{"product_id":"last-of-the-great-stations-by-bill-bradley-50-years-of-the-los-angeles-union-pas","title":"Last of the Great Stations by Bill Bradley 50 years of the Los Angeles Union Pas","description":"\u003cbody\u003e\n\u003c!-- HTML Generated by Auction Wizard 2000 - http:\/\/www.AuctionWizard2000.com\/ --\u003e\n\n\n\u003c!-- AW2KLOT#:114481 --\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003ctable style=\"width:98%;padding:2px;margin:auto;border:5px outset #673434;background-color:#FDF3D0\"\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd style=\"border:1px inset #673434;margin:5px;\"\u003e\n\u003ctable style=\"width:100%;border:0px;padding:5px;\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd style=\"padding:5px\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:center\"\u003e\n\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial Black;font-size:1.5em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration: underline;\"\u003eRailroadTreasures\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial Black;font-size:1.5em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration: underline;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial Black;font-size:1.5em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration: underline;\"\u003eoffers the following item:\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:1.0em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\n\u003c\/td\u003e\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd style=\";padding:5px\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:center\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial;font-size:1.13em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eLast of the Great Stations by Bill Bradley 50 years of the Los Angeles Union Pas\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:center\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial;font-size:1.13em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:1.0em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eThe Last of the Great Stations by Bill Bradley 50 years of the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal SOFT cover Interurbans Special #72 1992 SECOND REVISED Edition, First Printing.   120 pages    GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY EDITION\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:1.0em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eTHE TITLE of this book explains just what Los Ange- les Union Station is: the last in a series of grand, gilded train stations that were built in America before World War II during what might be termed the \"Golden Age\" of railroading. During this period when the railroads were at their peak as corporate giants, new terminals were conceived as status symbols far more than at any time before or since. Searching for an appropriate style, the architects found the lavish Beaux Arts or Neoclassical styles then in vogue to be most compatible with the railroads' aims. This extravagance reached its supreme manifestation in New York's fabled Pennsylvania Station, which was patterned after an ancient Roman Bath, and which occupied an entire city block, a station whose vast interiors would amaze us today had the structure not been torn down.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:1.0em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eUnion Stations, so named because they represented the \"union\" of more than one railroad in establishing a common facility, were generally the result of a different ego-this one civic instead of corporate-and were often included in schemes for civic improvement. In Washington, D.C., for example, Union Station was an integral part of the McMillan Plan of 1902 to upgrade the Mall and restore the capital to its original beauty. Similarly, in Los Angeles, civic leaders planned Union Station in conjunction with the Civic Center, hoping to eventually link the two with a wide, ceremonious Mall, and thus create a striking centerpiece for their fast-growing city.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:1.0em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eThe difference is that in Los Angeles, this dream for a union station became a noticeably significant issue. The city, after all, had acquired the status of a major city in a remarkably short period of time, and was therefore especially eager to possess the kind of railroad gateway that had become an established feature of older cities of similar size.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:1.0em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eAlthough the structure that resulted was considerably less imposing than many of its predecessors, it nevertheless was conceived with an eye to opulence, and owed its more modest proportions to the style of architecture wished upon it by the city fathers who then, unlike today, regarded their city as primarily a center of tourism. For this reason, they wanted a station that would express the region's more marketable characteristics-including its Spanish heritage, its year-round climate and, above all, its mystique.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:1.0em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eThe irony is that by the time this long-standing dream became a reality, it was 1939, perilously close to when passenger trains would gradually slip away from their former glory. Not surprisingly, there were some individuals even then who were already speculating on the railroads' fate, and many went so far as to suggest that this train station might be the last of its kind to be built in America.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:1.0em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eBut however gloomy their predictions, the station opened its doors amid a fanfare befitting Gone With the Wind. And the promoters were undaunted in their proclamation that this opening would mark \"a new epoch in the history of transportation in southern California.\" And so it opened on May 3, 1939. Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Calibri;font-size:1.0em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eToo bad it was the last.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial;font-size:1.0em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eAll pictures are of the actual item.  If this is a railroad item, this material is obsolete and no longer in use by the railroad.  Please email with questions. Publishers of Train Shed Cyclopedias and Stephans Railroad Directories. Large inventory of railroad books and magazines. Thank you for buying from us.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:center\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial;font-size:1.13em;color:#CE0000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eShipping charges\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial;font-size:1.0em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003ePostage rates quoted are for shipments to the US only.    Ebay Global shipping charges are shown. These items are shipped to Kentucky and then ebay ships them to you. Ebay collects the shipping and customs \/ import fees.   For direct postage rates to these countries, send me an email.   Shipping to Canada and other countries varies by weight.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:center\"\u003e\n\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial;font-size:1.13em;color:#CE0000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003ePayment options\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial;font-size:1.13em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial;font-size:1.0em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003ePayment must be received within 10 days. Paypal is accepted. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:center\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial;font-size:1.13em;color:#CE0000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eTerms and conditions \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial;font-size:1.0em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eAll sales are final. Returns accepted if item is not as described.  Contact us first.  No warranty is stated or implied. Please e-mail us with any questions before bidding.   \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:center\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial;font-size:1.5em;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eThanks for looking at our items.   \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:left\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\n\u003c\/td\u003e\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd style=\";padding:5px\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align:center;width:99.9%;margin:auto\"\u003e\n\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\u003c\/tr\u003e\u003c\/table\u003e\n\n\u003c\/body\u003e","brand":"RailroadTreasures","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44242084495556,"sku":"392282221203","price":37.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2232\/7333\/files\/57_4d9a3643-123f-4cd3-9aca-e4549acb2235.jpg?v=1727921413","url":"https:\/\/railroadtreasures.com\/products\/last-of-the-great-stations-by-bill-bradley-50-years-of-the-los-angeles-union-pas","provider":"RailroadTreasures","version":"1.0","type":"link"}