30th Street Station

30th Street Station, located in Philadelphia is another storied architectural railroad landmark that has thankfully stood the test of time and today continues to serve in its original capacity playing host to both commuter and intercity passenger trains from both Amtrak as well as the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (Amtrak). Built by the venerable Pennsylvania Railroad, which was also headquartered in Philadelphia, the station was situated along the railroad’s very busy Northeast Corridor (NEC) and meant to replace an outdated building, Broad Street Station. 30th Street slightly resembles New York's majestic Pennsylvania Station not nearly as large or ornate. In any event, the station is one of the great's still standing seeing millions of passengers and commuters passing through its restored halls on an annual basis.

To alleviate this problem the railroad decided that it needed that was a “through” design were trains did not have to perform any such backup moves. Along with this the PRR also simply needed a larger building as Broad Street was becoming too small for the large volume of traffic it was handling. So, in the 1920s, despite the fact that the country would soon be immersed the black days of the Great Depression, plans began to be made to construct what would become 30th Street Station (officially known by the railroad as the Pennsylvania Station–30th Street) and the PRR hired the architectural firm Graham, Anderson, Probst & White from Chicago to oversee the project.

What they came up with was a beautiful Art Deco inspired interior design with an exterior look that somewhat resembled the railroad’s iconic Pennsylvania Station in New York. Overall the building measured 700 feet long (over two football fields!) by 325 feet wide and featured over 560,000 square-feet of interior space. Also similar to Pennsylvania Station, 30th Street Station was designed so that passengers boarded their trains below ground, completely away from the concourse and above ground sections of the station (30th Street was also split between commuter and intercity passenger trains to keep the flow of traffic more organized). After several years of construction the new station finally opened in 1934, demoting Broad Street Station which was eventually razed in 1953.

Streamliners, which you could find stopping at 30th Street included the Pennsylvania's own Colonial, Broadway Limited, Congressional, Senator, and countless other unnamed commuter runs. Additionally, the Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line's popular Northeast-Southeast trains like the Champion and Silver Meteor passed through the terminal.

Today, 30th Street Station is on the National Register of Historic Places and a Philadelphia landmark. The building is also the headquarters of Amtrak and along with playing host to its trains also serves commuter trains of NJ Transit and SEPTA, which serve millions of commuters annually. For more information on 30th Street Station please click here to visit its website. Of note, for anyone who may be moving to the city for whatever reason, thanks to recent urban renewal projects, trendy Philadelphia apartments and homes are now available close to this historic railway landmark. Finally, if you might be interested in learning more about the Pennsylvania Railroad please click here.

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One other book of interest is Kevin Holland's Classic American Railroad Terminals. While Mr. Solomon's book looks at depots and stations, large and small, found across the country Holland's work looks only at America's most famous and best remembered terminals. If you're interested in perhaps purchasing either (or both) of these books please visit the links below which will take you to ordering information through Amazon.com, the trusted online shopping network.

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