 Lee's Summit, MO | Missouri River Runner | Sedalia, MO  |
Warrensburg, MO is a stop on the Missouri River Runner as the two local daily Kansas City to St Louis trains are now called. The stop isn't anything special like a service stop (the Missouri River Runner is too short to need any servicing along the route) but there are five minutes of recovery time built into the timetable for the stop on westbound trains. If #311 or #313 are running on time (like my trip on #311) you might be able to step off for some quick air with the conductors announcing how much more time you have by the 30 seconds.
The station has been served by Amtrak since day one, although the present name of the Missouri River Runner wasn't used until January 2009, replacing the previous names of the two daily Missouri trains. These were the St Louis/Kansas City Mules and the Ann Rutledge (which for much of history continued through to Chicago). These trains have provided service to the station since 1980 with the Mules carrying a through car to New Orleans, called the River Cities from 1984 to 1983. Previously in the 1970s the station received service once per day from the National Limited, a through train to New York City. The station has been unstaffed since about 1972 when the historic stone depot which was built in 1889 closed. The depot was reopened in 1992 and houses the Chamber of Commerce and a small nondescript Amtrak waiting area open from 7:30am to 9:00pm. Inside this waiting area are doors both out to Marshal Street (which provides some parking) and to the station platform. The waiting room has some black attached chairs, a soda vending machine (with a sign saying to through away your cans), a payphone and information panels about local tourism information.
The station platform itself is historically made of brick with a tactile warning strip added in more recent years. It runs west for about four cars from the grade crossing with Holden Street. The portion alongside the depot has a large, white wooden canopy (attached to the depot) that provides excellent shelter for waiting passengers. At the grade crossing end there is an old pointless arrow sign along with another free standing one at the western end of the platform beyond the depot and canopy. Modern amenities only consist of a wheelchair mobile lift that has been simply left beneath the canopy (not in an enclosure) and a modern information sign and panel in the station's parking lot. A white Warrensburg sign is attached to the western end of the canopy.
All photos unless otherwise noted were taken on 12 June, 2012
