The
boarding platforms were either the first or the last thing a rail passenger
would see as they embarked or disembarked on a train at the Central Terminal.
This photo at right was taken in 1985 and from this angle, except for the
obvious lack of trains in the picture, one could mistake this shot as being
one of an actual, working train station. Man and mother nature had not
yet taken it's toll on the boarding platforms. This shot is one of
my favorites because it's the one that when viewing it, we can get a sense
of what it must have looked like when standing on the platform, when the
Central Terminal was in use as a working train station.
This shot at left was taken at the same time as the previous shot. As
you can see, some of the tracks, which are long gone now, are still in
place. At the right we see a doorway. Notice the words painted directly
above the doorway, "TO STATION." This doorway leads to one of the many
ramps leading to the train concourse, which is the elevated section at the top
left of the photo. Also at the top left we can see a good view of the exterior
of one of the ramps.
At right is a shot taken in 1988. The rails have been removed, scrap
hunters, vandals and nature have begun to take back what ever has been
left behind. At the right of the photo, in the shadows, we can barely make
out one of the stairwells that lead up to the train concourse overhead.