Railroad Park

Click here   to make a donation to the Railroad Park

Click here for details and photos of the railcars and depot.

Click here to follow the progress of moving the depot and cars.

August 27:  The 11 track panels for the south track are close to being ready to put into place.  The north track is being prepared to pour the concrete walls and lay the ballist.  Once that is completed the 7 north track panels will be repaired and put into place.  Gordon street will be open the first of next week so that is great news for this move.  Once the track panels are put down the depot will be move in along with the caboose.  We will keep you posted as to when the depot and caboose will be arriving at the station. 

August 14:  The depot has been moved from the foundation and is ready to make the trip to "The Station" in Topeka. It appears that the move didn't have damage to the depot. It took approximately 3 hours to actually hook it up to the trucks and pull it away from the foundation and park it in preparation for the move.  There was a lot of moving, turning, cranking it this way and that way to get it out of the space that it was in.  With a lot of hard work and patience on all of the work crew, they got it done.  It was great to see the crew work together and everyone was in position throughout the whole move.  It was impressive.  They separated the refrigerator car and caboose to prepare to loading the caboose.  The caboose and depot will be moved at the same time due to the height.  The coordination for this move is extremely time consuming and has to be perfect.  The next update will show the status of Gordon street and their progress as it has to be be done and completed before the permits can be applied for.  We are being told that Gordon will not be open now until mid-September so we are going to be delayed until then.  The permit approval takes up to 3 weeks.  We are hoping that this process is not delayed also.  The September 1 date is moving out to the mid to end of September.  The donors of the cars and depot understand the delays and are working with us closely.  This is very exciting now, but will be more exciting in the near future when they start "rolling" into "The Station".

                  Railcars separated                                         Depot being pulled out                Depot has been moved                   

August 10:  The depot has been raised and ready to be placed on the truck bed.  Once the depot has been secured on the truck bed, they will start working on moving the caboose to a truck bed.  Both the caboose and depot will be moved at the same time.  The reason for moving both at the same time is due to the low signs that will need to be moved on the highways.  Once the depot and caboose are put in place, they will prepare to move the superintenants car, baggage car, and refrigerator car.  The extended delay in moving the depot and caboose is due to the timing of getting permits and also the closing of Gordon Street.  Once Gordon is open, we will be able to apply for the moving permits.  This is a minimum of 3 week process.  Due to the timing issues the move of the depot will be mid-September barring any other surprises. 

August 7:   The ground preparation for the south track is close to being completed.   The ballast was donated by BNSF and  the track panels were donated by Union Pacific.  Watch for details as to when the track panels will be brought over to The Station.   We will also be posting ongoing details as to when the actual moving of the depot and caboose will happen.  

Question:   How will the rail cars be transported to The Station?

Answer:   The first step will be to raise each car using a large crane and placing it on a truck bed.   Then the trucks (wheels) will be picked up by a crane and placed on another truck.   They will be transported down a selected route to The Station.   Once they arrive at The Station, the trucks (wheels) will be placed on the tracks.  Next the rail car will be picked up by a crane and placed on their set of trucks (wheels).   Each rail car will be anchored to the tracks.

August 4:   The foundation has been poured and completed and is ready for the depot.   The south track is being prepared for the train cars.   Construction on the north track will begin in a couple of week.   The depot is in the process of being raised and preparing to move   on the truck.   We are estimating the depot to be moved the middle to end of August.   Watch for more details.

Construction has begun on the new Railroad Park at the Great Overland Station.   The ground is being dug and prepared for the foundation to be poured for the depot.   The depot and caboose is tentatively schedule to be moved to the property at the end of July.   We will keep you posted as to the date and time.   It will be a great experience to see this coming through on HWY 24 and North Topeka Boulevard.

We will continue to keep you posted as we move forward on the move of the depot and rail cars.   The deadline to have all the cars moved is September 1, 2010.

Photos of the hole being dug for the Welda Depot July 15, 2010