U.S. Postage: Historic Railroad Stations of the United States

 You know I love plants, zoos, LEGO's and I am a damn good cook.  Tips of the iceberg.  I also love trains and travel when I can by rail.  I have collected stamps since I was 8.  I started collecting stamps after my cousin, Johnnie,--who was in his 30's at the time--gave me a little butter tub of stamps from England and Germany from his collection, the year was 1969, the occasion a sympathy call upon the death of my Paternal Grandfather--a generous and kind distraction.  

Johnnie and his wife Clara were dairy farmers in Bedford County, Pennsylvania.  I loved them both so much.  Visiting with them was always a highlight of trips to see my grandparents.  Johnnie and Clara only left the farm on one occasion in their entire long married lives, and that was a visit to Detroit to see us and a pair of uncles who had settled in Southfield and Wyandotte with their wives.  All the rest of his travels away from the farm where through postage stamps.  

To bring it together, the United States Postal Office has recently issue a set of 5 commemoratives to honor Historic Railroad Stations of the United States.  With so many Railroad Stations to choose from, the task must have been daunting.  The subtitle on the sheet reads: "One Trip: From Sea to Shining Sea".  Unfortunately, and even given the fact that the Railroad started in Maryland, the five choices suggest the "sea" shines brighter on the east coast.  My solution would have been to take the idea more seriously.  More comprehensively.  

I have no doubt that the preeminent Railroad Station in the United States of a grand scale is Union Station in Cincinnati, Ohio.   Classic Union Stations across the United States are among the most amazing civic structures in their relative cities.  Union Station in Washington, DC (a structure I have visited well over 100 times), is simply a magnificent edifice.  You can add these beautiful Union stations in New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago, Kansas City, Denver, St. Paul, etc.  In the south and southwest, stations with glorious Spanish Mission designs exist beyond San Bernardino, California.  Art Deco, Federalist, Georgian, Romanesque, Greek Revival, Rail Stations represent a compendium of architectural history and an evolution of civic pride.

Having so many stations in the east in this collection has benefited me in one way.  I've been to three of them.  However, limiting the commemoration to just 5 is short-sighted, and deserves to be corrected.

The Stations that were chosen:

BEEN TO THESE

HAVEN'T BEEN TO THESE

What I would have done was expand the Postal Stamp issue to a sheet of 15 Stations.  Here are my 10 other suggestions:

Full Disclosure, I've been to 7 of the 10: Union Station, Washington, DC; Thurmond Station, Thurmond, West Virginia; Pacific Depot, Kirkwood, Missouri; Union Station, Portland, Oregon; Union Station, Ogden, Utah; Red Wing Station, Red Wing, Minnesota; and Whitefish Depot, Whitefish, Montana.