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 2009 Volume VIII Number 12 LOOKING BACK By Michael M. Bartels 30 YEARS AGO The Interstate Commerce Commission awarded Southern Pacific temporary authority to operate 922 miles of the Rock Island between St. Louis, Kansas City and Santa Rosa, N.M. (Wichita Eagle, Dec. 4, 1979) 40 YEARS AGO Union Pacific's Portland Rose, Nos. 17 and 18, its day train across Kansas, became Nos. 117 and 118 between Kansas City and Denver Dec. 7, 1969, breaking the connection at Denver. This portion had been operated as a mixed train since Dec. 17, (Summer 2001 Union Pacific Historical Society "The Streamliner.") An electric streetcar was proposed between downtown and the new zoo. (Wichita Eagle-Beacon, Dec. 14, 1969) 50 YEARS AGO A large model railroad was set up in the lobby of the Broadview Hotel by the hotel president, R.C. McCormick, 60, who bought the train and model village last September while in Hanover, Germany, on business. It arrived in Wichita about the first of November and took 33 days to assemble. (Wichita Eagle, Dec. 17, 1959) The Kansas Corporation Commission on Dec. 30, 1959, let the Rock Island close stations at Cullison, Wellsford, Ford, Munden, Esbon, Athol, Agra, Stuttgart, Dresden, Clayton, Paxico and Woodbine. (Wichita Eagle, Dec. 31, 1959) 70 YEARS AGO Santa Fe on Dec. 10, 1939, extended its daytime Kansas Cityan/ Chicagoan from Wichita to Oklahoma City, with overnight connections to Fort Worth and Dallas. The Chicago-Wichita parlor observation was shifted to Chicago-Tulsa service, using the new Tulsan south of Kansas City. Frisco met the challenge with inauguration of the Firefly between Kansas City, Tulsa and Oklahoma City Dec. 10, 1939, using streamlined 4-6-2s and modernized heavyweight equipment. It covered the 379 miles at an average speed of 52.3 mph. Col. A.H. Webb, 89, a longtime Missouri Pacific official, died Dec. 24, (Wichita Eagle, Dec. 25, 1939) A car collided with an Arkansas Valley Interurban freight train at the 29th Street crossing Dec. 27, (Wichita Eagle, Dec. 28, 1939) 80 YEARS AGO Properties of the Wichita Transportation Co., operated for the past three years under an option taken by local investors who hoped to refinance the company if a new franchise could be obtained, were turned back to the Illinois Power & Light Co. Dec. 12, (Wichita Eagle, Dec. 13, 1929) 90 YEARS AGO Work on the new AVI bridge over the Arkansas near the ballpark will start by the first of next week. (Wichita Beacon, Dec. 25, 1919) Golden Rule Refining Co. on Dec. 30, 1919, bought the AVI property at the northeast corner of First and Water for $42,000. The 125-by-140-foot site included the two-story brick office building, passenger and freight station and car shops. It expected to get possession July 1, 1920, after AVI moved to its new location at Waco and Douglas. It planned to build a new filling station and add another story to the office building. (Wichita Beacon, Dec. 30, 1919; Wichita Eagle, Dec. 31, 1919)

2 GREAT PLAINS DISPATCHER PAGE 2 DECEMBER 2009 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 NOVEMBER NRHS MEETING The December meeting will be Slide Free-For-All Night. Bring 35mm slides or computeraccessible images for showing others what you have seen train-wise in A request: If you bring JPEG images on a CD for viewing with a DVD player, please limit the number to 20 or fewer and your acting program chairman asks that you make certain that all the images are upright. If you want to bring some oldies but goodies to show and delight others feel free to do so. The meeting will be held Friday, December 18, at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church 1101 N. River Blvd in Wichita. Meeting time is 7:30 pm. There will be the 6:00 p.m. informal dinner gathering at the Riverside Cafe before the December meeting and program. Please RSVP to Harvey ( or jhkoehn@prodigy.net) by noon Thursday of the 17th. FUTURE NRHS PROGRAMS For future programs the specific content and for which month has not all been confirmed. Here is what is presently known. February will be the GPTM's annual meeting, April will be the Topeka Chapter exchange program, June will be the annual picnic, September will be the banquet (somewhere), October will be the Kansas City Chapter exchange program, chapter member and retired railroad employee Lee Swanson will present the November program with an Ohio setting, and December will be the traditional slide-free-for all again. And for one of the other months J. H. Koehn will present one of his Kansas depots programs. NRHS MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS NRHS membership renewals will be due December 31. If you have not received your renewal card contact Steve Corp at OTHER EVENTS Friday, December 4 - Sunday, December 13 Wichita Area Garden Railroad display at Wichita Botanica Garden, 701 N. Amidon Dec Wichita Toy Train Club at Wichita Exploration Place. Sat: 10 AM - 5 PM, Sun: 12 PM - 5 PM. Dec Wichita Toy Train Club at The Kansas Cosmosphere, Hutchinson, KS, 12 PM - 6 PM Jan , Wichita Train Show & Swap Meet. Cessna Activity Center. Contact: Engine House Hobbies Feb. 20 Lawrence Train Show, Douglas Co. Fairgrounds, Bldg #21, Lawrence, 9 AM-5 PM. rg Apr Cowley County Railroad Heritage Days. Paris Park, Arkansas City. Events include Family Fun Days, Railroader s Reunion and Train Show

3 GREAT PLAINS DISPATCHER PAGE 3 DECEMBER 2009 RAILROADING IN WICHITA DECEMBER 1909 By Fred Tefft December 1 Beginning today, the street cars will be warm. Ever since the McKinley syndicate purchased the Wichita street railway system, December 1 has been the date for the turning on of heat in the cars. Before that date no conductor may turn on the heat in his car without special permission. Disobedicence [sic] to this order means the loss of a job. December 7 Report of heavy snowstorm -- seven inches yesterday and last night--with street car service at a standstill early this morning. Details. The street car company does not have a big rotary sweeper, as this would cost $6000, but this morning it got out its two sweepers and hitched them to teams of horses to work on clearing 30 miles of track. Previous snow falls of seven inches or more in Wichita were in February 1894, seven and a half inches, in February 1900, seven inches, and the record twelve inch snowfall last March. December 8 By 9:00 a.m. today all the street car lines were open except Cleveland avenue north of 2 nd street, Pattie avenue south of Indianapolis street, and the Franklin avenue extension of the Riverside line. The latter will be open tonight. December 10 Car 208 of the Main street and Topeka avenue line got stuck last night at corner of Douglas and Topeka because of a defective switch. When the car started around the curve the front trucks took the turn all right, but the rear ones continued straight on Douglas avenue. December 14 Commissioner H. J. Roetzel is still mad at the street car company -- this time because of their delay in placing colored lights on each car to identify the line it is running on. The city commission ordered this done in November -- to be completed by December 6, and it is not yet done. Yesterday they voted to extend the time allowed for one month. If the lights are not in by that time, said Mr. Roetzel, we will see what we can do with the street car company s franchise along the line of forfeiting some or all of it. Superintendent Morrison in a letter to the commission said that the company s officials had agreed to the placing of the lights. Sixty-three cars will have to be provided with the lights at a cost of $15 each, or a total of $945. It will require about two days to equip each car, and therefore the company had requested an extension of the time allowed until April 1. December 15 Report of complaints by College Hill residents about the dirty condition of the street cars, with mud and water on the floor thrown up by the wheels. December 16 First car load of steel rails for the rebuilding of the Missouri Pacific tracks from Yates Center to Wichita and the Geneseo, was unloaded today at Greenwich, ten miles east of Wichita. Fifty more cars will be delivered this month and more shipments will be made all through next year. The new rails are 85 pound weight, while the present ones are 56 pound. New rails were laid between Wichita and Greenwich early this year. December 18 Superintendent W. R. Morrison yesterday paid to the Sedgwick county treasurer $27,668, which represents the county share in the profits of the street car system. This represents all of the fares for a total of 553,360 riders at 5 each. December 22, 1909 Article reports organization yesterday of the new Wichita Terminal Association to replace the old, smaller Wichita Terminal Railway. The general superintendents of the Santa Fe, Rock Island, Missouri Pacific, and Frisco met yesterday in the office of A. H. Webb, of the Missouri Pacific, and reached the agreement. Details. A new superintendent will be named in a few days and is expected to take charge January 1. Various improvements will be made in trackage and facilities, including purchase of four new switch engines. W. R. Morrison, superintendent of Wichita Railroad and Light company, received a telegram last night asking him to come to Peoria, Illinois to meet H. C. Chubbuck, general manager of the company, for discussion of appropriations for Unless weather interferes, the building of the loop around the first block north of Douglas between Main and Market is expected to be completed by the end of the first week in January. The work was resumed yesterday. December 27 Superintendent Morrison returned yesterday from Peoria, Illinois, when he conferred with company officials. He says he was promised everything he asked for. The new car barns will be built and changes will be made in about ten miles of track on streets where paving has been ordered. General manager Chubbuck will visit Wichita about mid-january and may make decision as to whether new power plant will be built. A deal is pending with the Arkansas Valley Interurban Railway company for use of the street car company s lines inside the city limits, and Mr. Morrison brought back a contract from Illinois to submit to the interurban company. December 29 Street car No. 120 on the Cleveland avenue line, a diminutive yellow terror, put on high jinks this morning (Continued on page 4)

4 GREAT PLAINS DISPATCHER PAGE 4 DECEMBER 2009 (Continued from page 3) at the Pattie avenue switch, when the trolley pole went up, broke the trolley rope, broke the pole holding the trolley wire supports, etc. Dr. Edward N. Tihen's Notes from Wichita Newspapers, Special Collections and University Archives, Wichita State University Libraries BNSF HOLIDAY EXPRESS ROARS INTO KANSAS AND NEBRASKA The BNSF Holiday Express rolled into Kansas on Dec. 1-- bringing with it cooler temperatures that made it feel more like Christmas -- then headed north to Nebraska. On the Holiday Express, BNSF provides special train trips to pay tribute to the families of the U.S. military. Topeka, Kan., was the first stop, followed by stops in Omaha and Lincoln, Neb. Military families boarded vintage passenger cars decorated in the holiday tradition for a 90-minute train trip. Once on board, family members were treated to special holiday snacks, given a commemorative holiday ornament and visited with Santa. An estimated 300 military family members rode the train each day. (Note: See photos at In addition to the rides, BNSF officials presented donations to a number of worthy organizations that support military families. Carl Ice, executive vice president and chief operations officer, presented BNSF donations totaling $20,000 to two Kansas not-for-profit organizations that provide support to military families and returning soldiers. The BNSF Foundation also presented $10,000 each to the Kansas National Guard Foundation and the Fort Riley Army Soldier & Family Assistance Center in support of the Warrior Transition. BNSF's Holiday Express train is expected to provide rides to more than 2,400 members of military families during its two-week trip through Kansas, Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa and Missouri. In all, the BNSF Foundation will donate $70,000 to organizations that offer support to military families in need. The BNSF Holiday Express features 11 restored vintage railcars and is powered by two of BNSF's newest locomotives. BNSF News DIRECTOR: WAYNOKA S HARVEY HOUSE RESTORATION IS BETTER THAN EXPECTED Restoring the old Harvey House and Santa Fe Depot in Waynoka proved to be more costly than first anticipated, but the project has turned out better than expected. Sandie Olson, director of Waynoka Historical Society, discussed the renovations during the monthly Brown Bag Luncheon sponsored by Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center. Waynoka Harvey House & depot during World War I Costs for both projects were higher than we anticipated, Olson said. Olson said the cost was estimated at $500,000 to renovate the historic Harvey House, where people traveling by train could stop and eat. Thus far project has totaled $1.5 million, with some funds going to begin work on the Santa Fe Depot. Today, the Harvey House hosts a railroad museum on the second floor, and the first floor is leased to El Charro Mexican Restaurant, but is renovated like the original building. Olson said a number of grants were received from Oklahoma Department of Transportation, Oklahoma Centennial funds, Waynoka Historical Society, Sarkeys Foundation, and private donations. She showed slides of the construction in progress and in its restored condition. The next phase will be a $500,000 renovation of the Santa Fe Depot interior. Waynoka Historical Society hired an architect who dug through the paint in the old house and was able to replicate some of the original stenciling in one of the dining rooms. Olson said there were two dining rooms, and one was a formal dining room where men had to wear a coat and tie. Both dining rooms were operated by the famous Harvey Girls, who lived on the premises. Harvey Houses were started by Fred Harvey in 1876 and were placed about every 200 miles along the Santa Fe rail line. Some were restaurants and hotels, and some were only restaurants like the Waynoka house, where the girls lived on the second floor. The city is helping us with the restrooms, which we couldn t have done because of the ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act) requirements, she (Continued on page 5)

5 GREAT PLAINS DISPATCHER PAGE 5 DECEMBER 2009 (Continued from page 4) said. We also had to install an elevator to meet ADA requirements. A lot of paint removal was needed on the house, and all work had to be approved by the Oklahoma Historical Preservation office to be sure it met federal standards, Olson said, since some of the funding was with federal money. Both the Harvey House and Santa Fe Depot will be 100 years old next year. Harvey House stopped being a restaurant for train passengers in The railroad gave the building to Waynoka Historical Society in 1995, and the society began working on the renovation, finally opening it in The Enid News & Eagle MISSOURI PACIFIC #3 By Fred Tefft For years I have been told about the possibility of a Santa Fe engine lost in the sands of the Ninnescah River near Clearwater, Kansas. While I was searching the Tihen Notes I discovered this story about the loss of Missouri Pacific 3, a built at Palm & Robertson of St. Louis in I have found no mention of the locomotive being recovered. April 23, 1885 April 25 The engine that fell through the bridge at Clearwater is still under the tide in the depth of ten feet. (Tihen Notes from 1885 Wichita Beacon, p. 9-10) April 28 The engine which went through the Ninnescah bridge at Clearwater has not been found and may have struck quick sand. The body of the drowned engineer was found far down the river. (Tihen Notes from 1885 Wichita Beacon, p. 10) All the engineers on this end of the Ft. Scott road accompanied the remains of Engineer McDaniels to Ft. Scott last Saturday. On Sunday it was found necessary to send a train out to the Ninnescah bridge with material, and no engineers being on hand, Mr. Bauman, who has charge of the engines in this city, put his daughter, Bessie, a school girl, in charge of the engine, furnished her with a fireman, and she did her work nobly, handling the throttle and guiding the iron steed as well as the best man on the road. The girl has frequently run the engine about the yard, but never before made a trip on the road. (Tihen Notes from 1885 Wichita Eagle, p. 9) April 30 The sunken engine at Clearwater is said to have been found this morning by probing, in the channel of the river in eight or ten feet of quick sand. (Tihen Notes from 1885 Wichita Beacon, p. 10) May 8 We are informed that engine No. 6, while crossing the bridge at Clearwater today, came near meeting the fate of the one now in the bed of the river there. The bridge sank about five feet under the weight of the locomotive, but the train got over safely. (Tihen Notes from 1885 Wichita Beacon, p. 11) Dr. Edward N. Tihen's Notes from Wichita Newspapers, Special Collections and University Archives, Wichita State University Libraries Article reports railway accident at 4:00 a.m. yesterday in which freight engine No. 3 of the St. Louis, Ft. Scott, and Wichita Railroad went through the Ninnescah bridge a mile southwest of Clearwater into the flood waters, drowning the engineer. This was the construction train. Details. The flood had washed away the center bent of the bridge leaving the stringers and ties hanging in place. (Tihen Notes from 1885 Wichita Eagle, p. 9) The museum s former Chance Coach (Wichita Transit 8823) sports a silver and black paint at it s new home in Texas.

6 December 2009 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat GPTM BOD NRHS Meeting GREAT PLAINS DISPATCHER Great Plains Transportation Museum 700 East Douglas Ave Wichita, KS (316) Return Service Requested