Back in 2008, the old ACL Passenger Station building was demolished, after being disused since the 1990's. Remarkably, the Canopies and platforms remained, and with the old ACL Searchlight Signal Cantilever adjacent to the old station, it was a perfect photo spot. But the old cantilever was replaced in May of 2018, and now the canopies have been bulldozed as well, back in January. Now only the platforms remain. I'm glad I had the privilege of seeing the old canopies for the first and now last time back in November 2020, as I had no idea they would be gone in just two months. It's kind of sad that more and more railroad history is being destroyed every month, and there isn't anything the railfans can do about it. Before Now Photo's by Jason Parker and Fred Clarke Jr respectively on Flickr
Yes, it's sad, but railway structures aren't much different from others. If there's no economic or other reason to keep something it's usually cheaper and safer to demolish it. The best protection for buildings and structures is for them to be useful. If they're no longer useful then their future isn't good. That said, here in the UK we are now spending hundreds of millions replacing demolished railway structures because stations and lines are being brought back into use. The cost of mothballing them - even for 50 years - would have been less, but only some of them are being resurrected and you couldn't fifty years ago have made the case for the next two generations preserving everything, just in case.
I know, and I knew when I posted the thread the reason behind the demolition. I was just saying it was sad that it's gone now. Honestly, I knew it would happen eventually, but now that it's happened, it's just kind of sad.
Similarly I feel the same way, and I don't know why, about airfields being disused and having shopping malls, industrial and/or housing estates built over them.
