Once the crossroads of the west, this grand Beaux Arts station still captures the glamour and excitement of rail travel. Inside, museum exhibits cover railroad and automotive history across several collections: the Utah State Railroad Museum, the Browning Firearms Museum, and a natural history exhibit. Special events like model railroad shows often take place in the main lobby. Enormous locomotives from the glory days of the Union Pacific sit outside, and Historic 25th Street is just across the street.
The building itself is worth examining. Completed in 1924 in place of an earlier structure, the mission-style main facade faces west — toward the Pacific — as a statement of where the railroad was going. The waiting room's vaulted ceiling and tiled floors give a sense of what travel felt like when the train was the only way to cross a continent.