A step back in time at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia

It’s Sunday night as I write this and I’ve just gotten home. George is nearly on my lap due to a thunder and lightning storm that’s going on and I am beat from the weekend.

On Saturday morning, I left to see my brother who is still in the hospital in Philadelphia. I took the photos I had done for him and hung them up in his room. He especially liked the lilacs. And I read him the well wishes that you all sent him, which made him smile. “They don’t even know me,” he said. “But they know you’re my brother,” I told him. He closed his eyes and smiled.

After several hours, I had to leave to pick up my son who was coming in on the bus from New York City. He texted me to say he’d be there soon, so I headed up to 30th Street Station, which is a short drive from the hospital.

I have never been inside this beautiful building before and was completely amazed. Unfortunately, I had the ISO set to 1250 on the camera, which gave these photos more noise (grain) than I expected, so please bear with me.

This is the war memorial at the station, commissioned from renowned sculptor Walker Hancock. The “Angel of Resurrection” was dedicated to the Pennsylvania Railroad employees who died during World War II. The giant bronze statue of an angel lifting a fallen soldier is located on the eastern end of the concourse.

This is the statue from the classic film, “Witness”. Here’s a clip from YouTube that includes it. The angel is in the very beginning of the scene which is over 5 minutes long and includes the murder scene, which you probably do not want to see. Just a warning.

This is a beautiful station with its art deco decor and old time elegance.

You can really see the grain here. Sorry.

The station is nearly the size of a football field. The beautiful marble floors, the soaring 95-foot high coffered ceiling and the long pendant light fixtures all add to the elegance.

There were birds flying about and some had landed on the floor.

I liked the ample seating the station offers, making it comfortable while you’re waiting for your train or bus or just waiting to pick someone up. There was a college student sitting across from me, working hard on her studies.

My sister surprised me with a piece of information on our mother’s past that I hadn’t known until this week. I always knew that my mother worked as a telephone operator for the Pennsylvania Railroad before she met and married our father. But what I never put together was the fact that she actually worked here, at the 30th Street Station.

Built by the Pennsylvania Railroad beginning in 1930, it is one of the largest rail stations in the country.

And that concludes our lesson for today. Hope you’re ready for the test tomorrow.

(I’m kidding).