Commuter and Transfer Stations In Art

Liverpool Street Station by Edward Bawden, colour lithograph, 1961

These illustrations are views of the outside of commuter stations — train stations, lorry transfer stations. (I’m not including here illustrations of the insides of commuter stations.)

Commuter stations are interesting because they fall into the category of ‘liminal spaces’. When creating stories, writers are typically advised to avoid the transit scenes. This is good general advice, because “Transit can make for a slow and ordinary beginning unless something quite odd is going on or we have an entertaining voice“.

On the other hand, these spaces are such ‘nothing’ spaces that if storytellers and artists linger with purpose, showing the details normally overlooked as we rush from place to place in our daily lives, the description of a commuter station can defamiliarise the everyday experience of living.

Flat Tire at the Commuter Station 1960 Amos Sewell (1901-1983)
Flat Tire at the Commuter Station 1960 Amos Sewell (1901-1983)
New Yorker cover train station by Garrett Price
New Yorker cover train station by Garrett Price
New Yorker cover train station night by Garrett Price
New Yorker cover train station night by Garrett Price
Charles Saxon, cover for The New Yorker, 1959
Charles Saxon, cover for The New Yorker, 1959
John Phillip Falter (American, 1910-1982) Commuters in the Rain 1961
John Phillip Falter (American, 1910-1982) Commuters in the Rain 1961
Jean-Jacques Sempé (1932)
When the railway is closed by snow... Rowland Emett, Punch 1953
When the railway is closed by snow… Rowland Emett, Punch 1953
Martin Lewis (1881 - 1962) 1931 'Snow On The El' (mentor of Edward Hopper)
Martin Lewis (1881 – 1962) 1931 ‘Snow On The El’ (mentor of Edward Hopper)
Central Station in Cologne Carl Grossberg (German, 1894-1940)
MARC FERNAND SEVERIN (1906-1987) Poster Art 1938
MARC FERNAND SEVERIN (1906-1987) Poster Art 1938
Grace Golden (1904-1993) lorry station
Grace Golden (1904-1993)
Théophile Poilpot - Embarkation of La Normandie at Havre 1889
Théophile Poilpot – Embarkation of La Normandie at Havre 1889
Erskine Nicol - The Emigrants 1864
Erskine Nicol – The Emigrants 1864

Train stations aren’t what they used to be. Take a look at a few then-and-now photos of European and American terminals and you’ll notice a few things beyond the usual observations of technological innovation and increased patronage. First, the grandeur of the older stations has made way for more sterile architecture, as in the cases of St. Pancras and Roma Termini. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the interiors of modern stations bear an uncanny resemblance to shopping malls. Gone is the notion of the train station as a transient space: no more in and out; no more creaky, dark corridors – a proliferation that can only conclude with in-station condos – but somewhere within the riff raff, terminal newsstands still provide a small window into the world of a literature they came to define. 

Rethinking The Littérature De Gare: Crime Fiction In France And The U.S.
from Graham Greene’s The Little Steamroller (1955), illustrated by Dorothy Craigie (1901-1971)
‘Christmas at Basingstoke’ by Robin Pinnock railway platform station
‘Christmas at Basingstoke’ by Robin Pinnock
Norman Rockwell, Color Study for Breaking Home Ties, 1954, cover for The Saturday Evening Post
Norman Rockwell, Color Study for Breaking Home Ties, 1954, cover for The Saturday Evening Post
End of the Working Day (Commuter Rush), 1920 Norman Rockwell
Adolph K. Kronengold commuter station
Adolph K. Kronengold
'Fairies' by 'Moebius' Jean Giraud (French Artist,Cartoonist 1938-2012)
‘Fairies’ by ‘Moebius’ Jean Giraud (French Artist,Cartoonist 1938-2012)
Emil André Schefer (1876-1942) 1925
Emil André Schefer (1876-1942) 1925
Douglas MacPherson illustration of Piccadilly Circus underground station, a crosscut from 1928
1942, At the Station by Dean Cornwell (1892-1960)
1942, At the Station by Dean Cornwell (1892-1960)
Ivan Semyonov (1906-1982) Suburban Train Station, Soviet postcard 1961

FURTHER READING

Lost in the Transit Desert: Race, Transit Access, and Suburban Form 

Increased redevelopment, the dismantling of public housing, and increasing housing costs are forcing a shift in migration of lower income and transit dependent populations to the suburbs. These suburbs are often missing basic transportation, and strategies to address this are lacking. This absence of public transit creates barriers to viable employment and accessibility to cultural networks, and plays a role in increasing social inequality. In her book Lost in the Transit Desert: Race, Transit Access, and Suburban Form (Routledge, 2017), Diane Jones Allen investigates how housing and transport policy have played their role in creating these “Transit Deserts,” and what impact race has upon those likely to be affected. Jones Allen uses research from New Orleans, Baltimore, and Chicago to explore the forces at work in these situations, as well as proposing potential solutions. Mapping, interviews, photographs, and narratives all come together to highlight the inequities and challenges in Transit Deserts, where a lack of access can make all journeys, such as to jobs, stores, or relatives, much more difficult. Alternatives to public transit abound, from traditional methods such as biking and carpooling to more culturally specific tactics, and are examined comprehensively. This is valuable reading for students and researchers interested in transport planning, urban planning, city infrastructure, and transport geography.

interview at New Books Network

Header illustration: Liverpool Street Station by Edward Bawden, colour lithograph, 1961

CONTEMPORARY FICTION SET IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND (2023)

On paper, things look fine. Sam Dennon recently inherited significant wealth from his uncle. As a respected architect, Sam spends his days thinking about the family needs and rich lives of his clients. But privately? Even his enduring love of amateur astronomy is on the wane. Sam has built a sustainable-architecture display home for himself but hasn’t yet moved into it, preferring to sleep in his cocoon of a campervan. Although they never announced it publicly, Sam’s wife and business partner ended their marriage years ago due to lack of intimacy, leaving Sam with the sense he is irreparably broken.

Now his beloved uncle has died. An intensifying fear manifests as health anxiety, with night terrors from a half-remembered early childhood event. To assuage the loneliness, Sam embarks on a Personal Happiness Project:

1. Get a pet dog

2. Find a friend. Just one. Not too intense.

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