page_title: Joseph Scelsi Intermodal Transportation Center
section_title: The second Union Station
hierarchical_section_title: Joseph Scelsi Intermodal Transportation Center / History / The second Union Station
caption_attribution_description: English: Early white border postcard of Pittsfield Union Station
context_page_description: The Joseph Scelsi Intermodal Transportation Center is a transit facility located in downtown Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The $11 million facility is named after Joseph Scelsi, a longtime State Representative who represented Pittsfield. Owned by the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority, it is serviced by local BRTA bus services, Amtrak intercity rail service, and Peter Pan intercity bus service. The second floor of the building houses two classrooms used by Berkshire Community College and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.
  Railroad stations have been located in downtown Pittsfield since the Western Railroad opened in 1841. The original station burned in 1854; after its replacement proved inadequate, a union station was constructed in 1866 to serve the Western plus the Housatonic Railroad and the Pittsfield and North Adams Railroad. A second, larger union station replaced it in 1914. The New Haven Railroad and New York Central Railroad moved to smaller depots in 1960 and 1965, and Union Station was demolished in 1968. Rail service to Pittsfield ended in 1971 but returned in 1975 and moved to a new shelter downtown in 1981.
context_section_description: Four decades after its construction, Union Station was proving too small for its role as the principal railroad hub of Berkshire County. In 1908 local residents began agitating for a larger station, and William H. MacInnis made it a platform of his mayoral candidacy. In 1910 MacInnis appointed a three-man committee (one a director of the B&A) to lobby the railroad authorities to replace Union Station. Financial constraints at first hampered their efforts. but in April 1912 the B&A agreed to support the project. In 1913, the NYNH&H acquired the former Burbank Hotel property and began constructing the second Union Station.
  The new Union Station cost $400,000 all told, with construction of the station itself costing $300,000. Constructed in the Beaux Arts style of red brick with white terra cotta trim, the station was more than twice its predecessor's size at 17,953 square feet (1,667.9 m²). A high terrazzo ceiling contained skylights to supplement the high arched windows. The walls were green marble for the dado and "white, green-veined Vermont marble" above; furnishings were polished wood, and the city's seal was reproduced in mosaic on the floor. Modern conveniences included all-electric chandeliers, thermostat-controlled heat, an intercom for announcing trains, and a restaurant inside the station building.
  At its peak in 1912, the B&A operated 12 Boston-Albany round trips, one Boston-Pittsfield round trip, and as many as 10 Pittsfield-North Adams round trips. Around 1913 the New Haven planned to use the Housatonic as part of a New York-Montreal through route to compete with the NYC, but this never materialized and service levels were never high. After 1926 New Haven operated two daily New York-Pittsfield round trips with additional weekend service plus a Great Barrington-Pittsfield commuter trip operated by a railbus. Until 1934 the NYC operated the Berkshire Hills Express between North Adams and New York City via Pittsfield. Afterwards, the company continued unnamed continuous trains over the same route.  After 1935, nonstop New York-Pittsfield weekend trips were added for skiers during the winter.
caption: Postcard view of the second Union Station, showing the pedestrian bridge and water tower at right
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