Behind the
Ticket window would have been the ticket agent's office. Since
this is not an Amtrak Office any more, Bob Cox, part-time caretaker of
the
station, has his office here. This is not a public area for
Passengers, but
since we were being given a tour by the President of the APRHF, we were
invited in. Joyce Manning immediately nicknamed the office,
"First Class Lounge". I guess since we all arrived by Amtrak with
room accommodations, we qualified to enter which is true in both the
Chicago and Washington, DC Stations. A new addition since
I had been here in October was a bench labeled, "Liberal" on one side
(above). I could not imagine that this was a political term, but
took advantage of it anyway. As it turned out "Liberal" was a
station stop in western Missouri. The opposite side said, "Kansas
City" and Tom took that seat for a photo (below).
Joyce Manning enjoying the warm, trackside La Plata, Missouri, "Amtrak First Class Lounge".
Bob Cox has
this original schematic of the tracks, including the Wabash bridge in
the upper right. Nowadays the Wabash line and bridge have been removed and all the
sidings except the one that used to go on the north side of the
depot. That siding's switch is still on the mainline, and this is
what we wanted to look at as being used for a future siding onto the
Silver Rails Country/APRHF property.
A secondary reason for visiting the
Station was so the APRHF group could walk west of the station to see the siding that may be used in the future for
private rail cars or container cars to be moved off the main line
onto Silver Rails/APRHF property. The ice that we stepped over (above) looked to me like an outline of a bunny.
We proceeded down the long siding, west of the station, past the MFA
building on the right, to the switch which is at the turn in the tracks.
Inspecting the switch and side tracks with a view westward.
TrainWeb.com and TrainParty.com
TrainWeb.com and TrainParty.com are
both housed in the red-roofed building on the right side of the image
above. This photo was taken from the Amtrak Station, so you can
see how close the APRHF venues are to each other.
Chris Guenzler Millionth Mile Lookout
Point
We were unable to get to the
Overlook this trip (upper left in the photo above) because the road had
been plowed shut with snow, but the Overlook is also an American
Passenger Rail Heritage Foundation Venue. The Overlook is positioned on
the old Wabash Right of Way bridge abutment over the Santa Fe
Mainline. The bridge has been removed to accommodate doublestack trains. Telephoto image above was taken from the Santa Fe Station. Photo of the Overlook image below was taken from the Brown Street Bridge.
Amish Country Variety Store, Amish
Country Bakery, Farrier and Feed Store,
and Amish Newburg Fabric Store
Although the Amish Stores are not APRHF Venues, they are on the Silver
Rails Country Map. Their establishments certainly are worth the
short time required to drive west of La Plata on Hwy. 156 to see
them. Beware, however that some of these businesses are closed on
Thursdays and all are closed on Sundays. Some are closed for winter. If you can
plan to drive out there on a Saturday, you will see more buggies
because this is their traditional shopping day. My favorite candy, cashew brittle, is available at the drygoods store.
All the Amish Stores are on the north (right) side of the Hwy.
156 driving west of La Plata. Drive slowly over the crests of the hills because a pedestrian, horse
and rider, or buggy may be on the road ahead of you. Missouri has not
provided a separate lane for the Amish as I have observed in Amish areas of other
states.
The first establishments you will come to are the Bakery, Farrier Service and Feed Store, all on the same property.
For the Bakery, Farrier Service and Feed Store, you may want to look for
the red building instead of the sign since the building is more
noticeable.
I met Sam Mast here again on this trip. He now owns a top buggy
pulled by his horse Alan. The last time I saw him he gave me a
ride in his open buggy. That was in October, 2012, and I will put
a link at the bottom of this page to that ride. Sam and his
wife, Mary, were working the food stand at the APRHF Train Show at the
Event Center at that time.
The Feed Store is just to the right of the bakery.
The Fabric Store was closed, but the residence next door had a buggy outside.
Newburg Fabric Store
The Drygoods Store was open.
Ben Myers, who is from the Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania area where Amish live, lead the way into the Drygoods Store.
Since it was below freezing, the garlic and nut meats stored outside were not harmed by being frozen.
