Category talk:24th Street Station (Philadelphia)

Change "Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Station (Philadelphia)" to "24th Street Station"?

I would strongly oppose changing the name of this category.

The name "24th Street Station" is meaningless to almost everyone - including the vast majority of Philadelphians - since the station was demolished 50 years ago and not replaced. I doubt that "24th Street" was ever the formal name of the station. "Baltimore and Ohio Passenger Station" is the name on the building in this circa-1940 photo from HABS: http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/pa/pa1000/pa1097/photos/138638pv.jpg

Familiarly, it was called the "B & O Station" - the 4 signs on its tower all read "B & O" (see top right in photo below). "Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Station (Philadelphia)" conveys far more useful information. It would be a much better idea to change the name of the Wikipedia article. BoringHistoryGuy (talk) 19:35, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

No evidence has been presented that this was ever called "24th Street Station." It is not called that by HABS; in George Thomas's catalogue of Furness's works; or in Michael Lewis's biography of Furness. Philadelphia Architects and Buildings calls it "Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Station"[1] and my 1901 Bromley Atlas calls it "B & O Station." I even asked my 93-year-old uncle – who lived 2 blocks away and shipped off to World War II from the station – and he said he'd NEVER HEARD the name "24th Street Station" used for this. If you cannot present evidence for this name, I must conclude that it is a fantasy. == BoringHistoryGuy (talk) 21:01, 31 October 2014 (UTC)

Ok, I think I remember what happened here. I believe I created this page and I'm almost positive that I got that name from the Library of Congress' caption of the images. I have just told BoringHistoryGuy that I have just now found some other sources (I mentioned two but it appears there is also a third, a New York Times archive article) that refer to the station as Chestnut St. Station. Chestnut St. Station appears on the railroad's timetable and also on a website dedicated to architect. BoringHistoryGuy, I would ask your grandfather if he remembers the name "Chestnut St. Station" but in terms of an official source I would look in archives like local newspapers. The NYTimes article was describing a train accident "ROYAL BLUE TRAIN WRECKED.; Engine Overturns Near Wilmington -- Passengers Narrowly Escape."

Special to The New York Times. June 05, 1910. Probably a local paper also has this story.Monopoly31121993 (talk) 23:58, 1 November 2014 (UTC)

I'm okay with whatever change receives consensus. I created the category and I thought I read the station described as the 24th Street Station, but I don't remember the source. Please consider the change unopposed. Ytoyoda (talk) 16:06, 2 November 2014 (UTC)

Here's the link to the Historical American Buildings Survey at the Library of Congress.[2] I think the former name – "Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Station (Philadelphia) – is consistent with this record. It is also consistent with the record at Philadelphia Architects and Buildings, and close to what George Thomas uses. == BoringHistoryGuy (talk) 22:33, 2 November 2014 (UTC)

Here's an image from 1891:

Well at least we learned that it was also called Chestnut St. Station.Monopoly31121993 (talk) 21:57, 3 November 2014 (UTC)

No, we don't know that for sure. That is your interpretation. If an old Reading Railroad timetable read "Market Street Station, Philadelphia," that would give a passenger information about where he was, but the building would still be Reading Terminal. == BoringHistoryGuy (talk) 03:31, 4 November 2014 (UTC)