Chicago might have more trains, and St. Louis a big shiny arch, but Kansas City is the ton-mile king, with over 1 billion tons passing through the city (or above it, on flyovers) in 2003. That is 15 percent more tons than Chicago. What is remarkable about K.C. is its sheer growth, from 378 million gross tons in 1971, to 1.1 billion in 2003.
Mergers may have reduced the number of Class I railroads serving Kansas City, but not the routes into town. Of the 24 main lines to K.C. in 1971, the four that are gone were never more than minor players. Instead, mergers made modest routes more important. Union Pacific brings Powder River Basin coal in on the Kansas Subdivision (better known as the Marysville Cutoff), while the empties file back on the Falls City Sub. South of town, UP splits traffic between parallel MP and MKT routes to Wagoner, Okla.
Wyoming coal is the big engine of tonnage growth, entering the city on BNSF’s St. Joseph Sub and UP’s Kansas Sub, then segregating onto three UP lines, one BNSF line, and the Kansas City Southern. Intermodal dominates BNSF’s Transcon, while Norfolk Southern is a conduit for westbound autos and auto parts.
Railroads included in this map:
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; Burlington Northern; BNSF Railway; Canadian Pacific; Chicago, Burlington & Quincy; Chicago & North Western; Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific; Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific; Iowa, Chicago & Eastern; Gulf, Mobile & Ohio; Kansas City Southern; Milwaukee Road; Missouri-Kansas-Texas; Missouri & Northern Arkansas; Missouri Pacific; Norfolk & Western; Norfolk Southern; Rock Island; St. Louis-San Francisco; Union Pacific
This Map of the Month appeared in the April 2005 issue of Trains magazine.
Map is still wrong. Leavenworth is in Kansas as is the MP/UP line which runs NW from KC.