It’s been well over 35 years since a Rock Island or Cotton Belt train rumbled across Missouri between St Louis and Kansas City via Freeburg. Shuttered by the Cotton Belt in the early 1980s, the scenic line, complete with 4 tunnels and several high bridges, has been officially abandoned west of Union, Mo. In fact, the…
Valley Park sits on the Meramec River at the bottom of Kirkwood Hill. At one time, the Frisco had a hotel, car shops, and an art-deco concrete passenger station located here. The two main tracks converge in Valley Park to single track from both directions to cross the Meramec River. Frisco GP38-2 #468 leads westbound…
Franklin, at milepost 189, was the site of a large yard and trainmaster’s office. The yard facilities included a roundhouse, back shop, water treatment plant, car department, scales, and diesel servicing. Leon Sapp was the MKT Trainmaster for this division around 1970, and according to Leon, the yard here was large but underutilized. Rail was…
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…
“Further up the hill near Jerome, Frisco B30-7 #863 leads freight #438 as it drifts downgrade towards Newburg on October 28, 1978. In the mid-1970s, the Frisco ran four daily freights each way over the Rolla Sub between St Louis & Springfield: #’s 33, 35, 39 & 437 westbound, and #s 30, 34, 36 &…