Union Stations Across the U.S.
By Beryl Frank
Omaha, Nebraska
Today, this building houses the Durham Western Heritage Museum. When built in 1931, it was called Union Station, headquarters of the Union Pacific Railroad. It was designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood in classic art deco style, reflected in everything from large standing figures outside to small details such as door handles.
At the height of its traffic, 64 trains and 10,000 passengers passed through the Union Station every day. The station's original 13 sets of tracks were located to the south of the building and increased trackage allowed for Union Pacific, Rock Island, Missouri Pacific, Milwaukee, Wabash, Great Western, Illinois Central and Northwestern railroads to travel through Omaha. It was considered the fourth largest railroad center in the United States.
The station was the second Union Station built on the site and measured approximately 124,000 square feet. It took about 20 months to build at a cost of $3,500,000. This building was begun in May 1929 and completed on January 15, 1931.
Glazed, cream-colored terra-cotta sheathed the steel frame of the building and statues of four railroad employees stand on the outside. On the north side are a conductor and a locomotive engineer - the first holding a lantern and the second holding an oil can. On the 10th Street entrance there are a civil engineer and a brakeman - the first holding a transit and the second a track wrench.
The main waiting room measures 160 feet long, 72 feet wide, and has a 65-foot ceiling with 10 cathedral-like plate glass windows. It also has a patterned terrazzo floor and columnettes of blue Belgian marble with a wainscotting of black Belgian marble.
Male passengers who had time could have a shave or a haircut in the station's barbershop which had three to four chairs. Ladies could relax in the highly decorated ladies lounge which offered comfortable chairs and couches as well as copies of the current local news.
The Union Station closed in 1971 after Amtrak took over all passenger travel. Four years later, the building reopened as the Western Heritage Museum. Then, in 1995, restoration of the building began requiring it to be closed for six months. The Main Waiting Room was repainted and restored and some life-size sculptures were added. In 1996, the Western Heritage Museum reopened once again to the public. One year later it was named the Durham Western Heritage Museum in honor of Mr. & Mrs. Charles Durham, major contributors and supporters of the museum.
Among other restorations to the waiting room was the old soda fountain in the east end. Today [in 2006] one can still order a soda - chocolate or vanilla.
ABOVE.. This view of the Union Station in Omaha shows that many of the passengers arrived for the trains in horse and buggies. [From the collections of the Omaha Public Library]
BELOW.. Here one sees some of the 13 tracks located to the south of the building itself. If you look closely, you can see a trainman signaling to the engineers. [From the collections of the Omaha Public Library]
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