That the colossal size of the waiting room was the reason the station awed is not a bad thing. Manhattan Island is large enough to accommodate some overly ;large structures without restricting other construction. I love that one photo of the waiting room in which it’s hard to tell if it’s inside or outside. Have you been inside Saint John the Divine? Certainly not elaborately designed, it inspires awe specifically for it’s massive indoor space. I was 10 years old when Penn Station was torn down and I don’t remember ever having been inside. I wish I could go back in time to walk through it and gaze for a while.

“A good soldier never stands when he can sit, and never sits when he can lie down.”

I don’t completely agree with Al, but I think his point is that for railroading, it wasn’t the best station. From an architectural standpoint it certainly was amazing, and definitely on par with Grand Central. But GCT was built to accommodate more traffic than they were currently receiving, it was well planned, and just the separation of upper level long distance trains and lower level commuter trains was kind of innovative. The actual station proper of Penn was demolished, but the tracks and such are much the same. And if you’ve ever taken LIRR, compare that experience with MN. Penn is a nuthouse.

I suppose one could argue that aesthetically Pennsylvania station was more beautiful than Grand Central, but in terms of usability, and the purpose for which it was built, GCT would win hands down every time.

Wow, I can’t disagree more here in regards to the comparison to GCT. The aesthetic beauty of the main waiting hall of Penn station was breathtaking and would wow anyone walking into it. What made it more unique was that the concourse was a glass vaulted space separate from it. The amount of people that go into penn station now compared to back then, if this station survived, it would have been another gem like GCT. I’m sickened by its loss.

If the initial design of Penn Station was one-third the size of what was constucted , it may have survived. The irony is that the size -to- number of tracks proportion of Penn Station was inversly propotional to the size-to-the number of tracks proportion of GCT.

The the waiting room may have inspired awe because of it’s colossal size , but it’s very size made it impractical in terms of it’s basis purpose and it’s durabilty. I do not consider it’s design to be aesthetic , in particular when compared to the superb architectural quality of GCT.

Walking through the lower level the other day at Penn, I looked up through some open ceiling panels and noted the old glass cube floor of the concourse, seen in the photos above. Penn Station may be gone, but most of the below grade infrastructure remains.

Thanks!