Why American Train Stations Have the Same Name

Across America you will find the same names on train stations across the country in places that, seemingly, don’t seem to make sense. There’s a reason why American train stations have the same name.

[AverytheCubanAmerican]

A fact many don't know: DC's Union Station was designed by the SAME person who designed the famous Flatiron Building as seen in Spider-Man, Daniel Burnham! He also worked on the Columbian Exposition's White City in Chicago in 1893 as well as the city plans for Baguio and Manila when the US colonized the Philippines.

ANOTHER fact people don't know: American railroads didn't just build tracks and stations, but also hotels next door to said stations. In the case of the Pennsylvania Railroad, they built the Hotel Pennsylvania that was once next door to NY Penn Station, and once the largest hotel in the world when it opened in 1919. It was later called the Statler Hotel after the chain bought a controlling interest in it, and if the Statler sounds familiar then, you might know about two senior Muppets Waldorf and Statler. Waldorf was named after the Waldorf Astoria, while the Statler was indeed named after this hotel! Unfortunately, it has been demolished to make room for a glass office tower called PENN15.

[JimOHalloran]

So what we're saying is that "Chicago Union Station" could have been called "Pennsylvania Central Union Station" or "Central Pennsylvania Union Station" instead :)

[lukes]

Good old Flinders street Station, that was once considered to be torn down as well. The train stations in the US are huge and majestic in their size, hopefully they will be preserved for future generations to use as well.

[uma]

You’re great at answering questions I have never thought of but would want to know - if that makes sense!

[AverytheCubanAmerican]

1:08 Jersey City mentioned! ABOUT TIME! Used to live there! Hope you get to go there and talk about how great it is! Yes, Jersey City's train history is RICH! The Penn terminal in Jersey City used to be at what's now Exchange Place. Harborside Financial Center was built on the site, but the underground PATH service remains (which is a pretty deep station!). The NJ waterfront in general actually used to be DOTTED with rail terminals, as people would get off at these terminals to take ferries across to Manhattan. But once the Pennsylvania Railroad built tunnels, that changed everything. Out of the FIVE terminals that dotted the waterfront, Communipaw Terminal (preserved and now in Liberty State Park) and Hoboken Terminal are the only ones standing, and Hoboken Terminal is still operating as a commuter rail/ferry terminal.

Today, Jersey City remains a transit powerhouse. From everything from private Spanish shuttles to the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (which stretches across Hudson County), it really doesn't take long to see why so many prefer to take a bus or train over a car.

[bonecanoe]

There are a lot of streets in front of train stations around here named some variation of "Reading Ave" and it's always a big clue of who used to own those rail lines.

[AnotherAnnonymousCat]

There's a great Union Station in Denver, and I think LA too. I ❤ the Amtrak. If you're time rich and want to SEE America, it's the best way to travel if you ask me. I just went from California to Denver on the California Zephyr train, and Julian if you haven't done that line it's a must. I believe it's considered one of the best railway journeys in the world.

Your videos are great mate. Love seeing a fellow Melburnian out in the wild! 👍

[MichaelSmithAU]

Another great video insight.
Never really thought of it before, but makes perfect sense. 👍

[SOBIESKI_freedom]

You have answered an age-old question that had been bugging me for centuries. My life is now complete. Thank you. 👍👌

[entropyachieved]

Loving this American series you are doing. I wonder what interesting facts you could find in Europe

[centredoorplugsthornton]

Boston has North, South and Back Bay stations. Many major stations are called terminals, such as the old Buffalo Central Terminal, and Cincinnati Union Terminal. Cleveland Union Terminal is renamed Tower City and handles only local mass transit trains.
Outside the US, London has 8 stations, Paris 9, Moscow at least 6, Johannesburg has had 3 Park stations: one abandoned, one in use and one underground for the Gautrain to the airport and Pretoria. Vienna had separate Westbahnhof and Sudbahnhof, now they have a new glitzy Hauptbahnhof. Buenos Aires has at least 6 terminals, 3 of em side by side at Plaza Retiro.

[tagbon]

Super interesting and informative as always, thanks Julian!

[Techno-Universal]

Actually Melbourne Central shopping centre opened in 1991 after three years of construction as they started construction of it and aired concept renders of it on TV in 1988! :)

[rodc]

2:38 This early architectural simulation was done at Sonicvision in South Melbourne.
Pretty sure I was one of the modelers or Animatorsr at the
time

[JetBlackRage]

The audio goes pretty echo-y and static-y a few times when recording near the pillars, plus the little warble during some of those self-video shots. Not sure if mixing issue or youtube!

[MaryMcGillivray]

Great video! Is this why in London there’s one stretch of road with Kings Cross, St Pancras and Euston all built next to each other - were they all built by competing railway companies? Maybe they should have just built a Union Station 😂

[zoomosis]

I can see the soon-to-be-built Union station in Melbourne might confuse some future budding historians.

[_pelicans]

My favourite central is Sydney, which really is not that central. Or union station coming to the Melbourne suburban

[RiffRaffMama.]

Hey Julian, do you keep going back and forth to the US or do you live over there now?

[roxxma]

The term Union for stations and other landmarks in the United states may also have a historic post Civil War context. In the 1890s my hometown (Burlington, Massachusetts, which until the middle of the twentieth century was a very small rural farming community), combined its five one room schoolhouses scattered across the town's 12sq miles/30sq km into one central schoolhouse and called it the Union School. This name was chosen not only because it was a union of the five district schools into one central schoolhouse, but to commemorate the Union, IE the United States. I suspect that may be a reason why the term union was chosen over other terms when it comes to railroad stations. The Union School still stands today, facing the Town Common and serves as the town's police station.