Sorry, it’s been a while since I have last posted a blog entry. My life has taken me from one Queen City to another from Charlotte, North Carolina to Cincinnati, Ohio.
I would say one of the gems in this Queen City is the Cincinnati Union Terminal Station located in the Queensgate neighborhood. This 504,000 square foot structure took about 5 years to build opened its doors on March 19, 1933. The iconic half-dome rotunda makes for an awe-inspiring entrance into the terminal lobby. The walls are adorned with stories told in mosaics by Winold Reiss. In its prime, the station served 7 passenger railroads and had 16 tracks with 8 island platforms. The station saw its peak in rail service during World War II then steady a slow decline in passenger service decades later. In 1972 the last passenger trains rolled into the station after Amtrak moved to a smaller station in Cincinnati. A few years later the platforms and train concourse were demolished. The rest of the space becomes the home “Land of Oz” shopping mall.
Amtrak passenger railroad service returned to the iconic Union Terminal in 1991. Nearly 2 decades later $228 Million dollars was spent to restore this art deco station to its original state.
Today Cincinnati Union Terminal Station is the home of Cincinnati Museum Center. The previously bustling station is now the epicenter of Cincinnati history featuring an HO scale model layout that spans two levels and multiple rooms. Exhibits circulate seasonally and include something for every member of the family.
Union Terminal also houses the Cincinnati Amtrak station. This station services as a stop along Amtrak’s Cardinal running between New York City’s Penn Station and Chicago Union Station.
