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Somebody at another site was bemoaning the fact that they couldn't use Amtrak to travel from Omaha, NE to Wichita, KS today without backtracking to Chicago and detraining in Newton, KS, the closest stop to Wichita.
It occurred to me that, even in the "golden years" of passenger rail, there wouldn't have been a direct route. I believe the trip would have involved two trains and a change of trains in Kansas City, MO, probably taking around 10 hours if you got a reasonable connection in KC. Am I right about this?
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Both the Missouri Pacific and the CB&Q were in the Omaha-Kansas City market; at Kansas City, there would be a change to the Santa Fe. The principal trains that would serve Wichita were the Texas and San Francisco Chiefs.
Amtrak served Kansas City-Wichita with the Texas Chief/Lone Star until the 1979 Carter Cuts. For a while during the Amtrak era, there was a Thruway bus (actually some kind of van) connection KC-Omaha
Ocala Mike Member # 4657
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That's what I thought, Gil. Inyeresting that no rail lines seemed to head SW out of Omaha towards Kansas; guess there were never enough "customers" along the route.
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