The Burlington Station of Omaha was designed by noted architect Thomas Kimball and was constructed in 1898, just in time for the Omaha Worlds Fair of 1899. The imposing stone structure was built in a Classic Greek revival style and was thought of as Omaha's architectural masterpiece. The station was situated about 500 feet south of Union Pacific's grand Omaha Union Station,and in between the two stations was a cacophony of railroad tracks and boarding platforms. In the 1930's an elevated walkway was constructed, connecting the two stations. (On a side note, the elevated walkway was used to access the platforms below and brouht to Omaha the city's first ever escalators!). The Burlington was modernized in 1932 to compete with the new, magnificent, white stone, art deco passenger terminal being built to replace the UP's out-dated, undersized station they had used since 1897. This is how the two stations appear to this day. The former UP terminal has seen a spectacular reincarnation in it's second life as the Durham Museum. The Burlington, sadly, has been nothing but actively neglected since Amtrak moved out in 1974, favoring to build a cut-and-paste 1980's era Amtrak depot on the site of the Burlington's former coach yard. The spaghetti-like track presence has been reduced to just about 6 or 7 tracks, 3 of which are the still-very-active mainlines of BNSF and UP. Then there is also a single platform that remains in the shadow of the Burlington Station. It used to be Burlington's Track 3, but is now numberless, and is simply referred to by most as the Amtrak Platform Siding, which it (the track) serves as twice daily, for the city's 2 remaining daily trains: The California Zephyr #5 (westbound) and #6 (eastbound). I hope that someday new life can be breathed back into this glorious old structure. I have a pretty thorough plan for a potential revival of the building as not only a train station, but also a commercial retail and civic center. I don't however, have the several million dollars required to fix this decaying monument. I'm working on it though!...

Comments

1. 5:28 I see someone waving
2. Great eye.  Keep it up!
3. I remember this place, super sketch. Props for you not getting freaked out/overwhelmed by bird poop stench while waiting.
4. I should have mentioned that the camera I used when the train is pulling in is a different one than the rest of the shots. I used my primary Canon for the majority of the video and since I had the telephoto lens on when it was pulling in, I used a little GoPro to catch a different angle. And yes my plan does include a portion of the station to house the Amtrak station! And rebuilding the walkway would be awesome! Thanks for watching & commenting!
5. Additionally Houston, Tx. Amtrak canopies leaked just as bad, Amtrak & UPRR stripped the wood off the top of the 1930's (Ex: SP platforms) & have just completed refurbishing the platform canopies with corrugated alluminum & installed NEW LED lighting to compliment the repainted canopies, adjoining the Amtrak station (The station was built by the SP in the 1960's to replace Grand Central Station, which is where Houston USPS is now located.)..
6. In Fort Worth, Tx., the former ATSF freight house has been turned into a farmers market, Amtrak moved out of the old Santa Fe depot to new digs about 3 blocks away in a NEW building called the Fort Worth ITC, which includes 2 daily Amtrak trains (Texas Eagle & Heartland Flyer), plus a Greyhound bus station which is cross platform to Amtrak & TRE Express, with local bus service adjacent to the Greyhound docks, which utilize the RR canopies.).
7. Your camera captured the sound of the rain and thunder magnificently, but the sound of the train seemed to be a bit overwhelming. Still, the video is quite amazing. I had no idea that Amtrak called in a fuel truck here in Omaha. As far as rebuilding plans go: I'd always envisioned a rebuilding of the bridge between the former two stations. (though that was before the remodel at the Durham Museum) But if your plan of rebuilding includes rail, I'll fully support it!