Information on:

Wabash BBQ

646 south Kansas City Avenue
816-630-7700

The Wabash Railway Station, constructed in 1927, is a red brick railway station constructed in the Mission-style. The interior features brick walls, and a light and dark patterened terrazzo tile floor with brass strips. The plastered ceiling in the passenger waiting area features plaster beams and ornate brackets. The first floor of the main section contains the original waiting room, restrooms, office with ticket window and baggage room. This area is used as a non-smoking restaurant area. The addition, from when it housed The Dairy, has four rooms and is used as a bar and restaurant area.

The station was built on the original site of the old barn of the Excelsior Springs Riding Academy, which was razed in May, 1927. On Nov. 7, 1927, W.A. Greenland of Moberly, division superintendent of the Wabash, S.N. Crowe of Moberly, division engineer, and R.E. Mohr of St. Louis, chief architect, inspected the newly completed station. E.L. Lutz, inspector for the Wabash supervised the construction. The Wabash line, 8.7 miles in length, was known as a branch line and connected Excelsior Springs directly with St. Louis, Buffalo and New York City. Lutz employed a landscape gardener who sodded the parking around the station with blue grass sod and an Armor River private hedge around the station grounds. A second track was laid adjacent to the station for private cars belonging to railway officials. However, the highway system was soon efficient enough to draw riders from the Wabash line. On Sept. 9, 1933, the last run of the Wabash came into Excelsior Springs. After arriving shortly after 4 p.m., the station furniture and supplies were loaded, and the train returned over the line to Moberly. "With the passing of the branch line, which had much to do with the development of the country and the spread of civilization, some of the romance of the early american transportation history will be lost. The penalty of progress is the loss of old things, which have been superseded by changing conditions," declared one Excelsior Springs news article.


Wabash BBQ is not affiliated with AmericanTowns Media

Photos