I felt like posting a brief bit about my train station today. You know in Kansas City we had Union Station which was essentually a museum. Of course you couldn't move the train yards (or the station) so it still looked like it had trains, but the station itself had long been abandoned as anything related to passengers or rails. It is a magnificient building and the city has put it to good use. We enjoyed going there even though it was still painfully clear that Union Station struggled (even as an entertainment locale). But I did like just imagining what it was like in its own days of use.
Now I live in Wellington and we have a real rail service. I ride the trains several times a week. Wellington Station was built in 1934 and is a smaller cousin to Union Station. It share the same styles and construction. Its open entry square had massive tall ceilings and great high arched windows. Windows that, in their day, would have been the only climate control for the building. I'm sure Wellington Station suffers as a modern business office, but it is still a train station. 10's of thousands of people come in to Wellington Station every day. You don't have to imagine the hustle and bustle, just show up at 8:00 AM. People of all means cross the tiles and go out the steps. Musicians will often set up and play. Volunteers flock to the doors looking for spare change for charities. There are no less than 5 coffee shops. A dry cleaner is stationed at Platform 9 and 3/4ths. There is a also a well stocked medium-sized grocery store which is quite convenient for an odd item or two on the way home.
Yes, the trains are unreliable at times. Yes, TranzMetro struggles to make a profit. Yes, tax payers do subsidize the trains. But they still work amazingly well. I hope we see more of them around the world.
I loved your train station. It was an attraction, to me, by itself. Fun. Sabrina got her first "slice" there and the grocery store was fun to browse. Tom and I loved riding the train, too, it was an adventure.
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