for the first few hours, with a modest hourly fee for longer stays.
Adjacent Overpasses
In addition to the parking garage and Freight House Bridge, two street over- passes on either side of KCUS provide other photographic opportunities. Just to the east side of the station is Main Street, a busy thoroughfare which has pedestrian walkways on its east and west sides. Before the Freight House Bridge came into being, I used the side- walk on the west side to photograph eastbound trains in the morning. Al- though shadows from a tall office build- ing on the southwest side of the street can interfere with photos during the cooler months, the location can work at other times of the year. From the east walkway of Main Street, one can also take pictures looking east in the after- noon, although the shot is relatively tight because of nearby buildings and a curve in the tracks. A more striking perspective comes
from shooting east from the West Penn- way overpass, which is a short distance west of Union Station. A more hectic spot to wait due to the volume of road traffic, West Pennway nevertheless has a walkway separated from the street by a concrete barrier. My favorite time at this location is early evening in high summer, when the sun is far enough north in the sky to illuminate the north side of westbound trains. Especially striking is the view of Union Station,
W. 20th ST. W. 20th ST. W. 21st ST.
ABOVE: A KCS “retro-Belle” unit leads a westbound BNSF manifest past the parked KCS Holi- day Express. The special train is usually parked here for days at the end of its touring season. The view is from the Union Station parking garage on early afternoon of January 2, 2011. RIGHT: Amtrak westbound train No. 311, the Missouri River Runner, is arriving at Kansas City Union Station on the afternoon of October 16, 2010. After unloading its passengers, it will head west and turn around by using tracks that connect the KCT with the BNSF Fort Scott Sub just west of the station. This view is from Freight House Bridge.
W. PENNWAY ST.
Freight House Bridge
Amtrak Platform
E. PERSHING RD.
W. PERSHING RD.
NATIONAL ARCHIVES KANSAS CITY BRANCH
W. 25th ST. Kansas City Union Station Illustration by Otto M. Vondrak.
Not all routes shown. Not an official map. ©2012 Carstens Publications, Inc. 0
500 FEET 44 MARCH 2012 •
RAILFAN.COM 1000
E. 20th ST.
W. PENNSYLVANIA AVE.
SCOTT ST.
WALNUT ST.
SUMMIT ST.
SUMMIT ST.
JEFFERSON ST.
WASHINGTON ST.
BROADWAY ST.
CENTRAL ST.
WYANDOTTE ST. ST. PAUL
BALTIMORE AVE. MAIN ST.
GRAND BLVD.
McGEE ST.
OAK ST.
OAK ST.
W. 22nd ST.
W. PENNWAY ST.
W. PENNWAY ST.
UNION STATION
PARKING GARAGE
BROADWAY ST.
SOUTHWEST BLVD.
GILLHAM RD.
PARKING GARAGE
FREIGHT HOUSE
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