Trainweb 10th Anniversary Party in La Plata Missouri

December 8 through 10, 2006

Copyright 2006 by Richard Elgenson

The interior and exterior of the station which have undergone cosmetic restoration.  As recently as 2001, the building was in poor shape as before and after photos on the wall showed. 

   

   

   

After the last visit to the Amtrak Station, we checked out of the Depot Inn and formulated a plan to return to Kansas City.  We decided on a more direct route back to the big city via Missouri highway 36 to Interstate 35 south.  Since we had visited the rail facilities on the east end of town, we worked our way west on highway 210 to the western most Norfolk Southern terminal.  Lower left, notice the "thouroughbred" on top of the flagpole.

   

After getting several shots of light power on the shady side of the railroad, we went to the sunny side of the same terminal and photographed other NS locomotives.  I was not surprised to see high hood GP38-2's still on the NS.  After all, this is a railroad (Southern Railway heritage) which ran high hood locomotives long end forward.

   

   

   

As we departed, I noticed a small black Mitsubishi with California license plates and one occupant with a handheld scanner.  I asked Chris to turn the car aournd so we could talk to these other railfans, Steve from Southern California and Tim from New York.  The were both 20ish guys enrolled at the National Academy of Railroad Sciences in nearby Kansas City, Kansas.  They suggested we check out Santa Fe Junction in western Kansas City, MO, and Holliday Junction in Kansas.  We then followed the tracks to the southwest and found American Railcar Industries, a company which manufactures and repairs railcars.  They had an old center cab switcher on the premises.

   

We continued to 10th Street, across the BNSF tracks until the street dead ended  at another set of BNSF tracks.  We found Atlantic Avenue and proceeded south onto North Grand, thence onto NE Harlem Road which got us to the Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Ariport.  We then entered Highway 169 south, also known as Broadway Street over the Missouri River.  Parallel and to the east was a railroad bridge which also crossed the river.  I believe this is or was known as the Hannibal Bridge, the first bridge over the Missouri River in the 1800's and led to development to the west.  We entered I-35 south aiming for 25th Street.  Being unfamiliar with the area and armed only with the AAA map with extremely small print, we wound up at 31st Street and Mercier Street.

   

We were on top of a hill and could see Santa Fe Junction as well as an old roundhouse with an old Kansas City Southern mail car on the turntable.  This turned out to be an old Kansas City Southern Terminal Railway facility.  We proceeded north to West 29th Street and found Southwest Boulevard. 

   

We spent 30 to 45 minutes at the 27th Street overcorssing of railroad tracks near the old roundhouse.