Roadside Kansas: Day 1

Welcome to the first daily update of Doug and Brennan Walter's Roadside Kansas trip, a week-long adventure across the Sunflower State, with 'significant detours' to see worthy sites in Missouri and Nebraska.

We begin our trip in Missouri on the tail end of the Walter Family Reunion. I will pleasure you with some wonderful pictures of our family. We stayed over this weekend at Kansas City's Country Club Plaza, a shopping & dining area south of KC's downtown. We partook in the local pastime, which is fountain-sitting, as shown here:

Me (Brennan) with my wonderful cousins and their families.

And, of course, the four siblings:

Our family reunion was wonderful and we really enjoyed seeing everybody who was able to come, which was almost everyone, which was fantastic! We ate and swam and relaxed on Saturday at our Embassy Suites hotel, and the remaining Walters visited KC's historic Union Station in the Crown Center Plaza District, visiting the Science City exhibit and the Model Railroad Experience. We also ate on the second floor of the "Harvey House Restaurant" in the rail terminal's restored headhouse. We then ambled around the base of the Liberty Memorial.

After saying goodbye, it was time to begin the 'Roadside Kansas' experience! We designed our Monday itinerary for maximum museum time, and headed for the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum near Independence, Missouri.

Iconic front entryway.

Replica Oval Office, with narration given by Truman himself! Such office replicas are fairly common in Presidential museums. On a recent trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan, we entered Gerald R. Ford's office from the opposite side, so this provided a chance to view the other wall, if nothing else.

I'm almost as tall as Mr. Truman.

Truman's Eternal Peace Flame. The library and museum encircles this courtyard where Truman is buried alongside his wife, daughter, and son-in-law.

President Truman's final resting place, next to his wife, Bess.

Overall, we really enjoyed the Truman library. Dad and I have visited multiple libraries around the country and have agreed that this one certainly meets par. Little had we realized how many influential decisions Mr. Truman had to make during his administration. The museum was well planned, and had many unique artifacts from his administration, including his famous "The Buck Stops Here" / "I'm from Missouri" desk sign, the one thing missing from the Oval Office replica.

Museum Number two was a drive back down US 24 downtown to the former Kansas City International Airport, where, on occasion, a large intercontinental airliner may just grace the skies at the Airline TWA History Museum at Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport.

After a roundabout way around the southern edge of the airport, we finally found the hangar which houses some of the most historic flying artifacts in the country, including one of five airworthy Lockheed Constellations in the world. Being an airline enthusiast, I was certainly excited for this museum, and I was not disappointed. However, we were quick to find out just who the favorite airline was around these parts, and it isn't American Airlines.

But first, let me tell you this bird sitting just outside the museum was a great forshadowing of the great things inside! This is a 1970s vintage Lockheed L-1011-100 Tri-Star, originally operated by TWA (of course). It was sold to World Airways where it worked Charters and was then auctioned to the Museum for $50,000 sans engines. The museum has a quick 6 minute video of the bird landing in good time in January, direct from the desert where she was stored.

Standing under N700TS' gigantic wing. The spar along the wing is where an engine is supposed to be. The museum will purchase old engines off L1011s' in the desert for asthetic purposes, and for balancing. It is not on the tour currently because no suitable stairs can be found, nor is the bird properly balanced.

The third nacelle, where an engine should be but is missing. Looks like it fell off during a strong storm by how the end just gapes open.

Inside, the museum features a three-room, self guided exhibit on the history of (95% TWA) airlines. Specifics were the rise and fall of propeller-driven transcontinental & transoceanic airline service, and the many absurd ways that airlines worked their flight attendants. One, where a flight attendant serving Asian food was to wear Asian-style paper clothing. One passenger, lighting up to smoke a cigarette, lit the dress on fire and brought an end to that rather odd practice. We were told that attendants often brought tape and staples to work to keep their clothing together on those flights.

Over Forty(!) 'Connies' in the desert, awaiting the wrecking ball.

A 'Connie' model, painted in SAC ("Save a Connie!") Titles

Cutaway of a TWA (who else?) 747-100 "Jumbo Jet."

And of course, my favorite airliner of all time, the L-1011 Tri-Star!

We were met by a retired TWA mechanic, who was very eager to show us the collection of aircraft in the hanger: A Douglas DC-3, a Martin 4-0-4, and the "Queen" of the showroom, the only flightworthy Lockheed L-1049H "Super Constellation" in the United States.

The Douglas DC-3. The engines are currently away under restoration. Our personal museum guide assured us it will fly "soon." The engines should be back within the year. A word about the DC-3 is legroom! Even though the cabin seats more than a typical DC-3 at the time sat, there was very gracious legroom for each seat, which were arranged 1-2 on either side of the isle. The taildragger design made a hefty climb through the cabin, but it was well worth it.

The museum's flightworthy Martin 4-0-4. The type never flew with TWA, but that didn't stop them from painting it in *remarkably* similar colors, did it? Named "Skyliner Kansas City."

We entered the plane as paying passengers would have done only thirty years ago, through the airstair, when this plane flew for Eastern Air Lines.

The 36? Seat cabin. Again, gratious cabin comforts, and plenty of cabin space up front. Entering passengers through the front door with a jetway was an unheard of notion in the time of this airliner.

Cockpit of the 4-0-4, with a view of the 'Connie', ahem, 800 ton gorilla in the room.

NOT my picture, but since she is rather large, an overview shot was out of the question. This, if you didn't know, is what the Constellation looks like: The 1950s and 60s epitome of transoceanic travel, and matched only by the similar Douglas DC-7, and eclipsed after a short production run by big jets like the Boeing 707.
The TWA "Star of America" Constellation in the hangar.
A rather classy plastic lady enjoys the First Class "Lounge" seating, where two seats face a coffee table. On the Connies, first class was in the back, where it was quieter.
Coach. I'm pretty sure TWA in its later years would have been happy to put six-abreast seating in this cabin. Typical seating for a transoceanic flight was for 97 passengers. By comparison, TWA's first 747-100s would seat over 300.
Yes, for the price of two first class tickets, an elite traveller could have his/ her very own bed. the beds can be stowed if they weren't booked for a particular flight.

View of the right wing. What a fantastic view to have on a long flight! A word on the engines, they leak oil, and a lot of it. This particular airframe has not flown (but it still can) for five years. The engines still have wet oil stains on the hanger floor where they have dripped oil. According to our retired-mechanic tour guide, they were a pilot's dream and a mechanic's nightmare.

Complicated, Analog cockpit. The hardest part about flying any aircraft in the collection, according to the guide, is finding qualified and certified pilots.

Speaking with the tourguide adjacent to the Navigator's station. A typical flight crew of four would have piloted the aircraft across the aircraft by way of the stars until modern navigation made the navigator's position redundant. Modern airliners require only two flightcrew.

We departed the Airline museum to the third and final museum of the day in Kansas City, the Steamboat Arabia Museum. We visited here on recommendation of our Aunt Ronda and were surprised at the breadth of the discovery of the Arabia's treasure. The collection, a priceless collection of millions of pieces - all in new and unused condition, was recovered by an expeditious team of five treasure hunting, steamboat enthusiasts who found the boat in a cornfield using a gigantic metal detector.

Perhaps the most amazing fact was the fact the entire excavation happened the winter of 1988-89- In four months. The ship was located, excavated, and mostly removed in time for spring planting in 89 as per the excavation agreement with the landowner. The entire collection is intact, save 25 items given to the landowner as part of the stipulation for digging on his land, a jar of sweet pickles which tasted "Great!" and "Fresh!" according to the excavators, a bottle of 136 year old Champagne which blew its cork, and 8 barrels of "Kentucky's Finest Bourbon" which was the subject of most folklore surrounding the sunken steamboat.

The preserved stern section from the Packet Steamboat Arabia.

Our tourguide illustrates the location of the find.
Over twenty, 1,000 gallon-per-minute pumps were required to keep the site dry from the aquifer at the site.
Greg pointing out the jurry-rigged rudder arm which was made out of a "straight tree" when the original was broken in a previous accident, before the Arabia was sunk.
Dishes, hundreds of sets of unused, prefect imported china with priceless value.

The $0.26 total found on board the ship, surrounded by the 3+ million beads that were recovered. The cotton threads on which they were strung rotted away, but the beads remained.

Cutlery, sawblades, everything! They bill the ship as carrying the "Wal-Mart of the 1850s."
Priceless set of Davenport China.
Forks, knives, and spoons.
Vintage muskets, picture quality compromised, because:

The display glass is original to the Arabia.

2/3 of the collection is on display. Most of the 2/3 that isn't on display are two prefabricated wood homes that never reached their owners. The reason? They're just too large to assemble, but our tourguide described them as "a bit like 'Lincoln Logs' with notches at either end for assembly." He noted prefab homes were built in Europe as early as the 1500s.

Building materials for homes unbuilt.

A "working" paddlewheel in the museum atrium. We're still unsure if this is original or merely a replica. Probably a replica, methinks.

Blades and and handles for axes, oxen, wagons unpulled.

The symbol of any ship, the Arabia's anchor.

And finally, the original boilers, along with Mr. 1850s who is supposed to tell you how a steam engine works, but is currently out of order.

After a bite of food at the museum cafe, we traveled home to Manhattan for the night. Tomorrow, its off to Kearney Nebraska (by way of Kansas attractions) to see what the Cornhusker State has to offer. For now, its just nice to see that some of those annoying summer street repair jobs are finally finishing up.

Until tomorrow, goodnight followers!