Nostalgia & History > Kansas City Depot Friday

Happy 100th Birthday Kansas City Union Station! http://www.unionstation.org/100years/
Photo taken December 30, 1986. The Lobster Pot restaurant was still in business then, notice the banner.
At least this is before the bubble in the waiting room. That was the real dark day.
I agree with Peter Hansen in the latest Trains magazine, the current waiting room is woefully inadequate.
The half exposed outdoor walkway to the uncovered platform is way too long!
The passengers waiting to board by the waiting room, are squeezed into a narrow space
between the ticket office and the exit doors. The current success of the station is probably a pretty
good indicator that Amtrak will not be able to improve its presence as the historic transportation
provider there.

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And quite a shoot out in front during gangster days. Rounds from the tommy guns peppered the side of the building and are visible today.

Thanks for posting this centennial shot of the Kansas City Union Station! In reference to the "Union Station Massacre" that was mentioned here, my grandfather was a carman and was working the trains when that occurred and heard the shots from the platform area. He worked there from 1923 until his retirement in 1959, servicing such trains as UP's M-10000, the CB&Q's "Pioneer Zephyr," MP "Eagles," the KCS "Southern Belle," and Santa Fe's many "Chiefs." His favorite of the 12 railroads serving KC in his day was the Rock Island, and he would ride the Golden State Route on his Pass when they would come out to visit us in California when I was young. (His Pass was good on all 12 lines serving KC) During his career he worked both at the station and at the roundhouse/coach yard located west of the depot. Several other relatives also worked at the KC Union Station, but grandpa was the one who was there the longest. Quite a railroad career for a former farmer!

In the summer of 1969 while visiting from California, we took grandpa down to the coach yard where he had spent part of his working days. I wanted to see the trains and we thought he would like to see what was going on as well. It was pretty sad at that late date, with weeds covering all the tracks and the roundhouse in a definite state of bad repair. The only "trains" in the coach yard was an Kansas City Terminal GM switcher pulling a mixed string of CB&Q and MP passenger cars -- only about 7 or 8 total -- through the car washer. There was a Burlington vista-dome in that consist as well. The four cars of the KCS "Southern Belle" were sitting a few tracks over, and that was it. Grandpa thanked us for bringing him along, but said he never wanted to come back again. That was his last visit to the Union Station and its support facilities. In November the "Southern Belle" was discontinued, and the following April he passed away, almost one year to the day before the formation of Amtrak...

Lots of memories, thankfully mostly good ones, associated with the Kansas City Union Station for myself and my family going back many years. Thanks for recognizing its 100th birthday and for posting this great photo...

ShastaDaylight