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“Los Angeles Union Station was built in 1939 and is the largest railroad passenger terminal in the Western United States. It is widely regarded as “the last of the great train stations.” The station’s signature Mission Moderne style makes it one of L.A.’s architectural gems. It was designed by the father-son architect team of John and Donald Parkinson with an innovative blend of Spanish Colonial, Mission Revival, and Art Deco architecture now commonly referred to as Mission Moderne. In the 76 years since its opening, Union Station has captured the spirit and soul of Los Angeles. The station was designed as an expression of the California lifestyle with a spacious ticket hall. It is equipped with an 110-foot-long ticket counter crafted from American Black Walnut and has a vast waiting room, featuring towering 40-foot windows. Also, it is embellished with brass, massive art deco chandeliers, inlaid marble floors and hand-painted mission tiles, along with expansive shaded patios, towering palm trees and a clock tower looming 100 feet above the city. In 1972, Union Station was designated as a Los Angeles Historic–Cultural Monument and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.”
— description from hollywoodlocations.com
Union Station is a rarity in Los Angeles — an iconic landmark that still looks much the way it did when it first opened — a Way-Back Machine to the ages of film noir, 1940s wartime, and 1950s glamour. It’s been featured in countless motion pictures. First-time visitors often experience déjà vu, the surroundings seem so familiar. There was even a movie made here in 1950 called Union Station, starring William Holden and Nancy Olson, a noir detective thriller about a kidnapping.
In this century, Metrolink commuters are likely to outnumber train passengers, but the last of the Western grande dames of rail travel’s glory days still outshines its overcrowded neighborhood, and you can still walk over to Philippe’s, “Home of the Original French Dip Sandwich” since 1908, and step even farther back in time.
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