Kansas City, MO: Union Terminal and Roundhouse

(Satellite)

Marty Bernard posted three photos with the comment: "I have found by 3 slides Roger Puta taken at the Kansas City Union Terminal on July 30, 1967."
Marty Bernard shared

1    The Kansas City Union Terminal on July 30, 1967. A Roger Puta photo.

2   The Concourse of the Kansas City Union Terminal on July 30, 1967. A Roger Puta photo.

3   Kansas City Union Terminal on July 30, 1967
And no doubt Roger Puta's reason for coming. I have no evidence he rode Kansas City Southern Train 1, the Southern Belle, with E9 29 up front.

 

Raymond Storey posted
KANSAS CITY MO
Paul Luchter: This is called Elmira, NY in another post

Robert Chitwood commented on Paul's comment
I'm going with KC, from Pinterest.

Union Station Kansas City posted three photos with the comment:

It was 109 years ago today, on October 30, 1914, that Kansas City came together to celebrate the grand opening of its new Union Station. The finished construction project cost nearly $6 million and was part of a $50 million investment by the Kansas City Terminal Railroad that also included track additions, switching towers, viaducts, and bridges. Today, that would be equivalent to approximately $170 million and $1.4 billion.

The construction of Union Station involved the excavation of 670,000 cubic feet of dirt and brick, and at the peak of construction, approximately 500 people worked on the project. When completed, its 850,000 square feet of space and 900 rooms made Union Station the third largest train station in the country, only behind Grand Central Station, NYC, and Pennsylvania Station, NYC.

Union Station opened to the public on October 30, 1914. And at just after midnight on the morning of November 1, 1914, the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Flyer became the first train to arrive at the newly opened station.

Railroad Station Historical Society shared

Colin Harding: My favorite station...according to my 1940 Official Guide, was served by 18 railroads. Had two waiting rooms, one for 'immigrants'.

1

2

3

Union Station Kansas City posted

Photographed in 1932, this aerial view shows Union Station and the Station's train sheds in the distance and the coach yards and railway roundhouse in the foreground along Southwest Boulevard. 

Today, while the roundhouse has long since been converted into offices, the structure and site remain clearly visible. The location can be viewed on Google Maps at: https://goo.gl/maps/9jKJxmzgyz2gtoRo6. 

As an interesting side note, the 1932 photo was originally displayed at the Kansas City Terminal Railroad headquarters in Kansas City, KS, and was preserved by Roy Inman, using a 4x5 view camera to create a copy of the wall-mounted image.

David Turner: What a crack'n view. No interstate highway dividing the downtown view.Karl Isenberger: Video has it abandoned again since 2020.....
https://youtu.be/3MruxAjnMN0

Marty Bernard posted six photos with the comment: "Kansas City Union Station, Interior Photos, May 31, 2012."

Stuart B. Slaymaker: Sadly, PCC 551 has been moved elsewhere, near the River Market. They had a great static display of pax cars at one time. Hank Castro's collection. One by one, they were sold off. 

1
Kansas City Union Station, Interior Photos, May 31, 2012

2
Kansas City Union Station, Interior Photos, May 31, 2012

3
Kansas City Union Station, Interior Photos, May 31, 2012

4
Kansas City Union Station, Interior Photos, May 31, 2012

5
Muiral above the escalators between the first floor and the concourse.
Kansas City Union Station, Interior Photos, May 31, 2012

6
The PCC on desplay outside is no longer there.
Kansas City Union Station, Interior Photos, May 31, 2012
Mike Altmann: I ran this car at the museum at Rio Vista Jct. It was delivered from San Francisco on a flatbed track and was unloaded under its own power.

 

Sean McReynolds commented on Marty's post

Raymond Storey posted
UNION STATION KANSAS CITY

Friends of Passenger Rail Oklahoma posted
Kansas City Southern
The Southern Belle was the flagship of the Kansas City Southern passenger fleet.   Here the train is seen at Kansas City Union Station.  The train operated near the eastern Oklahoma border with stops in Sallisaw, Poteau, and Heavener on its route to New Orleans.
Cliff Kierstead shared
Peter Conrad: WRONG: The Southern Belle was NOT, "The flagship of the Kansas City Southern fleet".............
-The Flying Crow was the flagship of the Kansas City Southern fleet.

transportation.ky.gov, p133

Marty Bernard shared two resolutions of a photo with the comment:

Kansas City Union Station -- Very Busy in 1963
When I found this slide with Walt Dunlap's, I immediatly wanted to share it because I realized that many of today's railfans have never seen a busy, large, railroad station. We are looking at the west half of the station tracks of Kansas City Union Station in September 1963. The lighting says mid-afternoon. While there are no passenger trains in the station, preparations for many is in progress. Look at all the loaded baggage carts.
The switchers are Kansas City Terminal Railway's 50 and 52. 52 is a not so special ALCo S-2 built in October 1940. The second reason I wanted to show you this scan is number 50. She was an ALCo HH900 built in November 1938. Her "HH" stood for High Hood. 900 for her horsepower. Only 21 HH900s were built. You are looking at the only one KCT Ry had.
I have enlarged the slide in the second photo.
The slide was taken by Roger Patelski. Thanks Roger.

1

2

Rick Smith posted

Leading ATSF Alco PA-1 Nº65 shown easing out of Kansas City Union Station with Train Nº7, the "Fast Mail", 4-25-1965

During this late in the ATSF PA-1 roster tenure, the first trailing unit, Nº 62 is probably Nº 62L ─ not renumbered as with some other PA-1 units (as were units 59B-62B). Nº 62L would undergo a highly storied existence.

It would be sold to the D&H in 1967, where it was used to power passenger trains between Albany and Montreal, as well as excursions across the system. After a brief stint in commuter service at Boston for the MBTA, it would be shipped to Mexico in 1978. It eventually would be retired and reduced to a mere hulk, stripped of major components such as trucks, prime mover, and associated gear.

More recently emerging partially revived and in its NKP 190 livery (by former owner Doyle McCormack), ownership of former ATSF 62L recently was transferred to Genesee Valley Transportation's Delaware-Lackawanna RR in Scranton. Many followers and railfans of NKP 190 are aware of prospective plans for that particular unit. [It was restored in the Oregon Rail Heritage Center in Portland, OR.]

[photo - © Bill Marvel]

Lance Erickson: From what I read recently the tracks there kept by KCS at the station. Private car owners were using and parking cars there. With the take over of KCS by CP they are being kicked out! One result of how mergers and take overs are a bad idea.

Tamipromogirl Clark added

Anyone loves a good under city tunnel as much as myself???

1915. Union Station Construction, Kansas City, MO.

A tunnel was built underneath Union Station that connected with the new post office location that would be built on Pershing across from Union Station.

Forgotten Railways, Roads, and Places shared
John Coviello Still in use?
Dennis DeBruler It has been repurposed: https://www.unionstation.org/

Terry B. Carlson posted six photos with the comment: "Thought I'd post some shots taken around Christmas 2008 at Union Station, Kansas City. If buildings could talks. There are a lot of ghosts floating around there. I love the cut stone with all the old wood. The hall decorated with Christmas used to be filled with wooden pews for the passengers, such as in the next photo."

1

2

3

4

5

5

Doug Hitchcok posted two photos with the comment:

Thanks for letting me join the group.
Here's the Kansas City Terminal Railway roundhouse in Kansas City during its heyday.
The turntable & a large portion of the roundhouse still exists as a business park today.

Dennis DeBruler https://www.google.com/.../@39.0789035,-94.../data=!3m1!1e3

1

2

Doug commented on his post
All gussied up for the holidays

John Kucko Digital posted
Throwback Thursday: Captured this shot of historic Union Station in Kansas City back in 2011 the night before covering a Bills game with the Chiefs that season. My TV sports anchoring days brought me to Kansas City six times to cover Bills games there—it fast became my favorite NFL city, tied with Green Bay. The history of the railroad is terrific in K.C., I was just getting into digital content and picture taking and I walked to Union Station (it opened in 1914) from my hotel to see this. Tonight’s 2023 NFL Draft is being staged at this iconic place—a venue, and city, well deserving of this springtime spectacle.