Wednesday, August 03, 2011

Union Station

 A very cool old firetruck as we entered Union Station.

 A cute little train car that ran all on it's own.  There was another one that looked like an easter egg.

 We basically just saw the model trains at Union Station.  But there were a lot of them!  I'd say there were at least 8, maybe 10 set-ups with multiple trains in some of them.  It was very very very cool!

 Train/truck coming out of a tunnel.

 Brandi, me and our children.

 Andrew in front of a very neat motorcycle.  They also had a motorcycle exhibit at Union Station but we didn't have time (nor did we want to pay).

 Brandi took these next few pictures.


 Everyone loved the model train displays!


It was big!  Mike read some of the history of Union Station and I looked it up and found out some information on Wikipedia, if you're interested.
 The Beaux-Arts station opened on October 30, 1914 as the second-largest train station in the country. The building encompasses 850,000 square feet (79,000 m²), the ceiling in the Grand Hall is 95 feet (29 m) high, there are three chandeliers weighing 3,500 pounds (1600 kg) each, and the Grand Hall clock has a six-foot (1.8-m) diameter face. Due to its central location, Kansas City was a hub for both passenger and freight rail traffic. The scale of the building reflected this status.
In 1945, annual passenger traffic peaked at 678,363. As train travel declined beginning in the 1950s, the city had less and less need for a large train station.


No comments: