Pennsylvania Station

Passenger trains and stations are making a slow comeback.Washington's historic Union Station, since its renovation a few years back, has experienced a spectacular rebirth as a railroad terminal and shopping mall. In New York City, Amtrak is dreaming of a $315 million scheme to duplicate that success by moving its Penn Station from Madison Square Garden to the neo-classic General Post Office building on Eighth Avenue and 31st Street.Nothing as grandiose is happening in Baltimore. But the whole Mount Royal area is going to get a boost when a new 550-car garage is built under Pennsylvania Station and a grand plaza is created to improve vehicle and pedestrian access from Charles and St. Paul streets.

The doors of Baltimore's new Union Station, now Pennsylvania Station, swung open a century ago this week to welcome enthusiastic crowds of Baltimoreans, travelers and gawkers alike. Its completion was considered a great civic triumph after years of agitation from Baltimoreans, both prominent and humble, and newspapers calling for a new station that was worthy of the city. The present station, the third on the site, was constructed of granite, terra cotta and built on a structural steel frame.

An article in Sunday's editions about the Central Light Rail Line extension into Pennsylvania Station did not correctly identify the former B & P Railroad as the Baltimore & Potomac.The Sun regrets the errors.Pub Date: 8/19/97

John Stearns Thomsen, a retired Johns Hopkins University physicist who was a founder of the Baltimore Streetcar Museum, died of respiratory failure Wednesday at his North Roland Park home. He was 88. Born in Baltimore and raised on Mount Royal Terrace in Reservoir Hill, he was a 1939 Boys' Latin School graduate. A year later, he joined the National Railway Historical Society and remained a train and streetcar aficionado throughout his life. He earned a bachelor's degree in engineering from Hopkins.

OK, George, figure out how to get the Million Mom vote. Sheila Dixon needs her day job because City Council president (A) is not fultime; (B) pays to little; (C) is not fulfilling or (D) goes nowhere on the career ladder. Choose one. With the city closing closing Charles Street there's as easy way to Pennsylvania Station. They just aren't saying what it is. Rudy G. proved one again the New York is still the soap opera capital of the nation.

A nationwide freight rail strike tomorrow could halt service on two of the state's three Maryland Rail Commuter train lines and force 8,000 commuters to change their way to work, transportation officials warn.For 2,800 riders on the line from Baltimore's Camden Station to Union Station in Washington, the state will provide alternative train service, MARC officials say.Meanwhile, the Mass Transit Administration will provide bus service for 5,200 riders of the line from Washington to Brunswick in Western Maryland.

City officials approved the sale of Baltimore's historic Railway Express building yesterday to developers who plan to put 30 loft-style apartments in the former parcel post office. Railway Express LLC will pay the city $1.2 million for the building at 1501 St. Paul St. under the deal approved by the Board of Estimates. The official purchase price is $2 million, but the city has granted an $800,000 credit toward that price because of environmental and structural problems with the building.

A Woodlawn man and his sister who did not return home from Pennsylvania Station in Baltimore Wednesday night were found in separate states yesterday. David McIver, 74, was found by New York state troopers about 4 p.m. in his car on a highway about 100 miles north of New York City, said Cpl. Vickie Warehime, a police spokeswoman. His sister, Rose Jones, 67, was found in Stamford, Conn., about 9:30 p.m., Baltimore County police said. Police said they had no details on how Jones was found but said she was alive and well.

Except for one taxicab company and its patrons, the Charles Street entrance to Pennsylvania Station is still a mess -- a dangerous mess. The construction of a badly needed 500-space parking garage immediately south of the station has created a hazardous situation. That's been the case for several months now. City officials have taken a couple of steps designed to ease the blockade around the station for arriving and departing passengers. More changes are in the works, but they may not be enough.

Last year was a banner year for Mount Vernon, the neighborhood surrounding the city's premiere square. The Hackerman House was renovated to accommodate the Walters Art Gallery's Asian collection. The Waterloo Place apartments added the choice of spanking new residences to an area where historic town houses dominate. And the Peabody Institute began the conversion of three decrepit town houses in the 600 block of North Charles Street into an elderhostel for senior citizens taking music-related courses.

William George Russell Bell, a retired railroad dispatcher and a third-generation railroader, died Monday of complications from a stroke at his daughter's home in Houston. Mr. Bell, a longtime Uniontown resident, was 92. Born in Baltimore and raised in West Arlington, Mr. Bell's grandfather had been a Western Maryland Railway telegrapher, and his father had been a freight clerk for the Pennsylvania Railroad. He attended City College and later earned his General Educational Development certificate.

M any of the great rail terminals from the halcyon days of passenger rail travel in the U.S. have been demolished, like New York City's fabled Pennsylvania Station, still considered nearly 50 years later by many as one of the great architectural crimes and preservation losses and the catalyst for the founding of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Other terminals across the nation, such as Detroit's Michigan Central Station or Buffalo Central Terminal, stand forlorn, waiting for better days and even better ideas to give them a second chance at quite possibly a non-rail life.

City officials plan to unveil a multiphase plan today to transform a 100-acre arts and entertainment district north of Pennsylvania Station into a $1 billion "cultural crossroads" for Baltimore over the next three decades. Mayor Sheila Dixon is set to endorse the initiative for the Charles North renewal area, which is centered on the intersection of Charles Street and North Avenue and includes the state-designated Station North arts and entertainment district. The Charles North Vision Plan includes 1,900 residences, 557,000 square feet of shopping space, 300,000 square feet of office space and 4,700 parking spaces in the area roughly bounded by St. Paul Street on the east, 20th and 21st streets on the north, Howard Street and Falls Road on the west and the Jones Falls Valley on the south.

It has taken more than 30 years to see the void at Eutaw and Camden streets filled with the new Convention Center hotel. But it happened in 2007, a year when it seems that projects appeared in brick and steel after years as just ideas. The west side of downtown Baltimore had plenty going on this year. So much happened that it caused me to recall nearly 35 years ago when the grand old Hotel Joyce was ripped apart.

What is it about public art that sparks such passionate debate? It usually begins with a generous impulse: to honor a prominent citizen, beautify the city, show respect for the importance of art in our lives. But the process of deciding just what art to put where frequently inspires strong disagreement - contention that, on reflection, has obvious roots. Public art is meant to provoke, to enlighten, to provide new ways of seeing the world around us. To be successful, an artist must have freedom to create.

Commercials for Amtrak's Acela ask, "What's your destination?" The answer better not be Baltimore. Late last month, without fanfare, Amtrak began running two Acela Express trains that bypass Baltimore, snubbing the city that was home to the nation's first railroad line in 1830. The new express trains run between New York and Washington with only one stop - in Philadelphia. This is just what Baltimore needs: In a sweltering summer, with the homicide numbers climbing with the mercury, Amtrak has made it a little harder to get out of town.

COULD AMERICA'S love affair with the automobile be souring after all these years?Amtrak, the nation's long-distance passenger train operator, is betting more and more people will abandon gridlocked interstate highways in the 1990s and take trains instead.It is so confident that it is shopping for a new gateway station in New York, where the original Pennsylvania Station was torn down 30 years ago to make way for office towers and Madison Square Gardens."A station is the gateway to the rail service and the city it serves," an Amtrak spokesman said in confirming that the company is shopping for New York's sprawling General Post Office building at 33rd Street and Eighth Avenue.

The doors of Baltimore's new Union Station, now Pennsylvania Station, swung open a century ago this week to welcome enthusiastic crowds of Baltimoreans, travelers and gawkers alike. Its completion was considered a great civic triumph after years of agitation from Baltimoreans, both prominent and humble, and newspapers calling for a new station that was worthy of the city. The present station, the third on the site, was constructed of granite, terra cotta and built on a structural steel frame.

NEW YORK - As subway riders poured into Pennsylvania Station, a police officer stopped Ahmed Mohammed and asked him to open his backpack. The Pakistani-born engineer, who was visiting New York with his family, shrugged and agreed to the search. He looked embarrassed as the officer quickly examined its contents - T-shirts and presents purchased at Macy's - and then waved him through the turnstile. Heading for the rush hour train, Mohammed was angry. "We all want to feel safe, after what happened in London," the 29-year-old tourist said.

The federal government will contribute $1.7 million for projects in Baltimore to extend the Jones Falls Trail from Pennsylvania Station to Woodberry and restore historic Mount Royal Station, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. announced yesterday. The 2.75-mile Jones Falls Trail extension will link Penn Station and the Woodberry Light Rail stop and provide "a great way to get around Baltimore," Ehrlich said in a written statement. The trail segment, which will cost $1.6 million, will wind through Druid Hill Park.