Baltimore's Penn Station

"Nothing was more up-to-date when it was built, or is more obsolete today, than the railroad station."

~ Ada Louise Huxtable, architecture critic for the Wall Street Journal

I disagree with Ms. Huxtable's opinion that rail travel is becoming obsolete.  Increased frustration with airline delays and baggage fees, road construction and the rising cost of gas have many Americans choosing to travel by rail, including me.  Lately I've found myself entranced by railroad stations from Chicago's Union Station to Union Station in Washington, D.C. to New York City's Grand Central Station.  I even found the atrocious Penn Station in New York City interesting, despite its subterranean location underneath Madison Square Garden, for the 1963 demolition of the original Penn Station, a Beaux Arts masterpiece, was a call to arms for the architectural preservation movement in the United States.  

Baltimore's Penn Station

So, when I caught the train to Baltimore last Wednesday for my appointment with an audiologist at Johns Hopkins Medical Institute, I was delighted to add Baltimore's Penn Station to my expanding list of railroad stations through which I have traveled.

In fiscal year 2010 with 926,245 boardings and arrivals, Baltimore's Penn Station was the 8th busiest train station in Amtrak's system which links Baltimore to Philadelphia, New York, Boston and Washington, D.C. The station also serves MARC (Maryland Area Regional Commuter Rail) and Maryland Transit Administration's light rail system.

Completed in 1911, Baltimore's Penn Station is still another example of Beaux-Arts classicism arising from the Gilded Age when robber barons made fortunes by investing in the development of railroads across the country.   In fact, one of Baltimore's most famous businessmen, Johns Hopkins, (1795-1873) made his fortune by investing early in the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.  And yes, his first name was Johns spelled with an -S, a family name first bestowed upon his grandfather who was born to Gerald and Margaret Hopkins, formerly known as Margaret Johns.  As a merchant, Johns Hopkins saw the potential for railroads to move merchandise much more profitably into the Shenandoah Valley than Conestoga wagons.  For an interesting biography of "Mr. Johns Hopkins", read Kathryn Jacob's tribute, published in The Johns Hopkins Magazine in January 1974 upon the 100th anniversary of his death. 

Glass-edged Canopy

Architect Kenneth MacKenzie Murchison designed a steel-faced granite facade for Baltimore's Penn Station and added a canopy edged with variegated green glass to shelter travelers from inclement weather. 

One of the lobby's three skylit domes

Inside, the lobby is topped by three skylit domes of green, yellow and clear glass.  These skylights were covered in blackout paint during World War II which was removed when the station was renovated in 1983-1984,

Penn Station's Concourse

Some of the original wooden benches line the concourse waiting area which is lit with brass light fixtures.  I found myself wishing for a cushioned seat during my hour's wait for the return train to Washington, D.C.  Still, I enjoyed my visit to this refurbished station as it reminded me of the Gilded Age of railroads.