Los Angeles Union Station
The last great American railroad station built it is located on the corner of Los Angeles and Alameda Streets upon what was once Los Angeles' Chinatown. Ideas for something like Union Station began as early as 1911 as city planners requested that the 3 main railways in the area (Southern Pacific, Santa Fe, Union Pacific) merged their different terminals into one consolidated station, rejected in the fear of more compeition. It took a 10 year long lawsuit to get a overwhelmingly approved city ballot measure for it to be constructed.
Union Station is designed by architect Donald B. Parkinson and is built as a cluster of low, stucco, tiled roofed buildings that are a combination of both Spanish Mission and Modern styles that are topped off by a 135-foot tall clock tower. It was opened on May 7, 1939 with an opening day crowd of 1.5 million.
Today, Union Station is a national landmark on the lands of the Santa Fe Pacific Corporation. It is a terminal for Amtrak, and the city's Metrorail and Metrolink services.
Sources
Dale and Leonard Pitt. Los Angeles: A to Z.