Los Angeles Union Station waiting room

[lthanlon]

I'll be visiting Los Angeles Union Station in early October to catch the Texas Eagle -- and, once again, will certainly be amazed at how those classic chairs in the waiting room are in such good shape. They show a little wear here and there, but remain in remarkable condition. Have these chairs been there since the station opened in 1939? I presume that they need to be reupholstered and refinished from time to time, right?



Los Angeles Union Station by chi_cowboy, on Flickr

 

[sportbiker]

How do they stay in shape? Good, clean, healthy, California living! :lol:

 

[zephyr17]

I'll be visiting Los Angeles Union Station in early October to catch the Texas Eagle -- and, once again, will certainly be amazed at how those classic chairs in the waiting room are in such good shape. They show a little wear here and there, but remain in remarkable condition. Have these chairs been there since the station opened in 1939? I presume that they need to be reupholstered and refinished from time to time, right?



Los Angeles Union Station by chi_cowboy, on Flickr

The chairs have been there since the station opened. Some of them have been moved around.

A long time ago they were covered with darker leather, not the vinyl they have today. That leather had stiffened and cracked on many of the chairs, and the stuffing was coming out of them. I don't recall exactly when they were reupholstered, that happened a bit at a time, and I think it was done sometime in the 80s.

There were originally quite a few more chairs. The waiting room was all chairs, there wasn't a newsstand in the middle of it that they have today. Also, there were quite a few in the old ticketing wing, too. I hope that those spares are stored somewhere.

 

[Ziv]

I met a friend at Union Station when I was hopping off the Sunset Limited and boarding the Coastal Starlight. I was very impressed with how the station looked like a classic building. It was, and is, a work of art. Some of the Amtrak line-ups for trains could be improved but the station itself was great. One huge improvement would be if they could find a way to increase the speed limits on the last 6 or 8 miles outside Union Station. I made the mistake of thinking that 8 miles would take 15 minutes. Just like New Orleans, Amtrak has a huge problem in LA with speed limits. I talked to regulars on both trains and they said both trains always slow way down, in NO around 12 miles from the station and in LA around 6 or 8 miles from the station. The frustrating thing is that the train does 20 mph when going even 45 mpg would make a huge difference in time spent. I know the speed limits probably won't change, but it makes little difference if you are doing 95 mph for 10% of the trip instead of 79 mph when you spend half an hour or more covering the last 6 miles.

 

[Ryan]

8 miles at 20 MPH is only 24 minutes.

That 12-13 minutes you'd save by going 45 won't make that much of a difference.

 

[Ziv]

That is almost exactly what the Amtrak conductor said, but if you won't fight for a quarter hour improvement by increasing a speed limit outside of LA or NO, you probably won't fight to get the freight companies to give your train a reasonable chance to stay on time. Giving up a quarter hour or more on the approach to stations just because it doesn't seem that important is missing the point. Trains are too slow and we need to improve their speeds where ever we can. If our LD trains were able to average 70 mph instead of 50-55mph, they would be much more useful and more popular. But they are slower than a car, and miss the positive press that they could get for doing what trains should do best. Take people from one city to another easily, quickly and without having to drive.

Harvest the low hanging fruit first. Improving speeds from 15 mph to 45 mph makes a huge difference, while increasing speeds from 79 mph to 95 mph over short distances makes just a moderate difference.

But I want to see Amtrak doing 95 mph soon and doing 110 mph shortly there after.

8 miles at 20 MPH is only 24 minutes.

That 12-13 minutes you'd save by going 45 won't make that much of a difference.

 

[the_traveler]

I think one of the reasons the chairs look so good is due to Hollywood using the station as a movie set of an old station. Note the cordoned off ticket counters in the front of the station, not used, but still looking "current" for "old" movies!

 

[zephyr17]

I think one of the reasons the chairs look so good is due to Hollywood using the station as a movie set of an old station. Note the cordoned off ticket counters in the front of the station, not used, but still looking "current" for "old" movies!

But the old ticking wing has had all its chairs removed. All the chairs are in the main waiting room and there are not that many "shoots" in there, they mostly use the ticketing wing, the old Harvey House, and sometimes the "Information" both at the front where the ticketing wing and the main waiting room meet. The main waiting room, not so much.

 

[rusty spike]

I'll be visiting Los Angeles Union Station in early October to catch the Texas Eagle -- and, once again, will certainly be amazed at how those classic chairs in the waiting room are in such good shape. They show a little wear here and there, but remain in remarkable condition. Have these chairs been there since the station opened in 1939? I presume that they need to be reupholstered and refinished from time to time, right?



Los Angeles Union Station by chi_cowboy, on Flickr

Yes, and those chairs are quite comfy too. I am sure many a train has been missed because someone dozed off in one of those chairs. Sure beat the hard wooden pews that adorned most train stations of the era.

 

[guest in the west]

Well, I can attest first-hand that the upholstery is not the original.

I sat in one of those chairs as a 5-year-old in 1959 waiting to board the old San Diegan back to San Diego--and I left my mark, so to speak.

It's not there today! :lol:

 

[the_traveler]

1345428465[/url]' post='388284']

1345425791[/url]' post='388271']I think one of the reasons the chairs look so good is due to Hollywood using the station as a movie set of an old station. Note the cordoned off ticket counters in the front of the station, not used, but still looking "current" for "old" movies!

But the old ticking wing has had all its chairs removed. All the chairs are in the main waiting room and there are not that many "shoots" in there, they mostly use the ticketing wing, the old Harvey House, and sometimes the "Information" both at the front where the ticketing wing and the main waiting room meet. The main waiting room, not so much.

But they do sometimes use the main waiting room for shoots. I do not watch TV very much (in fact hardly), but I noticed a commercial for Liberty Mutual (Insurance) has a shot of the seats at LAUS. (The commercials where it shows one person seeing someone helping another and then they help someone else, etc...)

 

[zephyr17]

1345428465[/url]' post='388284']

1345425791[/url]' post='388271']I think one of the reasons the chairs look so good is due to Hollywood using the station as a movie set of an old station. Note the cordoned off ticket counters in the front of the station, not used, but still looking "current" for "old" movies!

But the old ticking wing has had all its chairs removed. All the chairs are in the main waiting room and there are not that many "shoots" in there, they mostly use the ticketing wing, the old Harvey House, and sometimes the "Information" both at the front where the ticketing wing and the main waiting room meet. The main waiting room, not so much.

But they do sometimes use the main waiting room for shoots. I do not watch TV very much (in fact hardly), but I noticed a commercial for Liberty Mutual (Insurance) has a shot of the seats at LAUS. (The commercials where it shows one person seeing someone helping another and then they help someone else, etc...)

I didn't mean they didn't use it at all, just that the ticketing wing and harvey house are used a lot more. The point is they don't keep the seats in shape for the purposes of commercial/movie shoots, as most (not all) of that takes place in locations that don't even have those chairs anymore.

 

[johnny.menhennet]

I had a 45 minute layover in Union Station today between Metrolink trains, and I went into the ticketing area to get the latest issue of California Rail News. Something new - in addition to the Subway, Starbucks, Wetzel's Pretzels, the Sees Candies, and Famima (which for Ithanlon did sell conditioner and toothpaste, etc.), there is now a Ben and Jerry's along the wall between the Amtrak Information Area and the Amtrak Ticketing Area. Just thought I should add that, because I haven't seen it previously.

 

[Nathanael]

I met a friend at Union Station when I was hopping off the Sunset Limited and boarding the Coastal Starlight. I was very impressed with how the station looked like a classic building. It was, and is, a work of art. Some of the Amtrak line-ups for trains could be improved but the station itself was great. One huge improvement would be if they could find a way to increase the speed limits on the last 6 or 8 miles outside Union Station. I made the mistake of thinking that 8 miles would take 15 minutes. Just like New Orleans, Amtrak has a huge problem in LA with speed limits. I talked to regulars on both trains and they said both trains always slow way down, in NO around 12 miles from the station and in LA around 6 or 8 miles from the station. The frustrating thing is that the train does 20 mph when going even 45 mpg would make a huge difference in time spent. I know the speed limits probably won't change, but it makes little difference if you are doing 95 mph for 10% of the trip instead of 79 mph when you spend half an hour or more covering the last 6 miles.

This is partly due to ridiculously tight curves and a roundabout route into the station. Look at Google maps and trace out the approach path from the east. The Sunset Limited and Southwest Chief are coming north up the LA River, then northeast, and then have to do a U-turn north of Union Station to enter the station.

There's also a sharp turn at the LA river which causes a slowdown. There's not much point in speeding up again for the intervening 3 miles between that and the U-turn. East of the LA river, there's a freight yard, which may cause a slowdown as well, but I think they're planning to speed that bit up.

There are plans to build "run-through tracks", which will allow trains to enter Union Station from the south, cutting off about a mile of U-turn track. This is mainly for the benefit of Metrolink and the Pacific Surfliner -- being shorter trips, the time savings matters more -- but it might take time off the Sunset Limited and Southwest Chief too.

 

[johnny.menhennet]

I met a friend at Union Station when I was hopping off the Sunset Limited and boarding the Coastal Starlight. I was very impressed with how the station looked like a classic building. It was, and is, a work of art. Some of the Amtrak line-ups for trains could be improved but the station itself was great. One huge improvement would be if they could find a way to increase the speed limits on the last 6 or 8 miles outside Union Station. I made the mistake of thinking that 8 miles would take 15 minutes. Just like New Orleans, Amtrak has a huge problem in LA with speed limits. I talked to regulars on both trains and they said both trains always slow way down, in NO around 12 miles from the station and in LA around 6 or 8 miles from the station. The frustrating thing is that the train does 20 mph when going even 45 mpg would make a huge difference in time spent. I know the speed limits probably won't change, but it makes little difference if you are doing 95 mph for 10% of the trip instead of 79 mph when you spend half an hour or more covering the last 6 miles.

This is partly due to ridiculously tight curves and a roundabout route into the station. Look at Google maps and trace out the approach path from the east. The Sunset Limited and Southwest Chief are coming north up the LA River, then northeast, and then have to do a U-turn north of Union Station to enter the station.

There's also a sharp turn at the LA river which causes a slowdown. There's not much point in speeding up again for the intervening 3 miles between that and the U-turn. East of the LA river, there's a freight yard, which may cause a slowdown as well, but I think they're planning to speed that bit up.

There are plans to build "run-through tracks", which will allow trains to enter Union Station from the south, cutting off about a mile of U-turn track. This is mainly for the benefit of Metrolink and the Pacific Surfliner -- being shorter trips, the time savings matters more -- but it might take time off the Sunset Limited and Southwest Chief too.

1st, the Sunset Limited comes straight in from the east, and has no U-turn.

2nd, that "sharp turn" for the SWC, Pacific Surfliner, and Metrolink trains is on a huge flyover, and the trains can go fairly fast on it, in the range of maybe 40 mph.

3rd, the mileage between Redondo Jct. (the flyover) and the approach tracks to LAUS is pretty fast. The trains definitely go 60, possibly 79.

4th, run through tracks would not be used for the SL for the reason mentioned above. The SWC would likely not use them as well, because there will be only 4 of them that are built. Due to the Chief's nature (and other LD's) to stay on the platform for a while pre-departure and post-arrival, they would not clog up a platform like that that is being used for PacSurfs and Metrolink trains. If they planned on doing a very quick unloading and then sending it over the tracks for quicker access to the maintenance yard, then that would be fine, but they are not good about doing slow unloading of LD's.

 

[lthanlon]

I had a 45 minute layover in Union Station today between Metrolink trains, and I went into the ticketing area to get the latest issue of California Rail News. Something new - in addition to the Subway, Starbucks, Wetzel's Pretzels, the Sees Candies, and Famima (which for Ithanlon did sell conditioner and toothpaste, etc.), there is now a Ben and Jerry's along the wall between the Amtrak Information Area and the Amtrak Ticketing Area. Just thought I should add that, because I haven't seen it previously.

Thanks for the info re Famima!