A northwest quadrant connector from the Kansas City Terminal line through Kansas City Union Station leaves that line at Sheffield Junction, and turns just east of due north, joining with the Missouri Pacific line making a flat crossing from the south (and a northeast quadrant connector) at Big Blue, passing beneath a trestle carrying the MoPac line to Independence, and then splitting off on the east side at Malone. Another connector from the Sheffield direction occupies the northwest quadrant of a flat crossing with the Kansas City Southern at its Big Blue Junction, past a connector west to the Mopac line, passing beneath that MoPac trestle, and then passing the aforementioned connector trailing in from the MoPac line on the west side., to reach Southwest Junction, where southeast and southwest quadrant connectors precede a flat crossing with another MoPac line.
The KCS line curves to the west at Air Line Junction (Milwaukee MP 304.8), where a line from Rock Creek Junction trails in on the east side, and the Two Main Tracks, CTC, joint Milwaukee-Rock Island line continues just east of due north, maximum speed 30 mph, past West Wye Tower to Freight Line Junction (MP 304.3), where the north leg of the wye trails in on the west side. Further on, the Two Main Track line turns northeast, past the single track Harry S. Truman Bridge (30 mph on the bridge) over the Missouri River at Drawbridge (MP 302.5), where a Milwaukee line trails in on the north side of the river, from the west, and Two Main Tracks resume. A BN/Norfolk & Western (Wabash) line comes alongside to the north until both reach the junctions at Birmingham (MP 300.5/RI MP 495.6), where the Rock Island and Milwaukee joint turns just east of due north, and makes a flat crossing with the former Wabash.