Washington, D.C. Union Station (1988)

[@tamiaduell218]

I work on G street in the same building as Amtrak. It’s so sad to see what Covid has done to all the shops. It’s literally a ghost town. I pray it will go back to normal again. It’s such a beautiful place.

[@Salmagundiii]

Agree with your sentiments, it's tragic feeling. But I spent years commuting through it...I swear, after they removed the Center Cafe and replaced more and more of the vendors with 'bland suburban generica' (B Smith with Shake Shack, for example) it felt like it was losing its unique vibe, well before COVID. It also seems to me that the smartphone era made people more harried. In the 2000s it was much more common to start chatting with strangers on Amtrak NE Regional trains. Maybe that had something to do with it, too.

[@trainsupporter9088]

Great video! I spent many, many happy hours looking around Union Station, eating etc. in the years 1988 - 1996. I so enjoyed the Great American train store, the American Cafe with it's unique menu featuring cuisine from around the country, the beautiful food court, the large bookstore etc. This video brings back many great memories for me.

[@maureenmurphy7817]

Wow. I worked at Judiciary Square and then Dupont Circle and spent time there from age 29 to my 50's, my prime work years (catching AMTRAK, Christmas shopping, lunch with coworkers, movies, sometimes on dates). A large part of my working years. I was there on opening day in 1988... they had boys dressed up in old school Newsie outfits giving out flyers. That weekend, I saw a movie ("High Spirits" with a still-little-known Liam Neeson and Peter O'Toole) in the theatre complex. In the 80's "going out to the movies" was still such a standard social activity. Sadly, the theater really went downhill as the years past and by 2004, we started going to the Gallery Place Regal Theater complex. Over the years, the retail area became more and more empty and I understand it now will be closing for yet another major reovation. P.S. I forget when it closed, but in 1988, directly to the RIGHT of the movie theater was a New Orleans style bar featuring slushie machines for hi-alcohol drinks. It may not have lasted for more than a year and I think it could get rowdy in there. Finally, by FAR the biggest disruption to life in DC was the Covid pandemic. All the old activities (bars, theaters, plays) are very slowly coming back but with remote work seeming to be a permanent part of many lives now, the city still feels half-dead.

[@mannyistheman2221]

Union Station is a sad and depressing place today. The food court hardly has any vendors. Most of the retail stores are gone. Street people come in there to pandhandle and harass patrons. I remember this place after the reopening. It is like night and day.

[@donniejr1657]

It was awesome after the 1980s restoration. My favorite building.

[@warfawarfa7322]

This is when i moved away from DC after 9 years and i drove and immigrated to Canada in the summer of 1988.

[@punkassbitchesstolemymuffl6420]

Warfa Warfa why?

[@DHTSciFiArtist]

The memories! Wow.

[@freewheelingit]

12:02 - Hey, that's Biden!

[@YorkVid]

Nice find!

[@sammyjaohnson5631]

Do you think he's......for-biden to go to union station alone since he is the president?

[@maureenmurphy7817]

Yes. He commuted dailt when Senate in session. I saw him a dozen times at least.

[@Munchabunch56]

What did Amtrak's "temporary quarters" look like? Do any photographs or floor plans survive today?

[@maureenmurphy7817]

From 1984 to 1988 era (when I was taking Amtrak) I have never seen any photos. It was pretty horrible. Basically the only thing at the station was what is now the waiting room, and a few fast food places, and everything was dumpy and run down. The giant hall and everything else was a boarded up construction site. You could hear the racket from behind wooden walls during work hours.

[@mannyistheman2221]

This station has gone downhill from when it was redeveloped. The movie theater is gone. There is. Walgreens in the old movie theater space. Many retail spaces there are closed. 😢

[@amann18]

Murder Capital Back then

[@mannyistheman2221]

yes

[@briangriffin4937]

As of this writing 08/26/24, Amtrak has assumed control of Union Station in a plan to, “Elevate the travel experience.” Taking a que from New York’s Moynihan Train Hall, they should concentrate on a better first-class Amtrak lounge. Union Station has an opportunity to one-up Moynihan’s ticketed-passenger waiting area which is crowded labyrinth of bench seats.

[@Salmagundiii]

I hope it works out. But I wonder if the vibe of *that* part of DC will ever come back to what it was. I have my doubts - we'll see.

[@sprat6751]

i went on the night i re opended they showed strangers on a train xx

[@cpsheedy]

Sounds like Ted Koppel narrating?

[@OSTARAEB4]

Sounds more like correspondent Edward E. Newman.

[@maureenmurphy7817]

It sounds so fusty and old-fashioned now.

[@Salmagundiii]

@@maureenmurphy7817 He's got the last version of the so-called 'transatlantic accent'. "Transpohtation" lol.