Railfanning in Nashville, Tenn.

Todd DeFeo/Railfanning.org

Nashville's Union Station as it appeared in May 2002.

Todd DeFeo/Railfanning.org

A northbound CSX slowly pulls out of Nashville. Nashville is a former Louisville & Nashville Railroad stronghold and today serves CSX. Passenger trains no longer stop at Union Station, which is today a hotel. Amtrak, at times, has talked about providing passenger service to Music City, U.S.A.

Railfanning in Nashville, Tenn.

Railfanning.org

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Union Station opened on Oct. 9, 1900, serving both the Louisville & Nashville and the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis railroads.

At a cost of $300,000 to build, the station remained in use until the 1970s. It was was condemned in 1975. Amtrak, however, continued to use the station's train shed until 1979, when the last passenger train pulled out of Nashville.

The Louisville & Nashville Railroad was chartered on March 5, 1850. The Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railroad was chartered on Dec. 11, 1845 and ran until it was absorbed by the Louisville & Nashville in March 1957.

The station’s train shed – which would have been in the foreground of the photo above –was razed in 2000. The shed, which was built between 1898 and 1900 and covered a 250 feet by 500 feet area cost about $200,000 to build and covered 10 tracks and their platforms. The station’s former platforms are still visible, although the area is now a parking lot.

Trains that served Union Station included: the Dixie Limited, Southwind, the Georgian, the Dixie Flyer and the Azalean.

After an extensive restoration, the station reopened in 1986 as a hotel. CSX’s main line, which runs to Evansville, Ind., still uses the Louisville & Nashville’s tracks, running adjacent to Union Station.

Richard Montfort designed Union Station and by J. Weness designed the shed.