Memphis Union Station was a passenger terminal in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. It served as a hub between railroads of the

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

, the

Missouri Pacific Railroad The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad o ...

and the

St. Louis Southwestern Railway The St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company , known by its nickname of "The Cotton Belt Route" or simply "Cotton Belt", was a Class I railroad that operated between St. Louis, Missouri, and various points in the U.S. states of Arkansas, Tennessee ...

, and railroads of the

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...

, the

Louisville and Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of ...

, the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway and the Southern Railway. The terminal, completed in 1912, was built in the Beaux-Arts style and was located on Calhoun Street, between south Second Street and Rayburn Boulevard (now south Third Street). It was demolished in 1969. This location in south Memphis was approximately two blocks east of the other major Memphis railroad terminal, Memphis Grand Central Station.

History

Memphis Union Station Company was chartered in Tennessee on September 25, 1909, for the purpose of operating Union Station. Construction of the facility began in April 1910, and the new station opened for service on April 1, 1912. The station was designed by architect J.A. Galvin, with Walter F. Schultz serving as engineer of construction.John Preston Young, ed. ''Standard History of Memphis, Tennessee: From A Study of the Original Sources.'' Knoxville: H.W. Crew Co., 1912, 392
A Galvin%22 architect memphis&f=false
/ref> The architectural design of the station was a source of pride for Memphis, and the main building was the largest stone structure in the city. Memphis Union Station's purpose was to unite the passenger and express operations of the major railway lines that terminated in or travelled through Memphis, principally between east and west. Traffic between the north and the south was generally carried by the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the Central United States. Its primary routes connected Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, and thus, ...

, whose operations at Memphis were large enough to justify a separate

Central Station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

two blocks to the west of Union Station. The terminal tracks were of a stub-end design, meaning that all trains had to back into the station from the main line tracks via a wye to reach the station's platforms. The station also had additional tracks for storage and servicing of

passenger cars A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

as well as a roundhouse and

turntable A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding phys ...

, allowing

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

s to be serviced on site. This configuration served the primary objective of the "western lines," such as the

Cotton Belt The Cotton Belt is a region of the Southern United States where cotton was the predominant cash crop from the late 19th century into the 20th century.

(and its parent company,

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the names ...

), the Rock Island, and

Missouri Pacific The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad ...

were fully occupied serving all of the above named gateways. So Memphis held very little interest to them as a source of long-distance passenger revenue. As passenger train traffic declined after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, studies were done on consolidating all Memphis train operations in either Union Station or Central Station. However, the various railroads could never agree on consolidation arrangements, and Memphis Union Station continued in operation into the early 1960s.

Major named passenger trains

Several named passenger trains stopped there during the golden years of rail. *Louisville and Nashville: **'' Humming Bird'' to

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

**'' Pan-American (train)'' to Cincinnati *Missouri Pacific: **''

Texas Eagle The ''Texas Eagle'' is a long-distance passenger train operated daily by Amtrak on a route between Chicago, Illinois, and San Antonio, Texas, with major stops in St. Louis, Little Rock, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Austin. Three days per week, t ...

'' (to

Laredo, Texas Laredo ( ; ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Webb County, Texas, Webb County, on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Founded in 1755, Laredo grew from a villag ...

via

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, and another section to

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

via Houston) *Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway: **'' City of Memphis'' to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

*Southern Railway: **'' Tennessean'' (to

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

, via

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is the List of municipalities in Alabama, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the List of United States cities by population, 100th-most populous ...

and

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

) *St. Louis and Southwestern (Cotton Belt): **'' Lone Star'' (to

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

via

Texarkana The Texarkana metropolitan statistical area (MSA), as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget, is a two-county region anchored by the Twin cities (geographical proximity), twin cities of Texarkana, Texas (population 37,33 ...

) **'' Morning Star'' (to Dallas via Texarkana)

Demise

discontinued passenger service to Memphis in October 1952, and Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway merged into

(L&N) in 1957, effectively reducing the number of tenants in Memphis Union Station from five to three. In early 1964,

served notice that their last passenger train serving Memphis would be moved from Union Station into a former freight station on west Calhoun Street. The Missouri Pacific benefitted from being a foreign (not otherwise doing business in Tennessee) corporation in Tennessee, once its petition before the

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later Trucking industry in the United States, truc ...

(ICC) was heard, to cease operation of passenger service to Memphis, it could rely upon legal precedent (as when Gulf, Mobile & Ohio, ended service south of St. Louis, and thereby voiding its joint agreement to fund New Orleans' Union Station) to void its joint agreement to support the operation of Memphis Union Station. The remaining two tenant railroads in Memphis Union Station were unwilling to assume the full burden for maintenance and operation of the station, as the remaining passenger and express freight revenues of these carriers into Memphis brought in far less revenue than the continued operation of the station required.

made arrangements to become a tenant at Memphis Central Station, and Southern Railway returned to their ancient freight station on Lauderdale Street. Memphis Union Station was closed on April 1, 1964, fifty-two years to the day from the time the station had opened with great fanfare. A prolonged court battle ensued, with the City of Memphis claiming that Union Station had been abandoned without the approval of the Tennessee Public Service Commission. After appeals courts ruled against the railroads, both L&N and Southern were forced to re-open part of Union Station on December 1, 1966.

had successfully discontinued their last Memphis passenger service, a Memphis to

Little Rock Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

connecting train, in August 1965, and was thus not affected by the order to re-open Memphis Union Station. Passenger traffic into Memphis on both the L&N and Southern was negligible, and the added expense of reopening Union Station caused both roads to initiate train discontinuance proceedings. These efforts were eventually successful, and Union Station was again closed for a second and final time on March 30, 1968, following the departure of the last Southern Railway passenger train from Memphis. The Memphis Union Station property was sold to the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

for construction of a new mail sorting facility, and the station was demolished by February 1969.

References

External links

Condren, Mike. "Memphis Union Station," ''Memphis Historical Railroad Pages''
{{coord, 35.1322226, -90.0555408, display=title Memphis Former Louisville and Nashville Railroad stations Former Missouri Pacific Railroad stations Former Southern Railway (U.S.) stations Former St. Louis Southwestern Railway stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1912 Former railway stations in Tennessee Buildings and structures in Memphis, Tennessee Transportation in Memphis, Tennessee 1912 establishments in Tennessee Demolished railway stations in the United States Railway stations in the United States opened in 1966 Beaux-Arts architecture in Tennessee Railway stations in the United States closed in 1964 Railway stations in the United States closed in 1968