Nutcracker King at Union Station Poster

"Nutcracker King at Union Station, Kansas City, Missouri" by Catherine Sherman. An almost life-sized King Nutcracker holding a banner stands in an area decorated with giant toys, a train, gifts and Christmas trees in the Grand Plaza of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri. Children can ride in a small train that circles the area. Adjoining is the Model Railroad Experience. There are 8,000 square feet of toy trains, ranging from tiny N-scale model trains to the big G-scale giants of the model train world. People can also take a real train from Union Station. Built in 1914, Union Station contains 850,000 square feet of ornately decorated space that originally featured 900 rooms. In the Station's prime years as a working train station, it accommodated hundreds of thousands of passengers each year. During World War II, an estimated one million travelers – many of them soldiers -- passed through the Station. The North Waiting Room (now Sprint Festival Plaza) held 10,000 people and the complex included restaurants, a cigar store, barber shop, railroad offices, the nation's largest Railway Express Building (used for shipping freight and mail) as well as a powerhouse providing steam and power. Closed in the 1980s, the Station sat empty and neglected, narrowly escaping demolition on several occasions. Then, in 1996, a historic bi-state initiative was passed to fund the Station's renovation, which was completed in grand fashion in 1999.