Pennsylvania Railroad World War II Memorial. November 2021
How odd to say that I have passed through the station over a hundred times but never once left it to visit Philadelphia. All my visits to Philly were by car. Nonetheless, I became familiar with that grand old transport terminal over the years.
The first visit was also my very first train ride from Lancaster, PA to Providence, RI where I was going to meet Maureen C, whom I had met at a Georgetown Prospective Students' weekend. We had hit it off and she invited me to visit her and her family in Middletown, RI just next to Newport [see: Newport, RI]. That was the summer between high school and college. In those final glory days I was working 10 hour shifts at the Donsco Foundry in Wrightsville to earn some cash before going to college, going to parties and hanging out with high school friends for the last time when I wasn't working, and, finally, taking this wonderous trip to Rhode Island where I fell in love with Newport.
It was my very first train ride and I was excited and nervous. I was 18 but extremely sheltered and naive. I do not credit with parents with having prepared me to face the wide world in some ways. Using any kind of transportation was one of them... I only knew how to drive a car. I bought a ticket in Lancaster and got on the train and headed to Philadelphia where I would change to the Northeast Corridor and jump on a Boston-bound train.
30th Street Station was amazing to me. When I took the escalator up into that lobby my jaw nearly hit the floor. I had never been in such a grand space before that wasn't a government building in Washington or a church. The winged sculpture towered over everything at one end of the concourse. People were scurrying everywhere and I was nervous about making my connection (which turned out to be easy). I remember seeing Amish people in the waiting room and thinking how absolutely out of place they looked. Where were they going? On later visits I often found the queue for the Lancaster-bound train by just looking where the Amish people were gathered.
In the New York years I often had to change trains at 30th Street if I happened to miss the direct connection to Harrisburg. I came to know 30th Street Station well even if I never stepped outside its doors. Compared to troglodyte Penn Station in Manhattan [see: Penn Station], 30th Street always seemed glorious. For me its only failing was not having any decent places to eat - in that Penn Station New York was superior.
The photo above was my last visit to the station on my way home to see my mother just before she passed. I got a call from my brother that I needed to get home ASAP and due to COVID the former daily Greyhound bus north to Harrisburg from DC was no longer daily. There was no bus available which meant a very expensive last minute Amtrak ticket. I took the train to Philly and while sitting in the station realized what a beautiful space it actually was. It took my mind off what I knew I was going to face back in York County.
Imposing transportation structures are one of my favorite places to visit or pass through. Even if I am not traveling far, I enjoy the vibe from those who might be. People on a journey always have a story to tell and some of the most amazing I heard were from fellow travelers while passing through one of those old temples to transportation.
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