25 replies to this topic

[gto250us]

Does anyone know when the old Houston MKT Railroad station was torn down? It stood at Collins Place and North Main. On the north bank of WhiteOak Bayou at Main Street. The old MKT Trestles across the White Oak, I think are still there.

[JLWM8609]

The station was torn down in the late 50s. The tracks came up in the late 90s.

Edited by JLWM8609, Tuesday, September 1, 2009 at 4:03 PM.

[rsb320]

Wow UHDT sure looks different now.

There's a newspaper article/ad on sale on Ebay for MKT Station Houston. It would not let me post the picture here.

[kylejack]

I've had an idea for a while of getting together old pictures from all over the city and trying to recapture the same shot from the exact spot where the picture was taken to show how things have changed, this would probably be a good one to start with...

[rsb320]

kylejack, on Tuesday, September 1, 2009 at 4:27 PM, said:

I've had an idea for a while of getting together old pictures from all over the city and trying to recapture the same shot from the exact spot where the picture was taken to show how things have changed, this would probably be a good one to start with...

I think that's an excellent idea. I love that kind of stuff.

[theoriginalkj]

kylejack, on Tuesday, September 1, 2009 at 4:27 PM, said:

I've had an idea for a while of getting together old pictures from all over the city and trying to recapture the same shot from the exact spot where the picture was taken to show how things have changed, this would probably be a good one to start with...

There's already a book for that, called Houston Then & Now, available on Amazon NEW for $14.

LINK: http://www.amazon.co...51848450&sr=8-1

[tmariar]

rsb320, on Tuesday, September 1, 2009 at 4:18 PM, said:

There's a newspaper article/ad on sale on Ebay for MKT Station Houston. It would not let me post the picture here.

I think I saw the same article on ebay. I really hate it when I see old books, magazines, and newspapers chopped up in an attempt to make more money off them. Here's a copy of the article(not from ebay):

[brucesw]

theoriginalkj, on Tuesday, September 1, 2009 at 6:41 PM, said:

There's already a book for that, called Houston Then & Now, available on Amazon NEW for $14.

LINK: http://www.amazon.co...51848450&sr=8-1

Plus JR Gonzales has a continuing Then and Now feature in his Bayou City History blog in the Chron.

Bring it on kylejack; that kind of stuff is always interesting.

[kylejack]

brucesw, on Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 11:32 AM, said:

Plus JR Gonzales has a continuing Then and Now feature in his Bayou City History blog in the Chron.

Bring it on kylejack; that kind of stuff is always interesting.

This one makes me kinda sad.

[kylejack]

Okay, does this look like the correct shot?

[rsb320]

It said north of White Oak. See Collins Place and that parking lot? That looks like the spot to me.

[kylejack]

The picture seems to be shot from the other side of a bayou, though, right? Isn't that a railroad bridge crossing a bayou on the right of the picture? Is that the remains of the railroad bridge that can still be seen?

Edit: The red arrow is where I propose that the photographer was, and the direction he shot. Sorry if that was unclear.

Edited by kylejack, Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 3:13 PM.

[JLWM8609]

kylejack, on Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 2:49 PM, said:

Okay, does this look like the correct shot?

I see the station in the first photo just underneath the lowest watermark.

Edited by JLWM8609, Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 3:22 PM.

[kylejack]

Ohhh, hm. That's not at Collins Place though, because Collins Pl is north of the bayou...

Edited by kylejack, Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 3:28 PM.

[kylejack]

Here we go, makes a lot more sense, thanks guys.

[rsb320]

There does appear to be a bridge still there, crossing the bayou, under 1-10. I used maps.live.com and rotated the Birdseye view. The train station appears to be behind the top watermark on the original B&W photo. Notice the bend in Main St. The current parking lot does indeed appear to be the site where it once stood.

[JLWM8609]

kylejack, on Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 3:37 PM, said:

Here we go, makes a lot more sense, thanks guys.

There's something in those old photos on Collins Place north of White Oak Bayou, but it's not the MKT station, unless another one was built after the 1914 structure was torn down in the late 50s.

[rsb320]

What's that big acordian looking think on top of the UHDT building in post #2?

[JLWM8609]

rsb320, on Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 3:55 PM, said:

What's that big acordian looking think on top of the UHDT building in post #2?

It looks like it used to be a sign, but I'm not sure. I know a Houston Historian who works as a professor at UHD, he might know. I'll ask him and see what he says.

[baron]

JLWM8609, on Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 3:56 PM, said:

It looks like it used to be a sign, but I'm not sure. I know a Houston Historian who works as a professor at UHD, he might know. I'll ask him and see what he says.

That looks to me like part of an early air-conditioning system.

[kylejack]

JLWM8609, on Tuesday, September 1, 2009 at 4:02 PM, said:

Okay I snapped this. Need to get my angle and zoom down to match, but that's the basic shot. Here's a few more from the area.



I believe the railroad bridge is going to become part of the Nicholson Bike Trail.

[NenaE]

rsb320, on Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 3:55 PM, said:

What's that big acordian looking think on top of the UHDT building in post #2?

I was wondering about that, as well. My First thought too, was that it was probably part of an a/c unit. What a great pic of UH - DT & train station. I got to see UH-DT recently. They did a good job of restoring it. The patio is awesome.
I could see bayou water flowing over that old bridge, at times. How interesting.

Edited by NenaE, Thursday, September 3, 2009 at 9:46 AM.

[NenaE]

http://web.me.com/gr...pot_Images.html

This RR enthusiast has a great collection of local railway stations, some of which I have never seen before, just read about.

[DMac]

You could also check to see if your local branch for either Houston or Harris Cnty library systems have a copy. Save yourself $14 during these economic hard times.

theoriginalkj, on Tuesday, September 1, 2009 at 6:41 PM, said:

There's already a book for that, called Houston Then & Now, available on Amazon NEW for $14.

LINK: http://www.amazon.co...51848450&sr=8-1

[NenaE]

The new book Rails around Houston by Douglas L. Weiskopf has some excellent info. and pics on this subject.

[plumber2]

NenaE, on Thursday, September 3, 2009 at 9:43 AM, said:

I was wondering about that, as well. My First thought too, was that it was probably part of an a/c unit. What a great pic of UH - DT & train station. I got to see UH-DT recently. They did a good job of restoring it. The patio is awesome.
I could see bayou water flowing over that old bridge, at times. How interesting.

You are correct, the item on top of the building is an evaporative cooling unit, an early attempt at air conditioning. Refigeration units eventually replaced most of these water cooled systems around town.