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The abandoned stations of the USA (and Spain too)

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MidnightFlyer

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Anybody who mentions it being from the Daily Mail ergo it's twaddle is going on my ignore list ;)

Anyhow, I noticed this on the Daily Mail website today, which features an article about disused railway depots and stations in America (with a random couple from Spain), left to rot as rail travel declined throughout last century, with some excellent, haunting photos. Ignore the words if you want, but it is definitely worth two minutes of your time to look at:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-railway-stations-left-fall-pieces-world.html

Cheers
 
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142094

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I've seen the Detroit one in a photography book before, fanatastic looking building and one I'll certainly visit if I can.

Think the New York Subway one is City Hall, which was taken out of service when the use of a loop line was discontinued.
 

WestCoast

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Think the New York Subway one is City Hall, which was taken out of service when the use of a loop line was discontinued.

It's certainly City Hall subway station, a very interesting former station actually. The platform design is rather more grand than most of the 'functional' stations on that network. It's not exactly abandoned though, since it was spruced up in the '90s for tours.

The loop line still runs and is actually classed as revenue track, it's just the old platform which is out of service. You are permitted to stay onboard after the downtown 6 train terminates at Brooklyn Bridge – City Hall and goes around the loop to the uptown platform of the same station, passing through this wonderful old City Hall platform.
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Historic: Anhalter Bahnhof Station in Berlin was opened in 1841

Berlin Anhalter station is certainly a shadow of its former self. It was originally an imposing terminus station that was often called Berlin’s “Gateway to the South", as it served long-distance trains to as far away as Naples and Athens. It was heavily bombed during the war, but was restored somewhat afterwards. Unfortunately, it served trains to East Germany (and towards the rest of the Eastern Bloc) but was located in West Berlin. Rising tensions between the West and the East leading to the erection of the Berlin Wall, meant that Anhalter, despite much public outcry, was almost completed demolished in 1960.
 
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jamesontheroad

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I've seen the Detroit one in a photography book before, fanatastic looking building and one I'll certainly visit if I can.

I was in Detroit in April, staying at the newly opened Hostel Detroit, which is just a couple of blocks from the Michigan Central station. After many years in decline, the property developer that owns it has erected new fencing around it and done a lot to secure it. It used to be fairly easy to access (most often via the underpass to the west of the station), however the building is increasingly dangerous. A young explorer fell about twenty feet last winter and broke at least one leg in the process. The neighbourhoods around the station (Corktown to the north and Mexicantown to the south-west) are actually looking up. There are two excellent restaurants facing the station, namely Slows BBQ and the Mercury Burger Bar.

We may romanticise what it would be like to rejuvenate the station, but even after construction it was never used in its entirety - some of the upper floors were never occupied. Even with the significant developments in Michigan Amtrak service, there simply isn't the requirement for anything more than the current single track station that's uptown. It is a great shame however that there is a working tunnel under the Detroit River right there but no passenger service from Chicago or Detroit to Toronto in Canada. The last through train to run was in 2002 (admittedly not via Detroit).

If anyone reading this does make it to Detroit, be sure to check out the pages on the Michigan Central Railroad at Detroit Urbex. The guy behind the site also runs highly customisable personal tours of the city - I spent a whole day with him exploring various parts of the city, urban prairies and ruins and thoroughly recommend his service. He can get you inside a number of ruins, although when I last spoke to him was still strongly advising against any attempt to enter the railroad station.

My pics from my five day trip (including the Detroit Urbex tour) are on Flickr here. The abandoned high school we explored has now been demolished.
 
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trentside

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Really interesting stuff - thanks for sharing Matt.

Thanks also to jamesontheroad for the links to your photographs. The scale of the station really is impressive - something the US is good at, even if there isn't a practical use for something of that size.
 

142094

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One thing that is good to see is that it hasn't been demolished like a lot of other fantastic buildings from the same period. Hard to believe at one time that Grand Central Terminal in NY was also under threat.
 

Golghar

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This is the old station building at Gary, Indiana. The line is still in use with both freight and passenger services. Access to the platforms is by a tunnel from the Gary Metro Center on the other side of the tracks from the original station building.
 

317666

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That's definitely City Hall in New York. Anhalter Bahnhof is still served by an underground S-Bahn station, although the main-line station closed in 1952.
 
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