Union Station

Los Angeles

  

click photo to enlarge		 Los Angeles Metro rail offers art tours of Union Station twice a month and we decided to go one Sunday. The station was built in 1939 and it is considered the last of the great train stations. The station was a joint venture between the Southern Pacific, Union Pacific and Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroads and was intended to consolidate the three local railroad terminals. The ticket counters are shown in the picture at left and the railroad that paid the most, Sante Fe, got the first counters. It was designed by father and son architects John and Donald Parkinson and blends Mission Revival, Art Deco and Spanish Colonial at a cost of $11 million.

click photo to enlarge		 The art tour was a lot of fun and we enjoyed it. We learned a lot about Union Station and the city. We also were shown where the Fred Harvey restaurant and news rooms were. Since we volunteer at the Harvey House in Barstow we were happy to learn this. When we go to Kansas we are planning on going to the Fred Harvey Museum. The building is really quite nice inside and can be very busy when a number of trains come in at the same time. After the tour we walked out for lunch just past the famous Philippe's to The Little Jewel of New Orleans rated 4.5 on Trip advisor and is number 167 out of 9,500. Many Angelinos could not walk past Philippe's but give it a try it you like Cajun cooking. Very good and the PoBoys are huge. Next time we will share one.

click photo to enlarge