The old Union depot at Union avenue and Santa Fe street was built in 1878. To reach the depot, in the west bottoms, one took a thrilling, noisy ride by cable car down the steep Ninth street incline directly to the depot. Later a street car elevated line was built on Eighth street which crossed Main street and Delaware avenue on a trestle, then entered a tunnel west of Broadway. Below Kersey Coates drive, it emerged on an elevated line across the bottoms. The old Eighth street tunnel, unused, remains intact today. Horse-drawn cabs and other traffic reached the depot by way of Sixth street. The old depot served until 1914, when the 5 million dollar new Union Station at Pershing road and Main has opened. Kansas City Times, March 2, 1968.
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