Nostalgia & History > Depot Friday: Manhattan KS, a 116 year transition

While I was still up in the big sky working for Montana Rail Link my friend Tony Fey was able to grab a couple of shots of my hometown UP depot while the area was in deep transition to its present form. Starting about 1987 downtown Manhattan, KS, including the UP’s curving main line trackage was given a huge facelift, which was complete well before I retired and moved home from Montana in 2010. The UP main line was “scooted over” several yards away from the depot structure, which saved & completely refurbished. This work included replacing the original street-side “gable”(?) seen in the 1903 image. I’m not at all sure my use of the term gable is correct. So I eagerly await & will cheerfully accept any inbound corrections…

Onward to the photos>>v

1. On May 2, 1903 President Theodore Roosevelt presented an address to a large crowd at the Union Pacific depot. Note The “gable" on the street side of the depot. BW image from the Kansas State Historical Society collection.

2. August 23, 1959. Merle Graves photo from the Art Gibson collection.

3. May 15, 1966. During an NRHS fan excursion aboard train #17 from Topeka to Salina. Art Gibson original b/w negative.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/23 04:31 by santafe199.

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4. Train #17, the “Portland Rose” departs town in August of 1966. Kodachrome slide by James W. Watson.

5. March 16, 1972. Time exposure by the late Thos R Lee, from the Jim Watson collection.

6. April of 1977 (my shot). Street side of the depot. Unfortunately after the inter-company “kidnapping” & transport of the neon Overland sign down the road to Topeka.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/23 04:32 by santafe199.

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7. The 8444 pays a visit on August 29, 1986. Kodachrome slide by the late Tony Fey.

8. May 10, 1987 (my shot). While passing through town on my way to new RR employment up in South Dakota.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/23 04:34 by santafe199.

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9. & 10. October 18, 2001. Alternate views by the late Tony Fey. (These are the 2 images that kick-started this entire thread!)

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11. June 28, 2012 (my shot). Taken from the new KS hwy 18/177 overpass.

12. January 2, 2019 (my shot). Taken @ 5:30 PM.
(All photos taken in Manhattan, KS by various photographers. Some images previously posted)

Thanks for looking a looong ways back…
Lance Garrels
santafe199



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/23 04:37 by santafe199.

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I must say WOW!  You did a excellent job of covering this story of a beautiful depot and events over the years. Too bad we can't hold the time to the past in it's heyday of the early years of railroading. Today's railroading, to me, is lack luster at it's best. Thank you for your time for putting this together for all to enjoy! Job well done...

I am somewhere in the photo with 8444. I cut class to go see her.  The station sure has changed a lot over the years.

Thannks for sharing.

The neon sign is now part of the Union Pacific Museum collection and is on display at the Durham Museum in Omaha.

Great historic series Lance!!!

Lance,

VERY SAD to see latter photos - - lost track since 1967.

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Very nice, sir. I thought the wife and I had some interior shots of the depot from our wedding day without all the guests but, no.  They did great job on the inside.  The commemorative medallion is out front.

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A little digging revealed some shots of our recon mission in February of 2013.

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NKP715 Wrote: > ... lost track since 1967 ...

NICE!!! I'm thinking that would be UP #70 making its station stop. And look over yonder: a WB Rock Island train is patiently waiting its turn to roll across the diamond. Thanks, your image is a nice bit of icing to grace this 116 year old cake... ;^)

Lance 

The photo by wag216 shows wag2811 at "work". wag216

wag216 Wrote: > ... wag2811 at "work" ...

Cool! I didn't realize that was Bill...

Lance

 

Old UP RR Kansas City based passenger train crews  worked to and frrom Ellis, KS. Kansas City engine crews worked to and from Junction City, KS. On train#17 the Portland Rose.

switchlock Wrote: > ... A little digging ...

Love that interior stuff. The operator/agent “office” was in that East end of the building for as long as l can remember. Harry Means was the agent and Ralph (something or other) was the opr/clerk. I used to go in there with my camera and pester the’crap’ out of them to see if any trains were coming. But they never seemed to mind. I think they were glad for the occasional small talk. It was Ralph who first broke the news to me that my beloved Santa Fe once used to run into Manhattan (Manhattan, Alma & Burlingame). By the time I verified this incredible scoop, he was long gone...

Posted from iPhone

According to the Riley County Historical Museum, your gable is refereed to as the West Entrance Tower or the Cupola.

My wife & I had our 50th wedding anniversary reception in this great old building on March 21, 2019.

Jim Watson
UP 6900

What terrific coverage, Lance, of your hometown depot.

It is a lot of work and effort to pull such a post together, and present all of the images in a coherent way, and with such good image quality when they are from so many sources and eras. I really enjoy and appreciate posts like this which trace something over time, and put it into historical context. You did an outstanding job. Congratulations on work very well done indeed, and thank you for sharing this labor of love with us. It all tells a wonderful story, and I for one am so appreciative of your work.

(P.S. The UP neon sign is just primo! I gotta get to Omaha to see it in the flesh at the Dunham Museum.)

MC
 

Thanks for an very interesting series!

Larry