Efforts are under way to find financing to maintain the old tracks so the Southwest Chief will keep arriving in Garden City every day, as it always has.

CNN: A Kansas town tries to keep the train coming through

"We'd come into the city primarily to go to the old Madison Square Garden, " Arum recalled.

WSJ: Jason Gay: Taking a Ride With Boxing's Big Cheese

Now, a coalition of civic advocates and political leaders is trying to get things moving to overhaul Penn Station by latching on to what they say is a key development: The 50-year-old city permit to operate Madison Square Garden expired in January.

WSJ: Plans languish for overhaul of NYC's Penn Station