Fresh Loaf

Terminal Station

The Infrastructurist has a great post examining some of the country’s most beautiful train stations that were demolished to make way for bland developments or parking lots.

Atlanta receives shout outs for Terminal Station and Union Station. Both buildings were razed long ago to make way for the Richard B. Russell Federal Building and a parking lot, respectively.

About Terminal Station:

Atlanta was once the largest rail crossroads in the south. Travelers could get virtually everywhere quickly and conveniently by rail. Built in 1905, Terminal was the grand portal to the city. It had two Italianate towers and a huge train shed behind. When the station was razed in 1970, it was replaced by a government office building. These days Atlanta’s intercity rail depot is a small former commuter rail station located far north of downtown, adjacent to a 16-lane highway.

For another beautiful photo of Terminal Station, visit the cleverly named Terminal Station, an Atlanta blog focused on urban issues and development.

UPDATE: A reader whose family member works in the railroad industry sends word:

The statue you see in front of the station (on the little grass island) was placed in front of the Norfolk Southern Railway office building on Peachtree St. just a few weeks ago. It’s of Samuel Spencer, the first president of the Southern Railway. The interesting part is that it was sculpted by the same artist who did the Lincoln Memorial, Daniel Chester French.

(H/T to Dominick Brady, Photo courtesy GSU via Infrastructurist)

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1. AJC plans to cut staff by 30 percent (As we later reported, nearly 90 editorial staffers will be bought out or laid off. That sucks.)

2. Atlanta to New Orleans rail line in danger … because of Alabama? (At least this story has a happy ending.)

3. Atlanta City Council OKs Decatur Belt deal— with a catch (Marietta Street residents protect their neighborhood from destruction, and the newest Beltline plan is a win-win)

4. Examining the Sweet 16: Nova v. Duke is can’t miss basketball (Needless to say, we rooted for the Tar Heels.)

5. Georgia slips in ’safest state’ rankings to no. 39 (The Peach State dropped seven spots, to be exact — the largest plummet in the country. Oops.)

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Skurby (with Will): On a freight train. It’s the most amazing thing you can ever experience. You go over bridges, the scenery, the stars and everything. It’s the most awesome thing ever. Freedom. Bring canned food. It gets cold on the train so bring a sleeping bag. I did it from Philly down to Columbus. You just hop on and off the freight train and travel around wherever it takes us. I don’t want anything from a person other than companionship. I was nervous the first time, but once it starts going, it’s amazing.

Penny (with Cristal): I’m probably taking her to the Aquarium. There’s all that wetness, all that moisture. It’s hot. It’s very suggestive. We’ll have some sushi, some unagi. It’s supposed to be an aphrodisiac. Then we’ll go bowling. Then go somewhere on Cheshire Bridge and maybe find a bouquet of flowers made out of condoms. That way she knows what’s on my mind. Then the Glenn Hotel, downtown. They have rooms where you can see the showers from the bedroom. That’s pretty hot. And then invite a girl over to the hotel and get the sushi delivered — and eat off of her.

Patrick (with Grace): A perfect rainy day, waking up with the person who’s your better half. You’re pretty much stuck inside with them all day, and you just hang out together. Dinner and hang out together all day. That’s perfect. You’re forced to be alone with each other, away from society, which is going to make you appreciate yourselves that much better. We appreciate each other all year round. We just don’t take one day out of the year. We treat every day like it’s Valentine’s.

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President-elect Barack Obama today is traveling by train from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. for Tuesday’s inauguration. And “Georgia 300,” the train car carrying Obama and his family, has Georgia roots.

From the Associated Press:

The car was first built by Pullman Standard for the Southern Railway, when the car was known as the General Polk and used by railroad officials.

Georgia Railroad later acquired it in 1954, and [John Heard, the car's current owner], who is president of First Coach Rail Inc., bought it in 1986. It was a prized purchase for a man who recalls seeing the car as a boy in Atlanta.

Heard has made a series of electrical and plumbing upgrades to the car over the years.

“It had deteriorated and I completely rebuilt it,” said Heard, of Fernandina Beach, Fla.

Here are some interior shots of the train car.

(Photo by Tony Bucca used with permission)

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In 2007, 500 downtown Atlanta parking meters were stolen. They were sawed at their base and carted off, presumably by people eager to get their hands on the approximately $35 in quarters, dimes and nickels inside.

This morning, Atlanta police located several of the missing meters during a round-up of homeless people camping out in Downtown’s railroad gulch.

From the AJC:

Among the stolen items recovered during the 5:30 a.m. operation were an electric wheelchair and 20 or more parking meters, poles and all.

Wardell said homeless people steal the meters from parking places, then put them on the railroad tracks for trains to run over and break open so they can take the coins.

To reduce the likelihood of a train derailment, and to avoid paying roughly $250,000 annually just to replace stolen parking meters, the city should consider giving Atlanta’s homeless people keys to open the meters.

Think about it.

The homeless can get the change the city doesn’t promptly collect. The city can keeps its expensive meters intact. Freight trains will encounter fewer dangerous obstacles. And the panhandling which annoys the crap out of people who visit and work Downtown would likely drop.

Sugg, if you steal this idea for your urban think tank, I’m coming after you.

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Overheard this morning in Aurora Coffee, Little Five Points: One lean guy wearing light, somewhat worn clothes and work boots passes my table in the back to the one just behind me. Another lean guy wearing light, somewhat worn clothes, a black jean jacket, and baseball cap and work boots is sitting there, charging his phone.

“Hey, man, are you traveling?”

“No, I’ve been here for a while.”

“I just got to town, man, and I’m trying to figure out where everything is.”

“Well, I don’t really live here anymore. I spend most of the year up in Alaska.”

“I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on.”

“There’s not really anything going on in Atlanta anymore. You might want to head over to Athens.”

“Athens? Where’s that?”

“It’s this little town about 45 minutes away. They got more of a punk scene — a lot more stuff going on. You just head on down to DeKalb Avenue and catch the CSX.”

“DeKalb Avenue, where’s that?”

“Just go out of here and take a right. And when you get to the tracks, there’ll be two MARTA tracks and then there’s a CSX track. Just go left, and follow it down to where it forks up there, and the one that goes left — that’ll take you to Athens.”

“Oh, hey, man, thanks a lot, man. That’s great.”

After the guy asking the questions got out of the bathroom, they conversed more. The guy asking the questions was from New Hampshire. The other guy had been charging his phone. He warned the questioner to keep an eye out for people who’d been working on the lines.

This is a world I did not know about before.

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