Las Vegas train station

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Station building 1940 to 1969

The Las Vegas station , also Las Vegas Union Pacific Station or Las Vegas Union Pacific Depot, was the station of the city of Las Vegas . The station was operated from 1905 to 1997.

history

In 1903, Las Vegas was connected to the rail network with the construction of the Salt Lake City – Los Angeles railway line, completed in 1905, by the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad . At the station began the main street called Fremont Street of the new city laid out by the railway company.

With the construction of the Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad from 1905 to 1907, the station became a transport hub. Various station systems were built for locomotive maintenance and shunting operations. After the end of the gold boom and the suspension of the railway to Goldfield in 1919, the railway company benefited from the beginning casino tourism. Because of a strike in 1921, the locomotive workshops were relocated to Caliente.

In 1923 the first station building was built. In 1936 the operation of the railway company, now trading as Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad , was taken over by the Union Pacific Railroad . In 1940 the railway company erected a modern reception building that was supposed to do justice to the image of the booming casino city.

1969 the Union Pacific stopped the passenger traffic. As a result, the station was demolished and the Union Plaza Hotel was built on this site in 1971 . In 1976 and from 1979 to 1997 Amtrak passenger trains stopped in Las Vegas. From the end of the 1960s, the railway facilities and shunting systems were completely dismantled. The approximately 25 hectare site was sold by the Union Pacific to the city of Las Vegas.

Since 2005 there have been private sector initiatives for a renewed train connection between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Among other things, the construction of a high-speed line is discussed.

Building

Until 1923

Railway systems in Las Vegas were only built on a larger scale with the construction of the railway line to Goldfield. Corresponding railway operations were built on the northwest side. Initially, a parked car was available for passenger handling.

1924 to 1940

The first reception building was designed by John and Donald Parkinson in a missionary style . The architects built further identical station buildings for the Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad. In front of the building towards the city (Fremont Street) was a small park with an access road designed as a loop.

1940 to 1970

View along Fremont Street to the train station with the Union Pacific sign.

The Art Deco style building was inaugurated in 1940. The cubic building had a flat semicircular extension with large windows on the southwest side. Above it was a facade design in Art Deco design. A roof ran around the building. Around 1941/1942, a neon advertisement with the words “Streamliners & Challengers” and the Union Pacific signet was attached to this design in the direction of the city. This sign was clearly visible on Fremont Street at night.

The existing park in front of the building was retained.

After the Union Pacific Railroad had largely stopped passenger traffic in 1969, the building was demolished.

Since 1971

Waiting rooms and a ticket office were integrated into the Union Plaza Hotel, which was completed in 1971. For the employees of the Union Pacific Railroad, hotel rooms were available for overnight stays necessary for operational reasons.

The existing free space in front of the previous station building fell victim to the new hotel building.

location

The station was at the northwest end of Fremont Street on the outskirts of Las Vegas. This was the main street of Las Vegas until the 1980s and was built on with many hotels and casinos.

In front of the station building in the direction of Fremont Street was a small park with a ring road that served as an entrance and exit. This park was built over when the Union Plaza Hotel was built.

The extensive railway facilities were on the western side of the building.

Web links

Commons : Las Vegas Train Station  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael S. Green: Las Vegas: A Pictorial Celebration . Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2006, ISBN 978-1-4027-2385-8 , pp. 10 ( google.de [accessed December 12, 2018]).
  2. ↑ Plaza Hotel | ONE. Retrieved December 12, 2018 .
  3. ^ The History of Fremont Street, Downtown Las Vegas - Blog. Retrieved December 12, 2018 .
  4. ^ Don Strack: Union Pacific Utah Depots. Retrieved December 12, 2018 (American English).

Coordinates: 36 ° 10 ′ 20.5 ″  N , 115 ° 8 ′ 49.6 ″  W.