LaPlata Holds Open House for Refurbished Station
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Wall to Wall
People; Whole Town Turns Out to See Amtrak Depot
By David Riddle, former MOKS Rail President
The whole town of LaPlata, Mo. (population 1,401) turned out for
an open house to celebrate the completion of interior restoration
of the art deco Amtrak station in that community in December.
LaPlata, located just 14 miles south of Truman State University
in Kirksville, is the only stop for the Southwest Chief in
Missouri outside Kansas City.
The former Santa Fe station at LaPlata is more than 100 years
old. A newspaper reprint displayed on a wall of the station
recalls the day 114 years ago when the Santa Fe chose to build
its line through LaPlata on its way to Chicago. The depot was
built in 1887 but a fire toward the end of World War II forced a
remodeling and the station has now been restored to the way it
looked in 1945.
Friends for LaPlata Preservation, a local group of more than 100
members, and the NEMO Model Railroad Club began work on the
exterior of the station in 1996, saving it after it had fallen
into serious disrepair. With volunteer labor, they completed
restoration of the exterior of the building a few years ago. A
grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, administered by
the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and matched by the
city of LaPlata, provided for a Nature Scape of natural prairie
grasses on the east side of the station that reflect the city's
heritage, and community residents worked with Truman State
University to accommodate student ridership. Grants from the
Great American Station Foundation, the Missouri Department of
Transportation, and the Surbeck Charitable Trust provided
additional money, which was used to restore the interior.
Interior walls of the station display numerous photos and
advertisements from the many Santa Fe and Amtrak trains that have
stopped at the station over the years. Light streams into the
station from the windows and glass blocks, and the station is
opened at train time by LaPlata Bob, the man who once inspired
the Southwest Chief menu item by that name. It's not unusual at
holiday times for the station to see more than 20 students
boarding a single train, though on the Saturday of the open house
only two passengers boarded a not-too-late #4.
Note cards and pen and ink drawings of the station by Ann
Bullock, President of the Friends for LaPlata Preservation, are
available for sale at modest prices as collectors' items. For
more information contact the Friends for LaPlata Preservation,
12543 Old Highway 63, LaPlata, Mo. 63549.
Organizers are currently working with BNSF and the Missouri
Historic Preservation Office in getting the depot on the National
Register of Historic Places, added Bullock.
Resources for rail passenger advocates
