Memphis Union Station
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Memphis Union Station | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Southern Railway | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Opened | 1902 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Closed | 1969 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 1969 | demolished | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former services | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Memphis Union Station was a
History
Memphis Union Station Company was chartered in Tennessee on September 25, 1909, for the purpose of operating Union Station. Construction of the facility began in April 1910, and the new station opened for service on April 1, 1912. The station was designed by architect J.A. Galvin, with Walter F. Schultz serving as engineer of construction.[1] The architectural design of the station was a source of pride for Memphis, and the main building was the largest stone structure in the city.
Memphis Union Station's purpose was to unite the passenger and express operations of the major railway lines that terminated in or travelled through Memphis, principally between east and west. Traffic between the north and the south was generally carried by the Illinois Central Railroad, whose operations at Memphis were large enough to justify a separate Central Station two blocks to the west of Union Station.
The terminal tracks were of a stub-end design, meaning that all trains had to back into the station from the main line tracks via a
This configuration served the primary objective of the "western lines," such as the
As passenger train traffic declined after World War II, studies were done on consolidating all Memphis train operations in either Union Station or Central Station. However, the various railroads could never agree on consolidation arrangements, and Memphis Union Station continued in operation into the early 1960s.
Major named passenger trains
Several named passenger trains stopped there during the golden years of rail.
- Louisville and Nashville:
- Humming Bird to Cincinnati, Ohio
- Pan-American (train) to Cincinnati
- Missouri Pacific:
- Texas Eagle (to Laredo, Texas via San Antonio, and another section to Galveston, Texas via Houston)
- Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway:
- Southern Railway:
- Washington, DC, via Huntsville, Alabama and Chattanooga, Tennessee)
- St. Louis and Southwestern (Cotton Belt):
- Texarkana)
- Morning Star (to Dallas via Texarkana)
Demise
The remaining two tenant railroads in Memphis Union Station were unwilling to assume the full burden for maintenance and operation of the station, as the remaining passenger and express freight revenues of these carriers into Memphis brought in far less revenue than the continued operation of the station required.
A prolonged court battle ensued, with the City of Memphis claiming that Union Station had been abandoned without the approval of the Tennessee Public Service Commission. After appeals courts ruled against the railroads, both L&N and Southern were forced to re-open part of Union Station on December 1, 1966. Missouri Pacific had successfully discontinued their last Memphis passenger service, a Memphis to Little Rock connecting train, in August 1965, and was thus not affected by the order to re-open Memphis Union Station.
Passenger traffic into Memphis on both the L&N and Southern was negligible, and the added expense of reopening Union Station caused both roads to initiate train discontinuance proceedings. These efforts were eventually successful, and Union Station was again closed for a second and final time on March 30, 1968, following the departure of the last Southern Railway passenger train from Memphis. The Memphis Union Station property was sold to the United States Postal Service for construction of a new mail sorting facility, and the station was demolished by February 1969.
References
- ^ John Preston Young, ed. Standard History of Memphis, Tennessee: From A Study of the Original Sources. Knoxville: H.W. Crew Co., 1912, 392. A Galvin%22 architect memphis&f=false
