Denver's Union Station

I had sometime to kill this afternoon and headed down to see Denver's Union Station.  If you love rail travel like me, then you will be saddened by a visit.

The place is in pretty good shape, however, there is one Amtrak train that goes through Denver, the California Zephyr that runs from Chicago to San Francisco.  The station is also used for bus and light rail stops, but the place is dead.

Comparing this station to Penn Station in New York or Union Station in Washington DC, it is hard to imagine how they keep the place operating with so little activity.  Comparing this station to the great train stations of Europe (Victoria Station, Gare du Nord, Munich Hauptbahnhof, etc.) is like comparing the living with the dead.

There was a display cabinet in the main hall with some old pictures and commentary.  Denver like many towns in the US owe much of their existence on the fact that the train ran through the area.  In fact many towns and hamlets owe their namesake to the name of the train station at the center of town.

It is a shame that passenger rail travel which was so important to the US in the 19th and early 20th century has become all but a historical footnote in our society.