The Retired Rambler: Union Station From Above -- Amazing Discoveries

Up we go!

Architect Mike Sanders wanted pictures of the design details of Union Station, so Ogden kindly loaned him a cherry picker and up we went.

Mike is giving a talk May 10 on the construction and design of Ogden's Union Station, a construction miracle that jumped out of the ground, finished, only 20 months after fire destroyed its predecessor on February of 1923. Allow for the time it took to tear down the old station, do the design and prep work, the actual building was probably 14 months, or less.

But this was no slap-dash project. Great care went into quality and design. The building was meant to last, and meant always to be beautiful.

Careful brick designs surround a decorative
brick rose that is also an air vent

Mike wanted straight-on close-up pictures of some of the rosettes and brickwork. To do that he needed to get off the ground, so Mike Underwood of Ogden's fleet division came down Tuesday morning with a cherry picker and up we went.

Yeah, we. Underwood worked the controls and Sanders and I went up, and up, and up.

Did I mention high places give me the willies?

Especially when that high place jiggles?

From above Mike and I got a good look at those rosettes, each of which is a different design. When you get close you can see that they are different colors because they artist to created them used different colors of stone, probably marble.

multi-colored marble makes up this rosette

The brickwork is also fun -- interesting patterns and designs. Someone put a lot of work into those.

I was also able to take some fun aerial views of the station. We're hoping Underwood can bring down a taller cherry picker so we can move back and get a good overall shot of the station and its setting.

From way high? Yeah, what the heck. You only live once.