Clock Company . The clock is original to the terminal, and was synchronized with all others in the terminal with a system created by IBM . Neon tubing on the aluminum hour and minute hands is also original, lighting them in an orange-red hue. The hands were originally skeleton hands, with
3016-463: The Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad (AM&O). The AM&O extended 408 miles (657 km) from Norfolk to Bristol, Virginia . The Mahones moved to the headquarters city of Lynchburg , the midpoint of the AM&O. The acronym AM&O was said to stand for "All Mine and Otelia's." The AM&O operated profitably in the early 1870s but like many railroads encountered financial problems during
3120-513: The Cincinnati Museum Center , a collection of five entities: The terminal also houses the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center, several foodservice operations, and event space. All areas of the museum center are wheelchair-accessible. The Amtrak station is also accessible and ADA compliant. The main information desk is used for ticketing, and has daily schedules, museum maps, and coat checking, and has information on special events and
3224-547: The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) approved VGN's merger into the N&W. In 1964, the former Wabash ; Nickel Plate ; Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway ; and Akron, Canton and Youngstown Railroad were brought into the system in one of the most complex mergers of the era. This consolidation, plus the 1976 addition of a more direct route to Chicago, Illinois , made N&W an important Midwestern railroad that provided direct single-line service between
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3328-510: The N&;W , was a US class I railroad , formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia , for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precision Transportation"; it had a variety of nicknames, including "King Coal" and "British Railway of America". In 1986, N&W merged with Southern Railway to form today's Norfolk Southern Railway . The N&W
3432-590: The Nickel Plate Road and Wabash formed a system that operated 7,595 miles (12,223 km) of road on 14,881 miles (23,949 km) of track from North Carolina to New York and from Virginia to Iowa. In 1980, the N&W merged its business operation with those of the Southern Railway , another profitable carrier, to create the Norfolk Southern Corporation holding company . The N&W and
3536-513: The Panic of 1873 . A fourth road of the AM&O family was planned to extend west through the Cumberland Gap to Kentucky, but was never built. Mahone retained control of AM&O for several more years before his relationship with English and Scottish bondholders deteriorated in 1876 and receivers were appointed to oversee his work. After several years of operating under receiverships, Mahone's role as
3640-451: The Rotunda . It is a semi-circular space measuring 176 feet (54 m) wide, 125 feet (38 m) deep, and 106 feet (32 m) tall. The arched front of the building forms the east wall of the rotunda; the other interior walls have a high dado clad in red and yellow Verona marble , with a dark red marble trim of Tennessee marble at the base, and molded plaster used above the dado and up to
3744-537: The Southern Railway . Amtrak maintained two services here until moving to the Cincinnati River Road station in 1972, where Amtrak services remained until returning to Union Terminal in 1991. The facility, grounds, and parking lot are owned by the City of Cincinnati, while the tracks and platforms are owned by the freight railroad company CSX Transportation . The city leases the building primarily for Amtrak use and
3848-580: The Virginia Military Institute (VMI), was employed by Francis Mallory to build the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad (N&P) and eventually became its president in the pre-Civil War era. Construction of N&P began in 1853. Mahone's innovative corduroy roadbed through the Great Dismal Swamp near Norfolk, Virginia , employed a log foundation laid at right angles beneath the surface of
3952-580: The Winold Reiss industrial murals , a set of sixteen mosaic murals depicting Cincinnati industry commissioned for the terminal in 1931. The main space in the facility, the Rotunda, has two enormous mosaic murals designed by Reiss. Taxi and bus driveways leading to and from the Rotunda are now used as museum space. The now-demolished train concourse held all 16 of Reiss's industrial murals, along with other art and design features. The Cincinnati Union Terminal Company
4056-464: The AM&O was reorganized and renamed Norfolk and Western, a name perhaps taken from an 1850s charter application filed by citizens of Norfolk, Virginia . George Frederick Tyler became president. Frederick J. Kimball , a civil engineer and partner in E.W. Clark & Co. , became First Vice President. Henry Fink, whom Mahone had hired in 1855, became Second Vice President and General Superintendent. Kimball and his board of directors selected Big Lick,
4160-572: The Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes and Mississippi River . In 1968, the N&W formed Dereco, a holding company that owned the Delaware & Hudson (D&H) and Erie Lackawanna (EL) railroads. Dereco's troubled railroads were not merged into the N&W: EL eventually joined Conrail and D&H was sold to Guilford Transportation Industries ; it is now part of Canadian Pacific. In 1970,
4264-674: The Depression. During World War I , the N&W was jointly operated with VGN under the USRA 's wartime takeover of the Pocahontas Roads. The operating efficiencies were significant, and after the war, when the railroads were returned to their respective owners and competitive status, the N&W never lost sight of the VGN and its low-gradient routing through Virginia. N&W meanwhile during World War 2 used their J's, K1's, A Class, and S1 Switchers to handle
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4368-468: The Gest Street rail yard as well as a mile north and south, including part of Queensgate Yard. The room was noise-insulated with cork linoleum and Celotex due to its once-frequent exposure to passenger trains. The tower featured a large electro-pneumatic interlocking machine, built by the Union Switch & Signal Company . The machine had 187 levers, making it the largest interlocking machine in service at
4472-523: The Museum of Natural History & Science, Duke Energy Children's Museum , the Cincinnati History Library and Archives, and an Omnimax theater. Union Terminal's distinctive architecture, interior design, and history have earned it several landmark designations, including as a National Historic Landmark . Its Art Deco design incorporates several contemporaneous works of art, including two of
4576-764: The N&W acquired the franchises to four other lines: the New River Railroad , Mining and Manufacturing Company, the Bluestone Railroad, and the East River Railroad. Consolidated into the New River Railroad Company, with Kimball as president, these railroads became the basis for N&W's New River Division, which was soon built from New Kanawha (near East Radford) up the west bank of the New River through Pulaski County and into Giles County to
4680-630: The N&W continued expansion westward with its lines through the wilderness of West Virginia with the Ohio Extension, eventually extending north across the Ohio River to Columbus, Ohio by the Scioto Valley Railroad. Acquisition of other lines, including the Cincinnati, Portsmouth and Virginia Railroad (CP&V) (which it had long supported and leased) extended the N&W system west along
4784-482: The N&W operated in North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa. On September 1, 1981, the N&W acquired Illinois Terminal Railroad . The N&W was also a major investor in Piedmont Airlines . Sometime in the 1980s the song "Cargo Movin' People" was written and recorded, however it never was officially released to
4888-586: The N&W's flagship passenger train, sporting a regal maroon livery with gold trim and hauled by a J Class 4-8-4 Northern Type steam locomotive, the railroad also operated a number of other passenger trains. These include: The N&W also participated in five inter-line passenger trains: The last three were unusual in that the Southern Railway operated the trains, either side of the N&W stretch between Lynchburg and Bristol. The Norfolk-bound trains arrived at Norfolk Terminal Station , which also served as
4992-556: The Ohio River to Cincinnati, Ohio , south from Lynchburg to Durham, North Carolina , and south from Roanoke to Winston-Salem, North Carolina . By the time Kimball died in 1903, the railroad had attained the basic structure it would use for more than 60 years. In 1890 the N&W bought out the Shenandoah Valley Railroad . This gave the railroad a reach north of the Potomac River and the Virginia-Maryland border, and
5096-568: The Pocahontas Coal and Coke Company (PCCC). The PCCC was later renamed the Pocahontas Land Corporation (PLC) and is now a subsidiary of NS. As the availability and fame of high-quality Pocahontas bituminous coal increased, economic forces took over. Coal operators and their employees settled dozens of towns in southern West Virginia , and in the next few years, as coal demand swelled, some of them amassed fortunes. The countryside
5200-561: The Roanoke locomotive department, in 1916 the N&W added a large terminal (one full-circle roundhouse and two half-circle roundhouses), car shops, and yard at Shaffers Crossing, west of downtown. These continued to operate after the conversion to diesel power. Because the Roanoke Shops were so large and complete, the only other heavy repair site needed was located in Portsmouth, Ohio to serve
5304-516: The Southern Railway continued as separate railroads operating under the single holding company. In 1982, the Southern Railway was renamed Norfolk Southern Railway and the holding company transferred the Norfolk & Western Railway to the control of the newly renamed company. The N&W's earliest predecessor was the City Point Railroad (CPRR), a 9-mile (14 km) short-line railroad formed in 1838 to extend from City Point (now part of
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#17329482591085408-548: The base of each arch, by symmetrical drinking fountains, to hold a private conversation with ease. The Rotunda features the largest semi-dome in the western hemisphere , measuring 180 feet (55 m) wide and 106 feet (32 m) high (about ten stories in height). It was considered the largest in the world until 1973, when the Sydney Opera House was built. The train concourse, demolished in 1974, measured 79 by 410 feet (24 m × 125 m). It lay directly above
5512-519: The building's lost and found items. The Museum of Natural History operates two gift shops: one adjacent to the rotunda and a children's gift shop in the museum wing. The History Library operates a separate shop adjacent to the rotunda. There are three dining rooms on the main concourse, two on the lower level, a retail shop, and other rotating operations. The main level operation Cup and Pint serves pizzas, coffee, and draft beer, while Nourish 513 serves sandwiches, salads, and fast food. The Rookwood tea room
5616-563: The ceiling. The room's marble is 150 million years old, containing numerous fossilized skeletons. Approximately 24 of these fossils are visible in the walls of the Rotunda. Sound-absorbing plaster covers the dome ceiling, which has yellow and orange plaster banded with silver strips. The room is designed with Art Deco details like the other original portions of the building. It was designed with colorful pastels, and features colorful mosaic murals by Winold Reiss. The rotunda's semi-circular central information desk and ticket kiosk originally served as
5720-442: The concourse had two train bulletin boards; a departure chalkboard at the north side and an arrivals chalkboard at the south side. One Reiss mural decorated the space above each board: a departing train above the departures and an arriving train above the arrivals. The terminal was built with eight platforms and sixteen platform tracks, with room for expansion to 22 tracks. The platforms and tracks ran north to south, partially beneath
5824-421: The concourse. The rotunda's vestibules were also heated, and the central space was indirectly heated: the space between the inner plaster dome and outer cement dome was heated, as well as the space between the east facade's two panes of glass. This would surround the rotunda with warm air, insulating it from the cold. The main entrance leads to a small marble vestibule, which leads to the terminal's main concourse,
5928-429: The decision as "rooted in institutional racism." Prior to this demolition, the neighborhood was the subject of significant photographic documentation, and in 2017, many of these photographs were placed on public exhibition for the first time at the Cincinnati Museum Center . In early 2024, community leaders proposed reconnecting Queensgate to downtown Cincinnati through a reconstructed street grid, made possible by
6032-503: The design of the building, carrying traffic through enclosed ramps to a space beneath the main rotunda of the building, with ramps again for departure. One lane was for cars and taxis, one for buses, and one (never used) for streetcars . Similar to Buffalo Central Terminal , Union Terminal used a system of ramps for passengers to access the 1,600-foot-long (490 m) platforms below the concourse. The building's architecture and design received mostly positive acclaim, though even in 1933 it
6136-625: The independent city of Hopewell, Virginia ), a port on the tidal James River , to Petersburg, Virginia , on the fall line of the shallower Appomattox River . In 1854, CPRR became part of the South Side Railroad , which connected Petersburg with Lynchburg , where it interchanged through traffic with the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad (V&T) and the James River and Kanawha Canal . William Mahone (1826–95), an 1847 engineering graduate of
6240-780: The larger project of constructing a new companion bridge for the Brent Spence Bridge . As of February 2024, discussions about this possibility were ongoing. In late May 2024, the proposal was approved. Queensgate is home to Cincinnati Union Terminal . From 1884 to 1970, the Cincinnati Reds played at three separate parks at the intersection of Findlay Street and Western Avenue in Queensgate—the last 57½ of those years at Crosley Field . The former site of home plate of Crosley Field has been painted in an alley. Local Fox affiliate WXIX-TV (channel 19), owned by Gray Television ,
6344-437: The late 1950s and early 1960s, pursuant to the Metropolitan Master Plan of 1948, a City Plan for Cincinnati , and under the guise of slum clearance and urban renewal , the predominantly African-American neighborhood was razed to make way for the new Interstate 75 and a new industrial district known as Queensgate. In 2023, the Cincinnati city council issued an apology for the decision to tear down Kenyon-Barr, describing
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#17329482591086448-443: The lawn has an ornamental terrace with steps, hedges, and a central fountain. The terrace also features two groups of four pylons, supporting concealed flood lights. Behind the terrace, a driveway curves around the half oval to the building's entranceway. Dalton Avenue runs through a tunnel beneath the plaza. The fountain cascades water down a set of scalloped tiers into a pool below. It was constructed of concrete and green terrazzo, and
6552-419: The mountains of West Virginia and Rogers had already become a millionaire and a principal of Standard Oil before their partnership was formed early in the 20th century. Initially, their project was an 80-mile (130 km)-long short line railroad . After failing to establish favorable rates to interchange coal traffic with the big railroads (who shut them out through collusion), the project expanded. Rogers
6656-418: The mouth of the East River near Glen Lyn, Virginia . From there, the new line ran up the East River, crossing the Virginia-West Virginia border several times to reach the coalfields to the west near the Great Flat Top Mountain . Coal transported to Norfolk soon became NW's primary commodity, and led to great wealth and profitability. Kimball served as N&W president from 1883 to 1895. Under his leadership,
6760-423: The newly completed railroad. That June, Booker T. Washington made a whistle-stop speaking tour on VGN, traveling in Rogers' private car, Dixie , and later revealing that Rogers had been instrumental in funding many small country schools and institutions of higher education in the South for the betterment of Black communities. VGN operated over more modern alignments than the C&O, and the N&W, and its track
6864-423: The outer lane was intended for Cincinnati's streetcar system , though it was never used. The taxi and bus drives connected to the main driveway; the streetcar drive utilized separate ramps beginning at Kenner Street and ending at Hopkins Street. In 1956, architectural historian Caroll Meeks referred to the terminal's vehicular traffic system as the most elaborate in any modern station. The main facade's central arch
6968-560: The park, and subsequently named for Cincinnati resident Ezzard Charles ). The eastern end of Ezzard Park Drive abuts Cincinnati Music Hall , another icon of Cincinnati, visible from the terminal's front terrace. The complex's northern boundary is Kenner Street, its southern is Hopkins Street, its western is the Gest Street rail yard, and its eastern boundary is Western Avenue (formerly Freeman Avenue). The terminal complex opened in 1933 with 22 buildings, 287 total acres (116 ha), and 94 miles (151 km) of track. 130 acres were occupied by
7072-432: The period from 1924 to 1938. At the end of 1925, the N&W operated 2,241 miles (3,607 km) of route on 4,429 miles (7,128 km) track; at the end of 1956 NW operated 2,132 miles (3,431 km) of route on 4,759 miles (7,659 km) of track. VGN was conceived and built by William Nelson Page and Henry Huttleston Rogers . Page had helped engineer and build the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (C&O) through
7176-406: The platform tracks, as there was sufficient room between the platforms. These tracks allowed for sleeping cars and express cars to be exchanged. The baggage level occupied space directly beneath the checking lobby and train concourse. The space also utilized a drive-through loading platform, where cars would enter the north side of the baggage level, drop off luggage on the loading platform, and exit
7280-424: The public. It eventually made its way onto a DVD program titled Rails to Roanoke by Mark I Video in 1987. By 1996, N&W ran in most of the Midwest and Eastern states. Many N&W lines by 1998 were abandoned and some of them were never used again. However, the Norfolk to Bluefield line still exists but traffic has slowed because of its 12-mile 1.2% grade. In the 1950s, Canadian National Railway (CN) introduced
7384-425: The railroad tracks, and had doors on its north and south sides, eight on each side. The sixteen gates each led to stairs and ramps to the platforms below. The concourse was well-lit with tall windows throughout. The room carried on the same marble pattern of the rotunda walls, and had a segmental arch ceiling 36 feet, 8.5 inches above the floor at the crown, painted in shades of yellow from pale lemon to orange. The room
7488-536: The railroads became the primary long-distance transporter of completed automobiles, one of few commodities where the industry has been able to overcome trucking in competition. In 1980, the profitable N&W teamed up with the Southern Railway , another profitable company, to form the Norfolk Southern Corporation and it paved the way for today's Norfolk Southern Railway (formerly the Southern Railway) to compete more effectively with CSX Transportation , itself
7592-404: The same space and were easier to load and unload than the boxcars formerly used. Ever-larger auto carriers and specialized terminals were developed by NW and other railroads. The railroads were able to provide lower costs and greater protection from in-transit damage, such as that which may occur due to vandalism or weather and traffic conditions on unenclosed truck trailers. Using the autoracks,
7696-423: The south side. Trucking ramps were located directly beneath the train concourse's northern passenger ramps, and a passageway connected the facility to the mail handling building. Tower A, a former signal tower , is open to the public as a railroad exhibit once per year. The tower is located on the fourth and fifth floors at the east end of the station, with sets of windows on the north, east, and south. It overlooks
7800-578: The space, as well as a large map mural, the only artwork original to the terminal that was demolished. The concourse's west end had a large clock, also saved from demolition. The clock was moved to an outdoor domed display in the Town Center parking garage, near Cincinnati Music Hall. In 2018, workers removed the clock from the garage and delivered it to the Museum Center, which plans to assess the clock's condition and decide where to display it. The entrance to
7904-540: The stone. The entranceway under the marquise features Morton Gneiss , a Cold Spring dark rainbow granite. Morton Gneiss was popular in American Art Deco architecture at the time. The fountain utilizes pink porphyritic granite. The side and rear walls of the building utilize light buff brick. The dome was originally covered with terra cotta, though it was replaced with aluminum sheathing in 1945. The entrance arcades are lined with cream-colored terra cotta. The terminal
8008-508: The swamp. It is still in use 150 years later and it withstands immense tonnages of coal traffic. Mahone married Otelia Butler , from Smithfield in Isle of Wight County, Virginia , a daughter of Robert Butler (1784–1853), a Virginia state treasurer. Popular legend has it that Otelia and William Mahone traveled along the newly completed N&P naming stations along the 52-mile (84 km) tangent between Suffolk and Petersburg from Ivanhoe ,
8112-476: The terminal and its surrounding grounds, while 157 acres were occupied by supporting railroad facilities. The station building in total has 504,000 square feet (46,800 m). The building has a roughly T-shaped structure surmounted by its half-dome. It was built with five floors, but only two primary levels: the track level, and the station floor, placed above the tracks for simplicity of arrangement and for more architectural opportunities. The building lies east of
8216-471: The terminal saw traffic grow through World War II, then decline over the following four decades. Several attractions were mounted over the years to supplement declining revenues. Train service ended in 1972, and Amtrak moved service to a smaller station nearby. The terminal was largely dormant from 1972 to 1980; during this time, its platforms and train concourse were demolished. In 1980, the Land of Oz shopping mall
8320-426: The terminal. The lawn was originally Lincoln Park, a lush city park. It was remodeled during the terminal's construction to have simpler decorative landscaping, though it retained the name of Lincoln Park. The relandscaping included elms and sycamore tree borders, with flower beds in the central strip. The central strip is still intact, but the portions to its north and south became parking lots in 1980. The west end of
8424-481: The time. Light bulbs underneath each switch indicated information. Above the machine was an illuminated track model. Queensgate, Cincinnati In 2010, the population of Queensgate was only 142. But as recently as 1958, the neighborhood, formerly part of West End and known as the "Lower West End" or the Kenyon-Barr neighborhood, had a population of 25,737, estimated at 5% of the city's total population. In
8528-406: The tracks, facing Downtown Cincinnati. The building is aligned on a central axis: the east lawn, the terrace, the main concourse, the checking lobby, and finally the train concourse built over the tracks, leading to the station's platforms. The station was considered to have a "pull-through" design, less common though more efficient than the "head-house" style. Another example of a pull-through station
8632-453: The train concourse. The pattern was terrazzo divided by brass strips into bands and panels in shades of gray and rose. The contrasting flooring was laid out in way that guided traffic to and from the main entrance and platforms. All interior spaces were designed without visible heating or cooling units. Hot air would be vented into the train concourse behind light fixtures. The ramps were also heated, to prevent drafts of cold air from entering
8736-463: The train concourse. The platforms were 28 feet (8.5 m) wide, unusual in train station design, and 1,580 feet (480 m) long, and able to be extended to 2,400 feet. They had concrete bases, covered with canopies. The support columns were 80 feet apart, also noted as unusual. The canopies were of painted steel; roofing was by the Philip Carey Company. Parking tracks were installed between
8840-529: The troop trains from Ohio to Norfolk, a point of embarkation. Other three were New York, San Francisco, and San Diego. However, the US Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) turned down attempts at combining the roads until 1959, when a proposed N&W-VGN merger was finally approved. The N&W also operated safely in this time, being the recipient of the Gold E. H. Harriman Award for 1938. In
8944-530: The two small railroads were merged in 1907 to form the Virginian Railway. Engineered by Page and financed almost entirely from Rogers' personal resources, VGN lines were laid on the principle that picking the best route and buying the best equipment would save operating expenses. Mark Twain spoke at VGN's dedication in Norfolk, Virginia, only 6 weeks before Rogers died in May 1909 after his only inspection trip on
9048-682: The west and north of the Dalton Avenue U.S. Post Office, completed around 1933 and still standing. The mail building, 173 by 178 feet (53 m × 54 m), was a steel-frame, flat-roofed enclosure for chutes and conveyor belts. The building was also connected to the post office through conveyor belts, delivering city mail separate from transfer mail; the post office in turn delivered outgoing mail split between northern and southern railways. The mail building had two platforms each with two conveyors and serving two tracks, one platform for southbound mail and one for northbound mail. The express terminal
9152-620: The western section of the system, which employed about 2,000 in the 1920s. These shops took the place of the roundhouse and shop at Bluefield, West Virginia . The Roanoke & Southern Railway Company was organized in 1887, succeeding separate companies called Roanoke & Southern in North Carolina and Virginia. Norfolk and Western leased the Roanoke & Southern (called the Norfolk, Roanoke & Southern Rail Road by 1896) starting in 1892 but it became part of Norfolk and Western in 1911. The N&W operated profitably through World War I and World War II and paid regular dividends throughout
9256-415: Was 742 feet (226 m) long, ranging from 40–136 feet (12–41 m) wide. The building was two stories tall, steel-framed, with brick walls and concrete floors and roofs. The second floor was used for offices and storage. It also included platforms with canopies. The terminal complex also included a roundhouse, washing platform, cinder pit, fire-lighting stations, coaling station, two electric substations,
9360-423: Was also heavily damaged. William and Otelia Mahone were illustrious characters in post-bellum Virginia. Mahone got quickly to work restoring "his" N&P, and resumed his dream of linking the three trunk lines across the southern tier of Virginia to reach points to the west. He became president of all three, and drove the 1870 merger of N&P, South Side Railroad and the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad to form
9464-720: Was apparently a silent partner in the early stages, and the bigger railroads did not take Page seriously. However, the partners planned and then built a "Mountains to Sea" railroad from the coal fields of southern West Virginia to port near Norfolk at Sewell's Point in the harbor of Hampton Roads . They accomplished this right under the noses of the pre-existing and much bigger C&O and N&W railroads and their leaders by forming two small intrastate railroads, Deepwater Railway , in West Virginia, and Tidewater Railway in Virginia. Once right-of-way and land acquisitions had been secured,
9568-404: Was built along with several auxiliary buildings, on the north side of the station, also designed in the Art Deco style. They were designed by Edgar D. Tyler, a staff architect for Fellheimer & Wagner, as well as a former student of Paul Cret. The mail handling building and express terminals were on the east side of the terminal property, easily accessible to the city's downtown, and directly to
9672-490: Was built to the highest standards. It provided major competition for coal traffic to C&O and the N&W. The 600-mile (970 km) VGN followed Rogers' philosophy throughout its profitable history, earning the nickname "Richest Little Railroad in the World." It operated some of the largest and most powerful steam, electric, and diesel locomotives. The VGN electrified 134 miles (216 km) of its route between 1922 and 1926 at
9776-703: Was constructed inside the station; it operated until 1985. In the late 1980s, two Cincinnati museums merged and renovated the terminal, which reopened in 1990 as the Cincinnati Museum Center. Amtrak returned to the terminal in 1991, resuming its role as an intercity train station. A two-year, $ 228 million renovation was completed in 2018. The station is served by Amtrak 's Cardinal line, operating every other day, three times per week. The service runs between Chicago and New York City; trains to Chicago arrive at 1:31 a.m. and trains to New York arrive at 3:17 a.m., each departing 10 minutes later. Likely as
9880-449: Was created in 1927 to build a union station to replace five local stations used by seven railroads. Construction, which lasted from 1928 to 1933, included the creation of viaducts, mail and express buildings, and utility structures: a power plant, water treatment facility, and roundhouse . Six of the railroads terminated at the station, which they jointly owned, while the Baltimore and Ohio operated through services. Initially underused,
9984-414: Was designed by Fellheimer & Wagner. The grounds also feature a large Art Deco sign, not original to the building. For a time, the sign read "Cincinnati Museum Center", though during the extensive renovation in 2018, it was replaced with the current sign, reading "Cincinnati Union Terminal". The main facade, 500 feet (150 m) wide in total, is the only portion visible from the plaza approach, and it
10088-567: Was due in part to its investment in the manufacturing capacity and human resources to build and operate steam locomotives, and partially due to the major commodity it hauled, coal. During the 1950s, N&W rebuilt its W Class 2-8-0 Consolidations into Shop Co W6 0-8-0Ts. In 1960, the N&W became the last major railroad in the United States to abandon steam locomotives for diesel-electric motive power. The Roanoke Shops continued to build and repair rolling stock until 2020 when Norfolk Southern closed them, ending 139 years of operations. To bolster
10192-511: Was famous for manufacturing its own steam locomotives , which were built at the Roanoke Shops , as well as its own hopper cars . After 1960, N&W was the last major Class I railroad using steam locomotives; the last remaining Y class 2-8-8-2s would eventually be retired in 1961. In December 1959, the N&W merged with the Virginian Railway (reporting mark VGN), a longtime rival in the Pocahontas coal region. By 1970, other mergers with
10296-552: Was inspired by Helsinki Central Station in Helsinki, Finland , which Fellheimer visited in 1927. The terminal was also reported as resembling Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi railway station in Kyiv , Ukraine. Two of the facade's mullions support a large central clock. It measures 18 feet (5.5 m) in diameter and weighs 5 tons; the hour and minute hands are 6'4" and 7'4" respectively. There are 52 panes of glass; 24 are red-tinted, while 28 are amber. It
10400-421: Was lead architect for Grand Central Terminal (1903–1913). The large and busy firm gave the project design to Roland A. Wank , a younger employee. Wank's original plan was traditional and featured Gothic architecture: large arches, vaulted ceilings, and conventional benches in long rows. In 1930, while initial construction took place, the terminal company persuaded the architects to hire Paul Philippe Cret as
10504-534: Was located in Norfolk County just north of the City of Norfolk on the Elizabeth River , where one of the busiest coal export facilities in the world was built to reach Hampton Roads shipping. A residential section was also developed to house the families of the workers. Many early residents of Lambert's Point were involved in the coal industry. The company was famous for building its own steam locomotives ,
10608-496: Was seen as possibly the last grand intercity train station built. Carroll Meeks described the passenger's route from the tracks up to the concourse and back down again to vehicle ramps as relatively complicated and arduous. The space to the east of the station consists of a terrace and fountain to the west and parking lots around a narrow lawn to the east. The terminal lawn originally measured 1,400 by 500 feet (430 m × 150 m), and gently carries broad driveways upward to
10712-506: Was soon sprinkled with tipples, coke ovens, houses for workers, company stores and churches. In the four decades before the Crash of 1929 and subsequent Depression , these coal towns flourished. One example was the small community of Bramwell, West Virginia , which in its heyday boasted the highest per capita concentration of millionaires in the country. In 1886, the N&W tracks were extended directly to coal piers at Lambert's Point , which
10816-425: Was used as a waiting area, though it lacked traditional wooden benches. Instead it had American Oak Leather-upholstered settees and chairs in aluminum frames, placed in twelve concentric groups of 46 seats, each around a small, round teakwood table. A conductors' visa counter was installed at the east end of the concourse at its longitudinal center. The room featured the Winold Reiss industrial murals , commissioned for
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