Harrisburg Transportation Center

In 1884, Frank Furness bragged that his stations for the Reading Railroad were being imitated by its competitor, the Pennsylvania Railroad, which had recently hired Powell as staff architect. Powell designed the “Pennsy”'s stations on the Chestnut Hill line in Philadelphia in a way that merged Richardsonian simplification with elements of Furness's work. The same qualities can be seen here in the long facade and massive brownstone lintels, but the deep knee braces supporting the perimeter shelter recall Furness's Wissahickon Station (demolished). Within, the building contains a handsome waiting room, paneled in the golden oak of the period and detailed with Queen Anne raised panels. To the rear, two train sheds above the through tracks form part of the Main Line between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The station was restored in the 1980s by a Washington, D.C., firm.