GREAT PLAINS DISPATCHER

Transcription

1 GREAT PLAINS DISPATCHER The Official Newsletter of the Great Plains Transportation Museum and the Wichita Chapter National Railway Historical Society December 2007 Volume VI Number 12 LOOKING BACK ON KANSAS RAILROADS DECEMBER 1967 By Lloyd Stagner Local passenger trains Nos. 7-8 between Lincoln NE and Denver Co were discontinued with the final trips on December 17 The last passenger service on the Frisco ended. December 8 with the discontinuance of Trains , The Southland, between Kansas City and Birmingham. These trains made stops in Kansas at Paola and Fort Scott. Orders were placed with Greenville Steel Co. for ton hopper cars to be delivered in May 1968 Application was filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission to discontinue the three daily round trips made by passenger trains between St. Louis and Kansas City. Hearings would be scheduled in early A new sleeping car service was inaugurated for a 90 day trial period between St. Louis and Little Rock on trains Nos. 7 and 2. During the month, delivery was made on six U-30CG (350 class), also nine FP-45 (100 class) diesels for passenger service. Delivery of these new units and discontinuance of mail/express trains 3-4, 7-8 resulted in F-3s and F-7s being seen in freight service in and out of Newton. The first freight car was pushed over the new hump at the North Platte yard on December 19. Cars were controlled by hand brakes until the computer-controlled retarders could be placed in service. No special mail/express trains ran during the Christmas holiday season. The limited quantity of rail hauled mail moved on regular trains. Application was made to the Interstate Commerce Commission to discontinue mail/express trains Nos. 5-6 between Omaha-Los Angeles. Orders were placed for ton 50 foot box cars to be built in company shops and ton 60 foot auto parts box cars from Evans Products for 1968 delivery. An accident involving Train 18, Portland Rose, and a westbound freight train at the Wamego, KS siding resulted in the injury to 50 persons. Apparently, No. 18 did not stop at the east end of the siding and "sideswiped" the westbound freight train.

2 GREAT PLAINS DISPATCHER PAGE 2 DECEMBER 2007 THE MISSION OF THE GREAT PLAINS TRANSPORTATION MUSEUM To be THE Railroad Museum Of Kansas. Dedicated to record and exhibit the importance of railroad transportation in the human, agricultural, commercial and industrial heritage of Wichita, Kansas and the Great Plains. To showcase that heritage with an Action Display of rail equipment operation. Giving visitors an exciting learning experience through motion, set in an unique, historic and scenic urban location. To enhance the action display with significant and appropriate railroad locomotives, rolling stock, equipment and structures; through interpretive displays, dioramas, exhibits and media; and educational and community programs. The GREAT PLAINS DISPATCHER is the official monthly newsletter of the Wichita Chapter, National Railway Historical Society, Inc. and the Great Plains Transportation Museum, Inc. Members receive the DISPATCHER as part of their membership. All material submitted for publication should be submitted by the 25th of the month for publication in the next months DISPATCHER. Submissions may be sent to the editor at: editor@gptm.us, or 700 E. Douglas, Wichita, KS DECEMBER NRHS MEETING The Wichita Chapter s monthly program will be the Annual slide free-forall night. Bring up to 30 slides, more for back-up, to show. There will be a slide projector and a computer with Powerpoint available. If you have a portion of a DVD to show bring the DVD, but please let Harvey know in advance about the DVD. The meeting will be held Friday, December 21 at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church 1101 N. River Blvd in Wichita. Meeting time is 7:30 pm. NRHS DUES NRHS has mailed out the dues notices from national headquarters. If you have not received a dues notice, contact Steve Corp, treasurer. Another issue is the mailing address for renewal. Mail your renewals to: Steve Corp 5609 Shadybrook St Wichita, KS Also, the statement needs to be included with the payment. Doing this will lessen the workload of the treasurer. The new dues rates are listed below. Regular Member Individual $46 Family membership. Primary member $ 46 plus additional family members at $12 per member. For example, a family of 4 would be $46 + 3X $12 for a sum of $82. Student Member $25 At-Large Member $34 OTHER EVENTS Sun., Dec.16 Wichita Area Garden Railway Society, Christmas Party, Hometown Buffet, 6820 W. Central, Wichita. Information: Millie Hein, or mihein@swbell.net Mon., Dec. 31 Heart of the Heartlands New Year s Eve Motorcar Ride, Carona, KS, 4:00. Mark Springer or cumbres@cox.net Tuesday, Jan. 15 NARVRE Unit 115, 11:00, Hometown Buffet, 6820 W. Central, Wichita. Information: Murl Sillaway, atlasta7@aol.com CHRISTMAS CROSSING Christmas Crossing, a model train display at Towne West Square in Wichita, features three sets of model train tracks running through miniature villages and across a snowy countryside. Some of the trains will have holiday themes, with flatcars stacked with candy canes, ore cars piled with chocolates, and a miniature Santa Claus along for the ride. Sponsored by the Wichita Toy Train Club and cost is free to the public. The display will be in Suite 309, just outside Dillard s and will run from 7:00-9:00 p.m. Thursdays & Fridays and from noon-5:00 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, November 23 through December 23. CORRECTION Photo contributor John Matrow informed the editor that his photo in the November Dispatcher is not a westbound train, but an eastbound with remote power. The lead unit was BNSF Your editor should have looked closer. The headlight was on, but no one was in the cab.

3 GREAT PLAINS DISPATCHER PAGE 3 DECEMBER 2007 NRHS NEWS January 2008: We will be discussing the proposed Wichita Chapter NRHS by-laws revisions. If you want a copy of the proposed revisions mail your written request to David Meek, President WCNRHS; 700 E. Douglas, Wichita, KS If you prefer to request via send your request to info@gptm.us. Please make the subject line W/C Bylaws request. With the remaining time we will have a mini-program of a fun nature which has a prize-winning contest feature to it. Lloyd Stagner will providing this mini-program. Details will be announced at the meeting. Then, if there is still time left, J. H. Koehn will provide a second mini-program. February: GPTM Annual Meeting. The program is TBA. March: We will have a guest speaker from the K&O RR. MUSEUM DUES Please send in your dues payment to keep your membership current. Even better, visit the museum and pay in person. GPTM MEMBERSHIP THE GREAT PLAINS TRANSPORTATION MUSEUM Membership and Volunteer Application Membership Categories Museum Regular Memberships Individual $20 Family $30 April: Provided by the Topeka Chapter NRHS?? May: There may or may not be a regular Friday meeting. This depends upon the date of Quad Chapter. It is the Wichita Chapter's turn to host and the Q/C date is not set yet. June: Annual Picnic at the museum. July & August: Platform meeting, both months (tentative for August). September: Chapter Annual Banquet. October: Exchange program by the Kansas City Chapter NRHS. November: Open. December: Slide free-for-all and clean-up night. As you can see, most of the year is planned. So here is another call for someone to take the position of vicepresident. Most of the program work is already done. Museum Supporting Memberships Sustaining $50 Contributing $100 Sponsor $250 Patron $500 Benefactor $1000 I want to volunteer in the following areas: Shop & restoration Gift shop Interpretive guide/tours Fund raising Displays & artifacts Library General Maintenance Office Planning & Development Newsletter Other: Name Address City State Zip Telephone: Signature: Please remit to: Great Plains Transportation Museum Membership Coordinator 700 E. Douglas Ave Wichita, KS

4 GREAT PLAINS DISPATCHER PAGE 4 DECEMBER 2007 WICHITA UNION STATION By Sam Andrews Discussions to build a new passenger depot for Wichita began in 1910 with actual construction of Wichita Union Station starting in July 1912 at 701 East Douglass. The station opened for business in October 1913 when Santa Fe was the first to use it. The very first train at the new station was Santa Fe #118 arriving at 0935 on October 16, By early 1914, the Frisco, the Rock Island and possibly the Orient had moved their trains into the new location. On March 7, 1914 the grand opening was held. The night before, a banquet & dance were held for a kick off celebration at the station. Speakers on hand were from the city railroads, the city mayor and US Senator Henry Allen who was publisher of the Wichita Beacon and a city resident. The first passenger to purchase a ticket in the new station was FW Hockday from Wichita. It was stated he stood in line eight hours to make sure he was the first paying customer. A Fred Harvey restaurant was in the station until A branch US Post Office was in the station lobby until closing in A small snack bar was in the lobby until closing in Due to declining traffic, in early 1969 the station began closing overnight and new business hours became 0430 to midnight. Passenger service ended at the station when Amtrak abolished the Lone Star in October During its 65 years of business, Wichita Union Station was operated by Wichita Union Terminal Railway which comprised of the three railroads which used the station and trackage. Throughout the years, some confuse the WUT with the Wichita Terminal Association as being the same. The WUT & WTA were separate companies,although were under the same manager. The WTA was not involved with Union Station and its purpose was providing industry switching in north Wichita. That company was first founded in 1889 and reorganized into its present form in WAYNOKA MUSEUM GRAND OPENING A grand opening will be held on Thursday December 13th at 1:00 PM. Many accomplishments will be celebrated including: Displays have recently been totally reworked. A model rail road depicting Waynoka and Curtis Hill is well along toward completion. Locomotive moved by the BNSF this summer to the display track. Parking lot paving. Please consider joining with Sandie Olson and members of the Waynoka Historical Society to celebrate this event KC MAYOR PROPOSES 60-MILE BISTATE LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM Steve Bell KCUR News KANSAS CITY, MO ( ) Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser has said for weeks that he advocates a bi-state, metro-wide transit system. On Wednesday he began to describe what he has in mind, beginning with the concept. He proposes a regional system, built all in one phase, with roughly an equal number of miles on each side of the state line. Key to its funding and construction would be a system of shared governance. The mayor envisions a multi-modal system integrating multiple technologies and extending from Olathe through the Plaza and downtown to the airport. Funkhouser insists that the system must be multi-modal. He says true light rail technology must be used for the central "spine," but the secondary "circulator" system should use the new fast streetcars the ATA task force and a council committee have endorsed. Funkhouser says bus rapid transit and traditional bus service must be integrated into the plan, and that it must also include a system of pedestrian and bicycle trails. "You ought to be able to ride your bicycle in Lenexa to the station and take the train to Power and Lighta," the Mayor said. The Clay Chastain plan voters approved and the council repealed in November involved 26 miles of track. The Funkhouser vision jumps ambitiously into a 60 to 75 mile line. Managing and paying for it would depend on getting special legislation through the Missouri and Kansas legislatures. That legislation would create a separate, new, different governing bod - a light rail commission that reflects a system of shared governance, shared regional funding and that is regional in scope. The mayor says he has talked to potential bill sponsors in both Topeka and Jefferson City, and would like to have bills in both hoppers in January. He says the regional transit board would consist of 24 elected officials, half from Kansas and half from Missouri. (Continued on page 5)

5 GREAT PLAINS DISPATCHER PAGE 5 DECEMBER 2007 (Continued from page 4) Funkhouser believes the collective effort of the bi-state governing commission can pass a one-half-cent bistate sales tax that would generate $138 million a year, allowing $3.5 billion in bonding. And he thinks that surprise would speed up federal participation. The mayor explained to Steve Kraske and his listeners that he would surprise federal officials by asking for onethird participation, not the usual 50 percent federal funds. That, he says, would put Kansas City at the top of the list of applicants. With a regional system and $3.5 billion in local bonding in place, the mayor calculates that Kansas City could easily get another billion dollars from the federal government. That would bring the starting budget for the system to $4.5 billion. At the Kansas City Star's estimate of $60 million a mile, the mayor says the city could build a system up to 70 or 75 miles long. But he would devote 10 percent or so of the budget to building bike and pedestrian trails. He would also build a new transit-bikepedestrian bridge across the Missouri river. The mayor says with light rail as his number one priority he has a chance to have it all put together for a November public vote. "All I'm sayin' to folks," the mayor said, "is, 'give me until November.'" The mayor concedes that success in time for a November vote is not a certainty. He says if all the pieces are not in place by August, he will switch his support for a vote on a shorter starter system in November and continue his crusade for a regional transit system. GROUP PUSHES FOR KC-TO- DALLAS AMTRAK SERVICE By Steve Everly The Kansas City Star A fledging effort to begin passenger train service between Kansas City and Dallas got its first local airing Saturday. The Northern Flyer Alliance, a volunteer group, is pushing a plan that would expand Amtrak train service that currently operates from Oklahoma City to Dallas. The plan, discussed at a public meeting in Kansas City s Union Station, would have daily train service between Kansas City and Dallas beginning in Its stops would include Wichita. This is a civic initiative, said Mark Corriston, the alliance s Kansas City director. The expanded route would travel in part over rails that are already used by Amtrak trains traveling to the West Coast. But at Newton, the new train service to Dallas would turn south and continue on tracks now used by BNSF Railway for its freight trains. A major obstacle, however, is funding. The Kansas City-to-Dallas route would require, by alliance estimates, $12.7 million in annual funding to cover operations and about $6.5 million in upgrades before the service could start. That money would not come from Amtrak, but from the states in which the trains travel. Oklahoma and Texas already pay for the current service from Oklahoma City to Dallas, and Kansas would have to chip in $5.9 million annually and pay for part of the upgrades. Federal funding, if legislation now in Congress becomes law, might pay for some of the cost. study the proposed Kansas City-to- Dallas route, including calculating its own estimate of how much it would cost. Saturday s meeting was attended by about a dozen people, including local government officials. Some said that they were intrigued by the idea of the Kansas City-to-Dallas service but that it was too early to say if it would happen. More work, including nailing down the funding at a time of tight budgets for such projects, is needed. It s still preliminary, said Marge Vogt, a member of the Olathe City Council and chairwoman of MARC s Total Transportation Policy Board. THREE CARS GIVEN TO FRISCO 4500 ENGINE By Anna F. Brown Sand Springs Leader Two train cars located in Sand Springs and one from the Sunoco Refinery promise to make the newly refurbished Frisco 4500 engine and tender car into a real train. The passenger car began life in the Boston and New York corridors. It then came to the Tulsa Sapulpa Union Railway before landing in Sand Springs. Its lights and other fixtures have been removed. Sunbelt Railroad took out the seats. Mike and Ed Massey found some of the chairs that had been donated to a museum in Enid. The other Sand Springs car is a caboose, which has fire damage and did have graffiti. The two cars will need to be trucked to Southwest Tulsa where they are to rest with an oil tanker from the Sunoco Refinery at a park to be built across from Webster High School. The Kansas Department of Transportation earlier this year asked Amtrak to The land was bought with Vision 2025 money. The train will belong to Tulsa.

6 December 2007 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Christmas Evening Work Session Evening Work Session Evening Work Session Merry GPTM BOD NRHS Meeting 1 GREAT PLAINS DISPATCHER Great Plains Transportation Museum 700 East Douglas Wichita, KS (316) Return Service Requested