The Centennial of Chicago Union Station

Chicago has long been a hub for USA rail travel.  I like living in Chicagoland because I'm at an Amtrak hub, and I'm never more than a 2-night train ride from any point in the US.  I have enjoyed so many train trips over the years, and the vast majority of them have started at Chicago Union Station.  So the centennial of Chicago Union Station this year gives me so much to celebrate.

It was interesting to learn about some of its history at a celebration held in mid-July.  The station has an elegant building that is a grand example of Daniel Burnham's august architecture. It once had a terminal building on the opposite side of Canal Street.

My earliest memory of Chicago Union Station was back in the summer of 1997, when my family and I went on a great Amtrak train trip in the western US.  We boarded the Empire Builder at Chicago UNion Station.

In recent years, Amtrak has configured its services in Chicago Union Station so that coach passengers wait to board their trains in the Great Hall.  It has a huge, lofty ceiling, and the space fills with light from a skylight.  Once I departed Union Station in style when Mom and I went to Washington, DC, in sleeper class.  Our trainfare included access to the swanky Metropolitan Lounge, one of the recent upgrades to Union Station.

I walk into Chicago Union Station with a sense of excitement as I prepare to board for another trip by train, eager to experience the sights and people of the USA.  Even though I sometimes feel wistful about the end of a journey when I arrive at Chicago Union Station, in recent years, I've started to anticipate what I'll share about the experience of a trip upon my return.  Many times, someone will kindly pick me up when I return from a trip at Union Station, and that person will be the first of numerous people to ask me what my trip was like.

One part of the station that gets me excited is seeing the travel status board, with arrival and departure info.  It's amazing to see it when I have another opportunity to board as the anticipation builds.  I also greatly enjoy seeing that board on days when I just walk into Union Station while I'm downtown Chicago.  Just looking at the board makes something light up in me, as I think of all the wonderful trips I've had that started there and trips I can anticipate in the future.

Indeed, Chicago Union Station, a storied icon, is a special focal point for my travels by rail.

Here's the travel info board at Chicago Union Station in the passage from the Great Hall to the gates. Below is a map of the Amtrak system that I took that same day, May 1, 2023, Amtrak's birthday, when I briefly visited Chicago Union Station.

While out during Open House Chicago weekend in 2021, I stopped by Chicago Union Station and someone kindly photographed me by the clock design in the floor, which bears the year of my birth.