Delmar Boulevard station

Delmar Boulevard station, also known as Delmar station, is a former railroad station on Delmar Boulevard in the West End neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. The Wabash Railroad opened it in 1929 as part of grade separation project which raised Delmar Boulevard over its tracks. Delmar Boulevard was one of several Wabash branch stations in St. Louis, but had special importance as a transfer station for intercity passengers.

Delmar Boulevard
Former Wabash Railroad passenger rail station
The disused station building in 2018
General information
Location	6001 Delmar Boulevard St. Louis, Missouri
Coordinates	38.6552°N 90.2944°W / 38.6552; -90.2944
History
Opened	1 August 1929 (1929-08-01)
Closed	14 February 1970 (1970-02-14)
Services
Preceding station Wabash Railroad Following station Glen Echo toward Kansas City Main Line Vandeventer toward Chicago Glen Echo toward Omaha Omaha – St. Louis Vandeventer toward St. Louis

The Norfolk and Western Railway, successor to the Wabash, closed the station in 1970. The MetroLink's Red Line was built over the former Wabash right-of-way and passes underneath the station. Metrolink built a new station, Delmar Loop, below the old building but does not use the structure.

History

Construction

The city of St. Louis and the Wabash Railroad had been at loggerheads for years over the city's desire to eliminate grade crossings within the city and the railroad's disinclination to pay for such work. One such crossing was at Delmar Boulevard, in the West End, on the Wabash's route to Kansas City, Missouri. A station there, Delmar Avenue, provided passengers with a local alternative to Union Station, 5 miles (8.0 km) down the tracks.^[1]

In 1927 the city and the railroad came to an agreement over the reconstruction of the Delmar Boulevard area. The railroad tracks would be depressed, allowing a clearance of 18 feet (5.5 m) beneath Delmar Boulevard. The city would construct a new concrete viaduct to carry the boulevard, including streetcars, over the railroad tracks. Finally, the Wabash would construct a new station on Delmar Boulevard, sitting above the tracks.^[2]

Construction of the station, which cost $300,000, began after the new viaduct opened in June, 1928. The station was built from granite, limestone, and brick. The exterior style was Ionic, with multiple columns gracing the front. The interior of the station was finished in "marble, ornamental plaster, and bronze." The walls and floor were also marble, the latter from Tennessee. The station's waiting room could hold 72 passengers. Stairs and elevator carried passengers to the platforms below.^[3] The platforms, made of concrete, were 1,000 feet (300 m) long. Contemporary Wabash advertisements emphasized the "comfort" of the new station, and claimed that "no effort had been spared."^[4]

Operation

Postcard of the City of St. Louis passing through Forest Park, approaching Delmar.

The new station opened to the public on August 1, 1929,^[5] and for many years was an important part of St. Louis' transportation infrastructure and a catalyst for growth in the West End. At one time it handled 40% of all Wabash boardings in the city. Passengers changing trains, such as between the Wabash Cannon Ball and the City of St. Louis, would transfer at Delmar Boulevard instead of Union Station.^[6][7] The Wabash installed an escalator in 1947.^[8] Historian H. Roger Grant called it the "crown jewel" of the Wabash's station construction and renewal in the 1920s.^[9]

All Wabash long-distance passenger service to and from St. Louis Union Station made a last in/first out stop at the Delmar Boulevard station. Some suburban passenger service used an alternate route to the St. Louis riverfront but did not serve St. Louis Union Station.^[10]

Passenger train patronage declined in the United States after the Second World War. By 1966 Delmar Boulevard, now owned by the Norfolk and Western Railway, was the only remaining outlying or "branch" passenger station in St. Louis. At that time it still saw twelve trains daily and handled 200 passengers.^[8] Patronage continued to decline, and the Norfolk and Western closed the station on February 15, 1970.^[11]

Aftermath

When the station closed in 1970 the expectation was that it would be torn down.^[11] The station lay vacant until 1983 when the Norfolk and Western announced plans to demolish it, claiming that it was "structurally unsafe." Instead, it was sold to Mewhinney Corporation, a lighting supply firm, for $10,000. The corporation announced plans to renovate the interior and restore the 1929 appearance.^[12] As plans for the Red Line of the Metrolink light rail system went forward in 1989, using the former Wabash right-of-way, there were calls to incorporate the building into the planned station at Delmar Boulevard. Mehwinney attempted to sell the building to the Bi-State Development Agency, which was overseeing Metrolink, for $427,500. Bi-State rejected the offer as there was no budget for acquiring the building.^[13] Local businessman Joe Edwards bought the station in 2002; Washington University in St. Louis became a part-owner in 2016.^[14][15]

See also

• Delmar Loop station

Notes

1. "Hearings Open on Wabash Grade Crossing Dispute". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. February 21, 1921. p. 3. Retrieved July 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Delmar Viaduct Will Alter Grade of Many Streets". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. June 2, 1927. p. 4. Retrieved July 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Wabash Station on Delmar Blvd. Almost Finished". The St. Louis Star and Times. July 30, 1929. p. 4. Retrieved July 12, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Wabash Railroad (July 31, 1929). "The New Delmar Boulevard Station". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 33. Retrieved July 12, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Wabash Railroad Opens Its new Delmar Station". The St. Louis Star and Times. August 2, 1929. p. 11. Retrieved July 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Sanders 2003, p. 171
7. Fox 1995, p. 15
8. Barnes, Harper (April 6, 1966). "Delmar Station, Last Branch Depot In City, to Stay Open, Railroad Says". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 68. Retrieved July 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
9. Grant 2004, p. 156
10. Grant 2004, pp. 156–157
11. "Railroad Closes Delmar Station". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. February 15, 1970. p. 3. Retrieved July 12, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
12. Prost, Charlene (May 17, 1983). "Old Wabash Station Will Be Renovated". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 30. Retrieved July 17, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "Delmar Station Owner Rebuffed By Bi-State". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. April 30, 1989. p. 14. Retrieved July 17, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
14. Berger, Jerry (September 8, 2002). "Edwardses hope to add fine dining at Wabash Station to their Loop empire". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 2. Retrieved July 17, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
15. Bryant, Tim (May 24, 2016). "Edwards wants Wabash station as part of MetroLink station". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved July 17, 2018.

References

• Fox, Tim (1995). Where We Live: A Guide to St. Louis Communities. St. Louis, Missouri: Missouri Historical Society Press. ISBN 978-1-883982-12-6.
• Grant, H. Roger (2004). "Follow the flag": a history of the Wabash Railroad Company. Railroads in America. DeKalb, Illinois: Northern Illinois University Press. ISBN 978-0-87580-328-9.
• Sanders, Craig (2003). Limiteds, Locals, and Expresses in Indiana, 1838–1971. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34216-4.