12.28.25: Inside Union Station

‍I have a number of photos of Washington, D.C.’s Union Station in my files. I’ve been in the building hundreds of times through the years when commuting by Amtrak train from D.C. to Baltimore, Philadelphia, or New York.

‍Almost all of my older photos of Union Station show the outside, specifically the long exterior walkways with repeating arches.

‍I hadn’t paid much attention to the interior of Union Station. The primary reason was that I never found anything interesting to photograph.

‍But when my wife and I walked into the main hall during a September 2016 visit to the city, I stopped and asked myself: “Why have I never shot this beautiful room?” The morning sunlight reflecting off the tile floors under the arched, gilded ceiling made a striking scene.

‍Then it hit me. The room hadn’t looked like this in the past.

‍When Union Station reopened in 1988 after major renovations, the center of the main hall was filled with a giant, dark, two-story wooden structure called the Center Cafe. I think it housed a small restaurant and bar, and if I remember correctly, there were gaudy fountains on each end. The structure overwhelmed the space — you couldn’t stand anywhere in the room and see the opposite wall — so I had never noticed the architecture of the room.

‍The decision-makers likely had a good reason to place that big, dark structure in the middle of the room in 1988. I’m just not sure what that reason would be.

‍In spring 2016, the Center Cafe and fountains were removed from the main hall, and the room regained its “wow” factor.

‍Our visit a few months later was my first time seeing the main hall “opened.”

‍After my wife and I spent some time admiring the main hall, we moved deeper into the station, exploring areas with shops, restaurants, and ticket counters. That’s where I found this scene.

‍When I stood at the top of a spiral staircase that connected the main level with the food court below, I was drawn to the combination of lines, lighting, and shapes before me. The railings on the main level and on the mezzanine above worked with the design on the arched ceiling to pull the viewer’s eye toward the light streaming through a large window at the end of the corridor. The crowd of people walking between shops or waiting in line at ticket counters on the right created a sense of business. So I grabbed a quick shot before we moved on.

‍Union Station opened in 1907. It is now Amtrak’s headquarters and the railroad’s second-busiest station, with almost 4 million riders annually (Penn Station in New York City is Amtrak’s busiest station with approximately 9 million riders annually).