Great Overland Station — Attraction in Topeka

Fun place with lots of history. There is a kids area with a lot of kid friendly toys and other various entertainment. The displays, and in fact the very walls of the building, are full of history and provide a glimpse back into the history of Topeka and the Railroad Industry. In fact, trains still rumble by on the tracks located right behind the station. Additionally, the area is well suited for weddings and other similar events as the building has two huge rooms that are well decorated with marble, chandeliers, etc; and the building has a remodeled kitchen for just such events.

However, the station is in an older part of Topeka and the surrounding neighborhood is not as well kept as the station itself. There are some abandoned buildings nearby, and the area kind-of fits the old saying, "the wrong side of the tracks." There is a battered woman's shelter nearby, and a drug treatment facility for recovering addicts (or something along those lines, I didn't really investigate too much). On the bright side, the station is surrounded by wide open areas and is kept very clean. The treatment facility, AA building, and shelter don't seem to have much activity until evening, so a daytime trip is what my family prefers when visiting...

A member of the party is a train enthusiast so we visited. This is an old Union Pacific station that currently houses Santa Fe Railroad memorabilia. A docent took us around telling us about the station in its "hey day". There was a baggage room, dining area and the waiting area. There is a model train on display that was working; there are lots of buildings around the display but it is hard to see everything as only two sides of the display allow you to "get close and personal". In the dining area, there are china settings on display as well as menus. The ceiling lights also have a train motif. This is a must see for all train...

This was the first time we have been here. We came just for the Sue T-Rex experience. We were very surprised how little of an experience you received for how much it cost. There was only 2 rooms. The rest of the building, which employees kept repeating "There is more upstairs" was about trains. It was very odd! I have seen amazing exhibits that take an hour or more to go through that cost just as much. Afterwards we went to the Zoo for more dinosaurs and had a...