Sunday, July 20, 2014

Oklahoma City Union Station



A postcard from not long after this station--built in 1930 in Spanish Mission Revival style with many elegant touches such as small courtyards and alcoves with fountains and gardens surrounding the station building--was opened in 1931 and another from about 1950.

Equipped with 12 tracks, it served as a passenger station until 1967 when the two railroads that provided passenger service to the city, the Rock Island and the Frisco, ceased to do so. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and is today used as the main office of the Central Oklahoma Transportation & Parking Authority.

BNSF has two freight tracks through the old yard but there are plans to relocate part of I-40 there and the freight tracks will be relocated.  Amtrak's Heartland Flyer provides passenger service to the city to the old Santa Fe depot which the city wants to acquire from its current owners; there is a dispute over its value - local news webpage

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