KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI

Kansas City's Union Station was located next to Kansas City Union Terminal trackage. Santa Fe passenger trains used this trackage for access to the grand old structure and access it they did. In 1942 thirty Santa Fe passenger trains stopped at the depot to board and unload passengers. These ranged from lowly Doodlebugs to Streamliners such as the Super Chief and El Capitan. This would be a busy station if only Santa Fe trains stopped here but the Rock Island, Missouri Pacific, Union Pacific, St. Louis and San Francisco, Chicago Burlington and Quincy, Kansas City Southern, and Missouri Kansas and Texas all used this depot and they were only the Western visitors! Today the depot is not used for passenger service. Four daily Amtrak trains stop at a small depot that Amtrak constructed in the 1980's. Amtrak's Southwest Chief stops twice a day (one stop each way daily.)

Passenger Train Schedule November 29, 1942

12:45am No. 17 Westbound The Super Chief (Su We)
12:57am No. 21 Westbound El Capitan (Su We)
3:55am No. 20 Eastbound The Chief
5:45am No. 18 Eastbound The Super Chief(Su Th)
6:25am No. 48 Eastbound Doodlebug from Cherryvale
6:30 am No. 24 Eastbound The Grand Canyon Limited
7:30 am No. 28 Eastbound The Antelope
7:40am No. 10 Eastbound Centennial State
8:00 am No. 5 Westbound The Ranger
8:45am No. 49 Westbound Doodlebug to Cherryvale
8:55am No. 7 Westbound Fast Mail Express
9:00am No. 1 Westbound The Scout
9:49am No. 26 Eastbound Doodlebug from Topeka
10:45am No. 3 Westbound California Limited
1:30pm No. 212 Eastbound The Tulsan
1:45pm No. 12 Eastbound The Chicagoan
5:15 pm No. 11 Westbound The Kansas Cityan
5:20pm No. 211 Westbound The Tulsan
6:30pm No. 25 Westbound Doodlebug to Topeka
6:50pm No. 8 Eastbound Fast Mail Express
8:00pm No. 4 Eastbound California Limited
8:30pm No. 50 Eastbound Oil Flyer
9:30pm No. 23 Westbound The Grand Canyon Limited
9:50pm No. 2 Eastbound The Scout
10:00pm No. 27 Westbound The Antelope
10:10pm No. 19 Westbound The Chief
10:20pm No. 9 Westbound Centennial State
10:35pm No. 47 Westbound Southern Kansas Passenger
11:00pm No. 6 Eastbound The Ranger
11:15pm No. 22 Eastbound El Capitan (We Sa)


To service as many passenger trains as stopped in Kansas City you would have to have a large structure. This depot served Kansas City very well during its lifespan as a railroad depot. This photo does not do the depot justice. Its enormous size makes it appear to be a mountain rather than a building. The multiple story waiting room is a sight to see even from the outside. Recommendation: go see this depot. Especially after it is renovated as a science museum. Hopefully Amtrak will return to the depot following this renovation as well. The many stories and photos of/ about this depot could fill a web page.


Kansas City Union station dwarfs everything in the surronding area. This clock for example is probably around 14 feet tall.


This photo shows Amtrak's former presence in the depot (note the small Amtrak sign on the overhang. The story goes that between Amtrak's assumption of passenger service and exodus from the confines of the depot walking through the depot was a dangerous endeavor. In fact a plastic bubble was constructed inside the depot as a waiting room. The depot is located in a bad part of Kansas City. An Amtrak representative in blue coveralls and a hard hat would take you from the waiting room bubble, through the concourse and down a flight of stairs. You were asked to stay close and not wander off as the depot was "dangerous." Amtrak's Southwest Chief stopped late at night and there were probably thugs lurking in the shadows of the structure.


This photo shows what modern development has done to the structure. The steel platform covers have been removed. A large glass skyscraper has been constructed where the numerous eastern platforms used to stand. This is unfortunate as it ruins a beautiful view of this grand structure. The overhead concourse is shown in the middle of the photograph. Another set of platforms used to stand in what is now the field that you see to the right portion of the photo. Passengers could reach their trains by walking in the overhead concourse and down a set of stairs to the platforms at ground level. The area below the concourse is very dangerous today and should be avoided.


Here is a closer view of the large clock which stands next to the depot streetside.


With just four Amtrak trains stopping in Kansas City today the gigantic Kansas City Union Depot was deemed to be just too large to maintain. This tiny structure was built by Amtrak in the 1980's to replace the cavernous depot. It sits just to the east of the glass EYESORE!. This depot sits next to an overpass that crosses several tracks below the glass EYESORE! Passengers must walk down a set of steps to reach track level and the trains. It is sad to think that the hundreds of trains that stopped at busy Kansas City Union Station daily in the 1940's have dwindled to the point to where only a dwarf depot (about the size of a typical branch line depot) would be enough to serve the remaining passenger base. You could probably fit several hundred of these depots in the confines of the former depot. We do live in a different era.