When it came to picking a shot for the cover of Rails Around Missouri that might best represent the Kansas City side of the state, the logical choice of railroad was the Kansas City Southern. Photographer Allen Maty spent a lot of time in Grandview shooting the KCS, and had provided quite a few shots to choose from. Here are a few samples above and below, along with what ended up being on the cover, plus a shot from Goodman Hill down south.
Above, KCS SD40s #s 629, 627 and an unidentified F7 lead a southbound freight past the Grandview depot in September, 1971. Below, KCS E8 #25 is stopped at the Grandview depot with train #2, the northbound Southern Belle in August, 1969, just 3 months prior to its discontinuance.
Next we have the shot that was chosen for the KCS cover: southbound train #1, the Southern Belle, also in August 1969.
Finally, a selection from Chapter 4 – The Kansas City Southern:
“Goodman, at milepost 184.6, is just inside the McDonald County line in deep southern Missouri, and is the crest of Goodman Hill. The engineer has KCS SD40s 662, 650 & 666 in full throttle and dropping sand as they grind up the hill with a northbound freight on September 14, 1980. (Ken Albrecht)”
Rails Around Missouri was released on May 10, 2013, and is already over 60% sold out in 2 months. The book is 224-pages, hard cover, and contains over 500 all-color photos like the ones above. DON’T MISS OUT! Order your copy today for $47.95 plus shipping, and it will come signed by the author. Choose between the KCS or Frisco cover (contents identical).