Reflections of Sedalia

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Rails Around Missouri rolls into Sedalia this Saturday, November 2, for the first annual Sedalia Rails Train Show. Doors open 830am until 3 at the Sedalia Convention Hall – Liberty Park. To mark this occasion, we present 4 shots of Sedalia submitted for the book. One is in the book, the rest are not.

” MP SD40s 728 and 3082 roll into Sedalia in July, 1974 on a westbound freight. With the MP in the midst of a renumbering, the 728 is soon to become #3028, as the MP was adding new SD40-2s in early 1975. (Terry Norton)

Next (below), MP SW1200 #1125 switches cars in Sedalia, also in July 1974. (Terry Norton)

 

 Sedalia was home to a large shops complex for the Missouri Pacific. In its later years, the shop built and maintained company cabooses and business cars. A string of freshly-painted MP cabooses sit outside the Sedalia shops in October, 1984, seen from a westbound Amtrak train as it passes by the shop. (Camille F Chappuis)

Rails Around Missouri was released on May 10, 2013 as a 224-page, hard cover book containing over 500 all-color photos like these. To see which photos in this post are included, see Chapter Seven, Central Missouri. Don’t wait! There are only 150 copies total remaining of Rails Around Missouri as of this posting. 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.

Finally, a visit to Sedalia would not be complete without a look at the other railroad in town, the Missouri-Kansas-Texas. Sedalia was a division point for the Katy, and the railroad built a large, 2-story brick station here in 1896. Three Katy geeps lead as eastbound past the station in July 1974. (Terry Norton)

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LaPlata reflections

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This weekend “Rails Around Missouri” will be in LaPlata, MO for the Silver Rails train show at the Depot Inn. To commemorate that, here is a series of shots that are in and not in the book.

The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway built through Missouri in 1887 on its way from Kansas City to Chicago. In the diesel era, the Santa Fe operated a fleet of premier, stainless steel, streamlined passenger trains from Chicago to Los Angeles. One such train, the El Capitan, was a bi-level coach class train, offered in counterpart to the all-Pullman Super Chief. The “El Cap” is seen stopped in LaPlata in this undated shot above.

Like almost every US railroad, the Santa Fe in 1971 handed over all passenger operations to the new federal carrier known as Amtrak. Originally working with ATSF-heritage “El Cap” bi-levels on ATSF lines, Amtrak supplemented and eventually replaced all of these cars with Superliner cars built by Pullman Standard. Seen from the N&W overpass, eastbound train #4, the Southwest Chief, departs LaPlata for Chicago on November 27, 1981. (Dale Hearn)

LaPlata is on the northern border of Macon County, and was host to the Santa Fe and the N&W. The Santa Fe was by far the busier of the two, seeing as many as 60 trains per day. On the same day as the previous shot, ATSF SD45 #5674 speeds an eastbound trailer train through town, assisted by three other EMDs and a GE. (Dale Hearn)

Dropping down the N&W line to Macon, we find high-hood GP38 #4131 leading train DM08 south on April 26, 1978. The train originated in Des Moines, Iowa, and was heading for Moberly. The line itself was built by Wabash predecessors in the 1870s and at one time hosted daily St Louis-Des Moines passenger trains. (Gary Roe)

Moving back to LaPlata, in a scene that is not in Rails Around Missouri, a set of Sante Fe passenger F-units lead a westbound freight under the Wabash line and through town on New Years Eve, 1962. (Photographer unknown) Finally below, present-day operator BNSF runs an Office Car Special eastbound through town on October 2, 2008. The Wabash/N&W/Norfolk Southern line is now gone, and the bridge removed. The railfan shed on the right sits on the former N&W right-of-way. (Mike Kelly)

 Rails Around Missouri is close to selling out! There are fewer than 160 copies remaining. Get your autographed copy today for $47.95 plus shipping. Choose between the KCS or Frisco cover. (Frisco version only has 70 remaining.)

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Kirkwood Alternates

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With over 800 images submitted for Rails Around Missouri, not all could be used. Relevant to “Rails” appearance at the annual Kirkwood train show this weekend (Oct 12-13, Kirkwood Community Center), below are 4 shots from Kirkwood which are Not in Rails Around Missouri, but are worth a look.

First, MP SD40s lead a westbound through Kirkwood on March 14, 1971. While an excellent shot, it’s a perspective of Kirkwood that has been seen many times, and we wanted a different angle. Photo by Paul Dalman

Next, an MKT freight detours to St Louis over the MoPac in May 1973. The Katy’s line was flood-prone, and when it did flood, the Katy detoured over the MP between Sedalia and St Louis. Photo by Paul Dalman.

Next, over on the Frisco, a pair of SW1500s lead an eastbound local out of Valley Park and into Kirkwood at Quinnete Rd in May 1977. Photo by Ed Hawkins.

Finally, an eastbound freight, led by 7 locomotives with U30B #853 up front, waits just west of Big Bend & Geyer for clearance to proceed to Lindenwood yard. This location is across the street from St Louis Community College – Meramec. Photo by the late Bill Wylde, from the collection of Camille Chappuis.

Rails Around Missouri is down to 200 total copies left, and is expected to be sold out by Christmas. Choose between the KCS or Frisco cover, which will come signed by the author. NOTE: the Frisco cover has less than 80 left.

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Also, check out the new page on MP’s Oak Hill & Carondelet branches here.

 

“Rails” to visit Springfield 9-28

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“Rails Around Missouri” will be in Springfield on Saturday, September 28 for the Ozark Model Railroad Association show, being held at the Springfield Expo Center from 9-3. In honor of that, here are a set of images from Springfield. Two of them are in the book, including the shot above, and two are not. Above is a shot of the Springfield shops, taken by Terry Norton on June 8, 1980. While this shot was shared a few months ago in a previous post, it’s shown again here as a comparison with the shot below, also taken by Terry a few days later, and is not in the book. Note the GE U25Bs and U30B. along with a pair of SD45s.

Below – “In Springfield, the Frisco established several yards, a roundhouse, turntable, car & locomotive shops. The largest yard was the Kansas Ave yard on the northwest side of town. Frisco GP38-2 #478 leads train #134 from Memphis into the yard on November 30, 1980.” Ken Albrecht

The shot above from “Rails Around Missouri” can be found spread across pages 190-191 of Chapter Eight – Southwest Missouri. For comparison, below is a shot from the same location on April 15, 1980. U30B leads train BTX from Birmingham into Kansas Av yard. Photo by Daniel Schroeder.

Your copy of Rails Around Missouri is available for $47.95 plus USPS Priority Mail shipping, and will come signed by the author. Choose between the KCS or Frisco cover. DON’T WAIT! The Frisco cover has fewer than 100 copies left. Order today or stop in at the Springfield show and pick up your copy.

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Was this really 33 years ago?

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“On a cold December morning in 1980, frost covers the roadbed as Santa Fe SD45 #5575 leads a westbound trailer train through Henrietta. The Santa Fe is in process of converting their TOFC equipment from 89′ flatcars to “Fuel Foiler” articulated spine cars, which reduced train weight and improved fuel efficiency. Note the long string of 89′ flatcars in the siding.” Below – “Seen from the Highway 13 overpass, caboose #999167 brings up the rear as the train speeds towards Kansas City. More 89′ flatcars in storage stretch almost the entire length of the siding.” Both photos – Dale Hearn

 

 The text and photos above can be found in “Rails Around Missouri”, Chapter Two – Northern Missouri. The going away shot with the caboose is also found on the rear cover of the Frisco front cover edition. “Rails Around Missouri” was released on May 10, 2013 as a 224-page, hard cover book with over 500 all-color photos like the ones above. Your copy is available for $47.95 plus shipping and will come signed by the author. Choose between the KCS or Frisco front cover. Don’t delay! The Frisco cover has less than 100 copies remaining and is expected to sell out before Thanksgiving.

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As a comparison to the shots above, particularly the caboose shot, the photo below was shot from the same overpass by the author in Henrietta in October 2008. Notice how much has changed since 1980: the grain silos and bins are gone, along with the siding. Missouri Highway 13 has been re-routed to a point further east, in what would be the background of the shot at the top of this post. The old overpass is now a local road, but still a great spot to photograph the action on today’s BNSF.