KCGRS Union Station Hoday Display (Lots of pictures)

[Anonymous]

Well just to let the rest of the Large Scale world see, We finally put Union Station in Kansas City to the use it was intended for. Well some what at least.
This is The Kansas City Garden Railway Society's Holiday display. The local club I am a member of. Here are alot of pictures for ya'll to see. And if you happen to be in the area stop in and say hello. I will say I and the family will be running things on Christmas Eve and I will be there for a little while on Christmas Day. So come on in.
Later,
Joe


























The following pictures were taken by some kids from a local school on a fieldtrip to Union Station. I couldn't get their names or school (chaparone said it was against the rules) but her are the pics. I think they did a great job.

[bman36]

Joe,
That is fantastic! Very nice indeed. I would love to see a display like that here at our VIA Rail Station in Winnipeg. How long did it all take to get together? Looks like quite a few trains could be run at once. Thanks for sharing. Later eh...Brian.

[trainchris]

That looks great, Hats off to you and your club! I have the same question as above, how long did that take? [tup]

[Anonymous]

The layout took six months to build and took the club around 5-6 weeks to set-up. There is over 6000ft of track and works out to around 30 miles to scale. We have 10 trains operating at one time and that is in analog. We are working on DCC to operate in the future, especially an interactive track for the kids. Not completely sure but this was my understanding.
Union Station owns the display and this is our second year operating it.
I have to say with the dedication of our club president David Roberts and members like Doug Bronson and all the rest I have yet to get to know, this is going to be something else in the years to come.
The layout does run mostly off donations from visitors and members of the Station. Things move a bit slower this way but all good things come in time.
For those that make the trip to the station in the future, they are even bringing back the original "Harvey House' in the Spring (tentative date). There is Science City and a permanent display in the downstairs track area called "The KC Rail Experience"

Here are some links to the station and our club.
http://www.unionstation.org/intro.cfm

http://www.kcgrs.com/
P.S. I have to say it's nice to have the ability to edit the message especially when you have to update the Heading for pictures. [2c][:-^][swg]

[Tom The Brat]

Wow. 30 scale miles of track! I thought the 14 scale mile N guage layout at Galesburg last year was impressive.

[Cthetrains]

well, you can definitely count me as an interested visitor..not sure when, though..I'll be out of town for a while...

btw..on your club's web site..the link for the Belton, Grandview & KC..it doesn't work anymore..I'm trying to contact them to find out why..but nothing yet..

[Anonymous]

Cory,
I e-mailed our club President and informed him as well.

[vsmith]

WOW

thats one impressive layout![:p]

[Anonymous]

Hey Cory,
I was informed we only provide a link and if an error is seen, it is due to the Belton site being down. Can't do more than that.
Later,
Joe

[Cthetrains]

well, ya..I know..I've tried to inform the people at the Belton line..no response as of yet..just letting you know it was down...

by the way...I'll probly have time to check out the layout this weekend...any chance of bumping into you?

[Train 284]

That is really cool! Wish I could go there!

[Cthetrains]

ya..it's great, they got a streetcar running point-to-point, AND an operation ski lift..the detailing is impressive. My personal favorites include the camping scenes, (camping, canoeing, even fishing), and the outhouse(with the porcelain toilet laying next to it), but then again, I'm a bit warped...the working carnival section is cool, 2 carousels, a roller-coaster, ferris wheel, a fair-sized midway, even an 'excursion train' running around the carnival grounds. there is even a candy-land type section....but the one thing that puzzles me..Columbus Junction Bridge...if the one on this layout is built to scale..THAT THING IS HUGE, (third pic from top, if I'm not mistaken)..but other than occassional mention in magazines, I know nothing of this bridge or it's location..so they've given me something to try and research, along with experiencing this AWESOME layout, and I'm working on becoming involved with this group in the near future..

Joe, my girlfriend and I thoroughly enjoyed our visit with the club president, and the layout is awesome..I am thinking I'll probably be showing up to get another look at it in the near future..and I strongly suggest that anyone who likes scale rail operations, of ANY scale, make an effort to see this creation, it's well worth it..

we give it 4 thumbs up!!!

but, Joe..could you post a few pics of the carnival scene?..it's very impressive

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Cthetrains

ya..it's great, they got a streetcar running point-to-point, AND an operation ski lift..the detailing is impressive. My personal favorites include the camping scenes, (camping, canoeing, even fishing), and the outhouse(with the porcelain toilet laying next to it), but then again, I'm a bit warped...the working carnival section is cool, 2 carousels, a roller-coaster, ferris wheel, a fair-sized midway, even an 'excursion train' running around the carnival grounds. there is even a candy-land type section....but the one thing that puzzles me..Columbus Junction Bridge...if the one on this layout is built to scale..THAT THING IS HUGE, (third pic from top, if I'm not mistaken)..but other than occassional mention in magazines, I know nothing of this bridge or it's location..so they've given me something to try and research, along with experiencing this AWESOME layout, and I'm working on becoming involved with this group in the near future..

Joe, my girlfriend and I thoroughly enjoyed our visit with the club president, and the layout is awesome..I am thinking I'll probably be showing up to get another look at it in the near future..and I strongly suggest that anyone who likes scale rail operations, of ANY scale, make an effort to see this creation, it's well worth it..

we give it 4 thumbs up!!!

but, Joe..could you post a few pics of the carnival scene?..it's very impressive

Hey Cory,
I applolgize for my lack of response here. I don't get to this site often enough and I have been having some tech issues as well. Martha and I will be there tomorrow and I will take some pictures. It will be a few days before I can post them though. My laptop crashed and I am waiting on a new harddrive. This is Martha's laptop I am using. I belongs to her job so... But I do promise to get some more pictures out here.
Later and Merry Christmas,
Joe
P.S. We (actually Martha, I and a couple others) are planning a Christmas Eve run as well. So if you or anyone in the area has no plans for Christmas Eve, stop by. Calanders are available at the Station and will be at http://www.kcgrs.com hopefully by mid week. They have lots of closeups of the layout and can be enjoyed all year long.

[Cthetrains]

oh, cool..as long as Tina isn't too tired after working Saturday, we'll drop in sometime after 7-ish...

[Cthetrains]

ok..I just read on Union Station's web site that they'll be closed today and tomorrow..so I'll stop by and see if anyone's around..if not..I'll catch you next year..er..next week, Joe..Merry Christmas to you and yours[:o)][:o)][:o)][:o)][:o)][:D][:p]

[tmcc man]

Wow, that is very nice

[Cthetrains]

well..nobody was there..[#oops][sigh][?]

well, Merry Christmas, everyone

[Cthetrains]

Joe..Tina and I showed up just about 15 minutes after you left last night, man..

well, Merry Christmas to you and yours