Outside waiting area of Raleigh Station. January 2018.
With the opening of Raleigh Union Station only a few months away, I just had to capture the look and feel of Raleigh Station, our current train station on Cabarrus Street. This post is basically just a bunch of photos for posterity to show the station that has served Raleigh since 1950.
If you can make it down there in the next month or two, it is such a drastic difference between the upcoming station and the current one. It really feels like Raleigh leapfrogged our next train project and just went two levels higher instead.
The splintering wood, the rusty metal, and the washed out signs basically show a station that has reached its end-of-life. The interior is nothing but functional however you can’t help but admire the downtown view.
I’ll be referring to this post in the future but for now, enjoy the photos.
Google maps aerial of Raleigh Station.
Exterior of Raleigh Station. January 2018.
Exterior of Raleigh Station. January 2018.
Exterior of Raleigh Station. January 2018.
Interior of Raleigh Station. January 2018.
Interior of Raleigh Station. January 2018.
Interior of Raleigh Station. January 2018.
Interior of Raleigh Station. January 2018.
Skyline view from the boarding area of Raleigh Station. January 2018.
Signs of Raleigh Station. January 2018.
Boarding area of Raleigh Station. January 2018.
An out-of-date map of downtown Raleigh outside of Raleigh Station. January 2018.
Boarding area of Raleigh Station. January 2018.
One of the entrances to Raleigh Station. January 2018.
Current boarding area of Raleigh Station with new platforms for Raleigh Union Station in the background. January 2018.
Boarding areas of Raleigh Station. January 2018.
Boarding areas of Raleigh Station. January 2018.
Similar Posts:
- The Cabarrus Street Train Station Has Now Been Demolished | August 15, 2018
- NCDOT Announces Mid-Day Service Between Raleigh and Charlotte, June 5th | April 30, 2010
Comments
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Great pictures Leo, thank you!
Have you thought of sharing photos like these with the Raleigh museum for the posterity of our city?
Robert, I’m not sure if the museum is storing anything digitally but I’ll be sure to ask. Thanks!
Would be fun if the city auctioned interior remnants before demolishing.
Thanks again, Leo, for posting these photos! I’ve already commented on a previous post on this same topic, but feel compelled to do so again. I’ve been visiting this train station since around 1993. Spent many an early (and often cold) morning waiting for my parent’s arrival from Florida. After viewing your pics, I’m reminded of the changes/upgrades to the building that have occurred over the years. I vividly remember walking the boarding area path with my two children to meet their grandparents as they disembarked at the end of the train. Great memories!
Thanks for sharing, Rob!
Raleigh grows up so does the train station but I still can’t make any sense of the new station. What will be the main platform? Will the future commuter heavy rail have it’s own platform? Is there space for more platforms when in a few decades there will be multiple train lines/commuter heavy rail? If, big if, high speed cuts through Raleigh how much does the new station have to change to accommodate it or does it have be demolished for next Union Station. I can’t wait!
Fran, the new platform can have trains access it from both sides so in theory an Amtrak train can board while a commuter train pulls in on the other side.
I’ll stick with the big IF, IF high speed comes down, I believe I saw loose plans to add a new platform to the north of the station. That’ll need a new concourse and such so plans are very loose for that but we do the room to accommodate another platform.
“Raleigh leapfrogged our next train project and just went two levels higher”
Wow Wow Wow, the difference is going to be a shock to current users of the station.
Awesome. Pretty cool to enjoy a full hot meal and shop before departing or after arriving.
The new station fits nicely with the design and feel of RDU too, so either way you come in to Raleigh you feel the same standard of design, quality of work and customer services.
Excellent Work Raleigh!!!!
A restaurant named Choo Chew in the old stain would have made a million bucks.
Side note: South St. Market, a couple blocks from here, was just demolished today.
Oh if anyone is curious as I am I just saw the full plans from NCDOT. AMTRAK platform is out farthest from the actual station and connected via an underground crossway. The track that hugs the actual stations (the tracks are not built yet as of Jan 22nd) are set aside for the “Future TTA Platform’ meaning the Commuter Heavy Rail since the Commuter Rail will have shorter stop times, more frequently. Plus it does note that the northern curve is designed to accommodate a second concourse and one or two platforms! Maybe a future north or east corridor commuter rail.
@al, you make comment that Raleigh leapfrogged “our next train project…” Where in fact are you?
John,
Huh, just quoting from Leo’s great article chief. Enjoy your evening Sir!
We’re probably never going to have true high speed rail (ie rail that goes either 160 or 220 mph) but we are going to see faster service to DC when they finish the “s” line. We’re also going to go from once daily service to DC to 4x a day, and 4x to Charlotte to eventually 10 daily. At least according to NCDOTs 25 year plan. Plans exist to have as many as 5 tracks in Raleigh served by 3 platforms.
Does anyone know what will happen to the Amtrak Admin facility? I assume they’d move admin into Union Station but that hasn’t been made clear. The current admin space is a sweet renovated warehouse, that I hope gets kept and re-used if they do relocate to the new building.
@al, please excuse my inability to connect the obvious dots. I had just come home from a 165 charity bicycle ride and I wasn’t at my most alert when I asked my question. :-)
From Seattle, a former Raleighite advises about living with Amazon
http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article196266729.html
John, not a big deal buddy, I hope the ride went well!
@Stew – I agree with most of this article but Raleigh’s historic landmarks will razed with or without Amazon. Its what Raleigh does so no real change there. Also – for me, the housing market is already to the point that if I were to sell my house in downtown then I’d have to look to Garner, Knightdale, or (god forbid) Cary to find something affordable.
The mid-20th was a death spell for Raleigh’s historic landmarks. It was too late 50 years ago when they were tearing down 19th century structures for mid-century brutalist and post-modern ones. Honestly, Raleigh could use a bit of razing at this point. If I was a rich man, yubby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dum. I would realign MLKJr BLVD and make it underground and push the redesign the DEPCA and push it back 600 feet south for a new plaza. Let’s face it, DEPCA can’t compete with DCAP at the moment.
Partly because it will annoy the soccer haters I’m going to bring up the MLS subject but also so we should be reminded that we need to keep supporting NCFC even though we didn’t
Ale the 1st cut. Also, charlotte USA ‘s minor league team just got bought by a guy with more money than the current owner and I’m sure a classic charlotte insecure ego complex who will announce his intent to bring the MLS to “shhhharlotsgoralot”
I found this article interesting
http://abc11.com/community-events/unearthing-downtown-raleighs-lost-waterway/2988847/