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Discovery Mid-America June 2010

Model trains aplenty at KC’s Union Station

Since it was built in 1914, Kansas City’s Union Station has served as a transportation hub for hordes of rail passengers. The massive Great Hall has been the scene of countless arrivals and departures, peaking in World War II, when the annual count topped one million.

Union Station visitors can travel back in time to the glory days of railroading at the KC Rail Experience, located on the station’s lower level. Opened in 2004, the museum features interactive displays, a locomotive simulator, train artifacts and vintage train cars. There is also an unfinished model train display depicting Kansas City and Union Station in the late 1940s. But the focus of model train enthusiasts has been the huge Holiday Village layout, for years a wintertime fixture in the Great Hall.

The main layout, in final stages shortly before the April 10 opening. (photos by Ken Weyand)

A recent decision by Union Station management to keep much of the Holiday Village on permanent display comes as welcome news to model train enthusiasts. The original layout consisted of 50 trains operating on various tracks in seven gauges, ranging from tiny Z gauge to standard gauge.

Included were mountains and lakes, town buildings, billboards, water towers, street scenes, tiny railroad stations, cars, people and other miniature delights on a massive 64 x 60-foot layout. Toots, whistles and smoke added to the realism, along with some 100 lights in buildings, billboards, and street décor. Interiors of some passenger trains were lighted as well, revealing tiny figures in the coaches.

More than 3,000 hours of volunteer labor went into the layout, according to Ted Tschirhart, president of the Union Station Kansas City Model Railroad Society. Tschirhart, who manages a volunteer force of about 30, stressed that volunteers are carefully chosen for their specialized skills.

“We get some who are good at electrical work,” he said. “Others like to work with miniatures and scenery. Some have a broad knowledge of all kinds of trains.

“I began working at Union Station a few years ago when the former volunteer director left,” Tschirhart continued. “He had insisted on restricting the layout to a single gauge, but I felt that all gauges should be used. For one thing, it brought in members of various clubs that are concerned with specific gauges.”

But Tschirhart was quick to point out that the object wasn’t to solicit large numbers of helpers. “We don’t want entire clubs to volunteer,” he said. “They’d just sit around and drink coffee.”

Tschirhart added that volunteers earn credits for free admittance to museums all over the country. “Even if you can only work a few hours each month, for those who enjoy working with trains, it’s a good way to benefit the community.”

The Holiday Village layout showed the advantage of using multiple gauges. The trains ran on separate tracks, laid out in various “communities” that created an integrated landscape. The result created an illusion of perspective — the way the terrain would look when viewed at a distance.

Ted Tschirhart, leader of Union Station’s volunteers

Tschirhart has little doubt that the model train displays attract enthusiasts to Union Station. “I’ve talked to people who said they had traveled through Kansas City for years without stopping at Union Station until they heard about the model trains,” he said. “Now they stop by regularly and bring their families.

“There are now three tracks instead of six, but all the gauges are still represented.” He added that it is likely the rest of the Holiday Village layout will be set up again in the Grand Hall when the season rolls around.

The ongoing display occupies the 6,000-square-foot KCP&L City Gallery at the end of the North Hall. The smaller space means that about a third of the Holiday Village will not be used, compressing the new layout to a 24 x 60 foot area.

The gallery is the site of an ongoing exhibit, “Discovering America: Railroads and the National Parks, 1880-1960,” featuring old photographs, posters and early railroad advertising. The exhibit describes how enlightened railroad developers introduced Americans to their national parks.

The train layouts and exhibit is included in KC Rail Experience admission price, or in a Science City ticket. Or they can be viewed for $2. For seniors or children, the cost is $1.

Also in the gallery are other model trains, including layouts from the Hall’s Store at Crown Center, that have been renovated by Union Station volunteers. Visitors can see one of the Midwest’s largest collections of model train layouts, including two operating Thomas the Tank trains.

Part of train layout from Hall's Crown Center

Another item of interest is a 1:8 scale model of a Santa Fe locomotive, donated to Union Station in 2009 by the family of John Shedd Reed, former chairman, president and CEO of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. The large model, displayed just outside the KCP&L Gallery, depicts a 1909 locomotive, built with large driving wheels and four cylinders to maximize the use of steam power. It pulled trains throughout the U.S. and reached amazing speeds of more than 100 mph.

The prototype was built at the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia. The model was built in 1915 by apprentices at the Santa Fe shops in San Bernardino, CA and presented to Reed on his retirement in 1983.

Reed was the great-grandson of Kersey Coates, who built the Coates House in KC. His grandfather was John G. Shedd, benefactor of the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and president of Marshall Field & Co.

For more information about Union Station Kansas City, its exhibits and events, visit www.unionstation.org.

Ken Weyand can be contacted at kweyand1@kc.rr.com

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