How tall is union station

You can unsubscribe at any time. Get Exclusive Updates Be the first to know about happenings and events here at the station! Join Mailing List. But these 14 stations are more than pretty facades, or even just simple railway hubs. Some feature museums, planetariums, hotels, and more, making them worth a visit even if you aren't hopping on the train. Below, find some of the most beautiful train stations in the country. If you want to travel the rails further afield, check out our list of the most beautiful train stations around the world.

This gallery was originally published in January It has been updated with new information. At over a century old, the grande dame of train stations sees , people crisscross through its main concourse—passing the iconic information booth and four-faced clock—each day during a normal year.

The most striking feature of the Beaux Arts station , though, is the constellation mural painted across its green arched ceiling. Astrologists beware, not all of the stars are in their rightful place.

While trains to Chicago, L. A, and St. Louis still run through the working station—built in and restored to its Beaux Arts glory after a prolonged closure in —the real draws here are the more recent additions: a permanent rail history exhibit, a planetarium, science center for kids, and movie theater. Be sure to look up in the main hall to catch a glimpse of the three 3,pound chandeliers hanging overhead.

The stunning arched main hall of D. Besides being a working Amtrak station, the hub attracts visitors to its underground shopping concourse—a whopping 37 million travelers, shoppers, and D.

You'll want to spend most of your time in one of the busiest station in the country looking up: five-story-tall windows and glamorous Art Deco chandeliers illuminate the interiors. Water-damaged plaster and stone was restored, and historic paint colors applied to the walls and ceiling. In addition to its passenger-facing functions, Union Station is also home to the Joseph C. Szabo Chicago Control Center. South of Union Station, Amtrak operates a switching yard that is responsible for maintaining coaches, sleeping and food service cars, baggage cars and locomotives used on all trains dispatched from Chicago.

Trains are serviced, cleaned and stocked while locomotives are fueled and maintained on a regular cycle. This became the Indian name for the Chicago River, in recognition of the presence of wild leeks in the watershed.

When early French explorers began adopting the word, with a variety of spellings, in the late 17th century, it came to refer to the site at the mouth of the Chicago River. The short, swampy portage between the Chicago Rivers and the Des Plaines River—between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed—attracted the attention of French explorers in the 17th century.

The first permanent non-native settlement after this was Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable, who built the first trading post on the Chicago River in the s. The land was later ceded to the U.

The Potawatomi ceded the land entirely in the Treaty of St. The state of Illinois granted the rapidly growing city its charter on March 4, Since its inception, Chicago has been a trade nexus.

The same year, the first rail line to Chicago, the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, was completed; steam-powered grain elevators were introduced; the telegraph arrived; and the Chicago Board of Trade was founded.

In , most of the city burned in the Great Chicago Fire. The damage from the fire was immense: people died, 18, buildings were destroyed, and nearly a third of the residents were left homeless. The fire led to the incorporation of stringent fire-safety codes and a preference for masonry construction. However, the soft, swampy ground near the lake was unsuitable for tall masonry buildings, leading directly to the innovation of using steel frames in buildings and the invention of the skyscraper, making Chicago a leader in architecture and setting the model for achieving vertical city densities nationwide.

Between and , Chicago grew from a city of , to nearly 1. The flourishing economy drew new residents from rural communities as well as immigrants from Europe. Many of the railroads built west of Chicago had corporate headquarters in the city, as well as their yards and shops. Chicago became a center of manufacture of freight cars, passenger cars Pullman Company , and later, diesel locomotives Electro-Motive, in suburban LaGrange.

Until the s, the Chicago Loop—the popular name for the Chicago business district located south of the main stem of the Chicago River—contained six major railroad terminals for intercity passenger traffic, as lines ended in Chicago, but did not pass through it.

Travelers would often take the necessary layover as an opportunity for sightseeing. Union Station is the busiest passenger terminal in Chicago and is most intact of the four remaining downtown train stations.

This occasion was also the beginning of the Chicago School of Architecture, which continued to influence the world up through the middle of the 20th century.

Today, Chicago is the largest city in both Illinois and the Midwest, the third most populous city in the country, and a major transportation hub in the United States.

The city is an important component of global trade, as it is the third largest intermodal port in the world after Hong Kong and Singapore. Close Search. Baggage Amtrak Express shipping not available Checked baggage service available No checked baggage storage Bike boxes for sale No baggage carts Ski bags for sale Bag storage not available Shipping Boxes for sale Baggage assistance provided by Red Caps. Parking Same-day parking is not available Overnight parking is not available.

Accessibility Payphones Accessible platform Accessible Restrooms Accessible ticket office Accessible waiting room Accessible water fountain Accessible same-day parking is not available Accessible overnight parking is not available No high platform Wheelchair available Wheelchair lift available.