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Union Station

Chicago


This wonderfully restored 1925 train station looks like it stepped right out of a gangster movie. In fact, it has been used to great effect in exactly this way. Remember director Brian De Palma's classic The Untouchables, when Eliot Ness loses his grip on the baby carriage during the shoot-out with Al Capone's henchmen? And the carriage bounces down the stairs in slow motion? Those steps are here.

They're the north ones from Canal St to the waiting room. The steps were recently restored and look Hollywood-sharp now in photos. Come during the day when Amtrak and Metra riders stride through the space, which is dappled with bright shafts of sunlight from the banks of windows.