Keeping track of Union Stations
Sharp-eyed railroad fans will notice similarities between the train depots in L.A. and Ogden, Utah.
OGDEN, Utah — Angelenos who travel to Ogden may do a double-take when they see this city’s Spanish Colonial Revival-style Union Station.
That’s because the train depots in L.A. and Ogden were designed by John B. Parkinson (1861-1935), who often worked with his son and fellow architect, Donald D. Parkinson (1895-1945).
Both stations are on the National Register of Historic Places, but the 1924 Ogden depot is home to four museums that deal with Western heritage as well as two art galleries.
The interior of the station also has two huge murals painted by Edward Laning that show the building of the Transcontinental Railroad, which linked the eastern and western United States.
Admission to all four museums costs $5 for adults 18 to 61. A $15 family pass admits up to two adults and eight dependent children.
Ogden, about 38 miles north of Salt Lake City, was once a major railroad center. Union Station is at the west end of the historic 25th Street in the heart of downtown, just a stone’s throw (albeit a long one) from the Roosters microbrewery.
Although it was once the junction of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads, Ogden’s Union Station is no longer a railroad hub. (L.A.’s station has train service.)
In 1997 Amtrak’s Pioneer was the last long-distance passenger train to stop at the station.
You can still get to Ogden by train from Salt Lake City, where Amtrak stops, but the FrontRunner commuter rail line uses the Ogden Intermodal Transit Center, about a five-minute walk from Union Station.
Here’s a rundown on the museums and galleries: Utah State Railroad Museum has several pictorial and interactive artifacts and displays, including a collection of locomotives and other rolling stock, as well as the safe that once held the Golden Spike used to join the rails of the Transcontinental Railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah, about 50 miles from Ogden. (The actual spike is in the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University.) John M. Browning Firearms Museum has many original weapons designed by Browning, including rifles, shotguns, pistols, machine guns and cannons. Browning designs serve as the basis for many models made by Winchester, Colt, Remington and other companies. Kimball Classic Car Museum Oldsmobile and a 1930 16-cylinder Cadillac. Many have running boards, huge fenders, oversized headlights and rumble seats. Utah State Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum is the newest addition to the Union Station museums. Its displays tell the story of artists, champions, entertainers, musicians, ranchers, writers and people past and present who have promoted the Western way of life. travel@latimes.com