GREAT PLAINS DISPATCHER

GREAT PLAINS DISPATCHER The Official Newsletter of the Great Plains Transportation Museum and the Wichita Chapter National Railway Historical Society February 2014 Volume XIII Number 2 GREAT PLAINS TRANSPORTATION MUSEUM ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING The Great Plains Transportation Museum annual business meeting will be held Friday, February 21, 2013 at 7:30 PM. Location of the meeting: Wichita Toy Train Club, 130 S. Laura, Wichita, Kansas. NRHS meeting will be before the business meeting, 7:00-7:30 PM

GREAT PLAINS DISPATCHER PAGE 2 FEBRUARY 2014 THE MISSION OF THE GREAT PLAINS TRANSPORTATION MUSEUM The mission of the Great Plains Transportation Museum is to preserve and convey the unique history of railroading in the Great Plains through acquisition, restoration, research, exhibition, and education. GPTM OFFICERS President: J. Harvey Koehn Vice President: Steve Corp Secretary: John Deck Treasurer: Gale Meek WICHITA CHAPTER NRHS OFFICERS President: David Meek Vice President: J. Harvey Koehn Secretary: Vacant Treasurer: Wes Helena National Director: Vacant Historian: Fred Tefft Editor: Fred Tefft 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, 316-744-7259 or 700 E. Douglas, Wichita, KS 67202-3506 NRHS PROGRAMS FOR 2014 March: We have an outside speaker for this month. A gentleman from North Newton, KS, Mr. Glen Ediger, has written a book titled Leave No Threshing Stone Unturned. Mr. Ediger s book is about the threshing stones the Mennonites used in the late 1800s in Kansas to thresh wheat. In his book is a chapter detailing how the Santa Fe railroad was instrumental in bringing the Mennonites, and their Turkey Red wheat, to Kansas in the 1870s. The meeting and program on this night will be at the Gloria Dei Lutheran Church on North River Blvd. April: Topeka Chapter Exchange Program. Topic TBA. May: Lance Garrels for an encore presentation, only on a different topic, specifically the Rock Island Around Kansas, the Last Years. June: Robert Walz. Bob s program will be on the Santa Fe and the grain industry. July: Platform meeting evening. Location TBA. August: No meeting month. September: Annual Picnic at the train museum. This will be on the Saturday following the third Friday of the month. The Wichita Chapter will be 60 years old this month. October: Kansas City Chapter Exchange Program. November: A guest speaker again. Mr. Brian Stucky, of Goessel, KS, will present a program on early trails in Kansas and the connection of early railroad construction in Kansas to the location of trails. He will also examine the early trails through Wichita. This program will be on Saturday afternoon November 22, at the Wichita Sedgwick County Historical Museum. December: Annual Slide Free-for-all. FEBRUARY NRHS MEETING The February NRHS meeting will be held in conjunction with the annual GPTM membership meeting. The program will be a review of this past year s activities at the museum. The meeting will be held Friday, February 21, at Wichita Toy Train Club, 130 S. Laura in Wichita. Meeting time is 7:00 pm. There will be the 5:30 p.m. informal dinner gathering at the Riverside Cafe, 739 W. 13th, Wichita before the meeting. OTHER EVENTS Feb. 8-9: Wichita Train Show & Swap Meet, Cessna Activity Center, Wichita, KS, Phil Aylward, aylward1@cox.net Feb. 15: Lawrence Model Railroad Club Train Show. Douglas Co. Fairgrounds, Jan Brocker: brocker@sunflower.com Mar. 8-9: Great Train Expo, Century II, Wichita, KS. www.greattrainexpo.com Mar. 15: Ozark Model Train Show & Swap Meet, Remington s, Springfield, Mo., Dave Brashers, dbrashers69@yahoo.com. March 15-16: Garden City Model Train Show, Finney Co. Fairgrounds, Exhibition Bldg, Robert Simmons, trainman55@hotmail.com ROCK ISLAND CROSSING ACCIDENT By Sam Andrews Just minutes before 0700 on February 20, 1922 southbound Rock Island passenger train #23 hit a city bus at the 13th street crossing. This was located on the east side of the Kansas Milling Company plant. One person was killed with seven injured. The crossing had been protected by a wig wag style automatic warning device mounted on a post but it was placed out of service after being damaged in a automobile accident about a month earlier. Back then over 90 years ago, houses sat on the north side of 13th which obstructed the view from the street. Today this spot is the south end of the Cargill soybean elevator complex. Eyewitness accounts of the accident stated the train was moving at a slow rate of speed with the whistle sounded 150 feet and again at 100 feet north of the crossing. For an unknown reason the bus driver failed to hear and see the approaching train.

GREAT PLAINS DISPATCHER PAGE 3 FEBRUARY 2014 LOOKING BACK By Michael M. Bartels 40 YEARS AGO The Feb. 13, 1974, Eagle-Beacon had a photo showing workmen removing ties from the old Midland Valley Railroad, now owned by the Missouri Pacific, between Pawnee and 31st Street South. The track was no longer being used by the Mo- Pac and was sold to Big River Nursery of Wichita. The nursery bought about 4,200 ties from about a mile of track. They will be sold for landscaping purposes. Avenue-Orient Shops, Friends University and Cleveland Avenue streetcar lines. Fifteen streetcar motormen qualified for state chauffeur's licenses to allow them to drive buses on the discontinued car lines. Buses were being substituted to avoid rebuilding of the Big River bridge at Douglas Avenue. (Wichita Eagle, Feb. 10, 11, 1934; Wichita Beacon, Feb. 8, 10, 1934) Civil Works Administration workmen will start tearing down the streetcar bridge tomorrow. (Wichita Eagle, Feb. 22, 1934) George Theis Jr. said the Arkansas Valley Interurban is suffering greatly from auto and bus travel. During 1920 it carried 1 million passengers. In 1923 ticket sales fell to 600,000. At the same time there has been no appreciable reduction in operating costs and taxes have increased from $10,000 annually when the road was built to $30,000 for 1923. Since 80 percent of its revenue is derived from passenger traffic, the situation is acute. It now appears the Salina extension is unfeasible. (Wichita Eagle, Feb. 10, 1924) 50 YEARS AGO The Feb. 9, 1964, Eagle had a feature article about MoPac's line from Wichita to Geneseo, built in 1886-87. The road had asked to discontinue passenger service over it. Ernest Charles Goss, 76, of Mulvane died Feb. 7th. He started the first jitney buses in Wichita and sold his lines to the Wichita Railroad and Light Co. in 1928. (Wichita Eagle, Feb. 9, 1964) 60 YEARS AGO The Feb. 13, 1954, Eagle had an article about the "Big Ditch" flood control project. Work began on May 8, 1950, but was interrupted by the Korean War. It was now expected to be completed in 1957-58. Two of the seven new railroad bridges have been constructed. 90 YEARS AGO The Feb. 6, 1924, Eagle said it is rumored Missouri Pacific will soon establish direct passenger service from Wichita to St. Louis, a much-talked-about-but-neverestablished service. The Feb. 7, 1924, Eagle reported the president of the Wichita Union Terminal Railway Co. as saying plans have been completed and money appropriated to build train sheds at Union Station. However, the local superintendent said that four sets of plans are under consideration and he has no word yet of their approval. Federal court in Kansas City, Kan., has ordered sale of the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient to satisfy a $2.5 million government loan. It has been in receivership since 1917. The sale will be in Wichita March 27th, by order of Judge Pollock. (Wichita Beacon, Feb. 7, 20, 1924) The Wichita Railroad and Light Co. bridge at Douglas Avenue was damaged by ice floes through the west channel Feb. 11th, which washed out seven pilings at the west end of the bridge. The old Seneca Street bridge will probably not be repaired. It and the Arkansas Valley Interurban bridge were damaged Feb. 6th. (Wichita Eagle, Feb. 8, 1924; Wichita Beacon, Feb. 12, 1924) The streetcar company will install a wye at Main and Douglas, costing $5,000, as soon as weather permits. When this is done it is likely that Orient Shops cars will be rerouted. Another wye will be placed at Pattie and Douglas. Whether one-man Birney cars will be placed on Main Street to replace the two-man cars will be known within the next 30 days. (Wichita Eagle, Feb. 22, 1924) Orient locomotive No. 154 has been rebuilt in the Wichita shops. (Wichita Eagle, Feb. 24, 1924) 70 YEARS AGO Twenty-five passengers on a North Topeka Twin Coach bus of the Wichita Transportation Co. were injured when it was struck by a northbound Santa Fe passenger train at the 17th Street crossing yesterday. (Wichita Eagle, Feb. 14, 1944) 80 YEARS AGO Five bus route changes effective Feb. 11, 1934, included abandonment of the Pattie The Orient employs 425 in Wichita, including 267 at the shops and roundhouse, 87 in the offices, 36 train and enginemen, etc. (Wichita Beacon, Feb. 1, 1924) MoPac's budget for Wichita this year calls for a new $65,000 bridge across the Arkansas River, a new turntable at the 25th Street shops to cost $37,000 and an addition of 2,000 feet of track on Tracks 1 and 2 in the 21st Street yards at a cost of $12,000. (Wichita Eagle, Feb. 8, 1924) The Feb. 29, 1924, Eagle had a reminiscence about early Wichita, saying Henry Schweitzer's steam motor line ran from Douglas and Emporia south to Kellogg, east on Kellogg to Hydraulic, southeast on Broadway to within one block of Hillside, south to Levy Street, and then west to Eldredge Park, which was in plainer language, a beer garden. (Broadway is now George Washington Blvd, south on Chautauqua, west on Mt. Vernon to the current location of Mead Middle School. Ed.)

GREAT PLAINS DISPATCHER PAGE 4 FEBRUARY 2014 RAILROADING IN WICHITA FEBRUARY 1914 By Fred Tefft February 4 City commission adopted resolution yesterday demanding that the street car company supply the city with a statement of its expenses and earnings during 1910, 1911, 1912, and 1913 and a statement of the cost of the system operated in 1910. Commissioner Murry stated that the company s franchise provides that when the city reached a population of 40,000, this information should be furnished every year. February 7 The new depot for the Arkansas Valley Interurban in Newton has been completed and the station moved into this new quarters. The station was formerly in a store building. February 14 The Missouri Pacific recently purchased 50 Mikado type engines. While none will be put on the Southern Kansas division, about 24 of the better engines from other divisions will be sent to Wichita, making the number kept here seven larger than in the past. About seventeen of the engines now on this division will be sent to others. February 15 Commissioner Murry and city engineer Bert Wells propose the opening of Mead and Mosley avenues from Douglas to Central for vehicle traffic, with an industry track on each side of both streets and a public driveway 25 feet wide between these tracks. The Frisco on Mosley and the Rock Island on Mead have placed these avenues practically in the possession of the railroads, preventing vehicle traffic. A switching track would have to be placed on each street in addition to the industry tracks, for use in moving cars to and from the latter. February 20 Rock Island engine No. 153 jumped the track yesterday three times. February 25 All passenger trains on the Missouri Pacific yesterday were double-headed because of the cold and snow. February 27 With 75% of the right-of-way for an interurban line between Halstead and Hutchinson secured, the prospects for an electric railroad connection from Wichita to Hutchinson this summer are tip top. The company has secured the right-of-way between Halstead and Burrton, eleven miles, and about half of the distance between Burrton and Hutchinson. A government is now afoot in Hutchinson to get the city to vote $30,000 worth of terminal bonds for the railroad. Dr. Edward N. Tihen's Notes from Wichita Newspapers, Special Collections and University Archives, Wichita State University Libraries FANS WELCOME BIG BOY NO. 4014 S RETURN TO THE NATIONAL RAIL NETWORK It was a historic day for Union Pacific s steam program. After months of preparation, UP s Big Boy No. As the sun came up in Covina, Calif, the crowds came out to welcome UP's Big Boy No. 4014 as it made a stop on its way to Colton, Calif. UPRR photo 4014 returned to the national rail network in the early morning hours of Jan. 26, 2014, to the applause of the hundreds of rail fans on hand to experience the moment. The mammoth steam locomotive departed its former home at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds in Pomona, Calif., at around 1:45 a.m. Pacific Time, to begin its 56-mile trek on Metrolink and Union Pacific track to UP s Colton, Calif., rail yard. "The move went off flawlessly," said Ed Dickens, senior manager of UP's Heritage Operations. "We came into Covina very carefully and methodically. We were prepared to deal with little issues, but those issues didn't materialize." While the Big Boy had been thoroughly prepared and inspected prior to the move, Dickens said there are some parts inside the engine that are simply impossible to carefully inspect. We have little access to those huge roller bearings, which have been sitting since 1962, he said. The good news is that they reside in a semi-sealed environment. The equipment used to move the mammoth locomotive included two diesel locomotives and 10 freight cars used for braking. As part of the operation, the train also delivered UP diesel locomotive No. 3105, a UP caboose and UP boxcar to Rail Giants museum, where they will become part of the museum s permanent display. (Continued on Page 5) (Continued on page 5)

GREAT PLAINS DISPATCHER PAGE 5 FEBRUARY 2014 RAILROAD TIME A FOLLOW-UP by J. H. Koehn In some recent issues of the DS there have been some articles concerning time zones and the railroads (Nov. 2010 and Nov. 2013). A side note before I continue: Both articles have the same photograph of a Burlington employee s pocket watch. I did not intend to include the same picture for both articles. To continue, a friend from the nonrail enthusiast/history community, when she realized that I was into railroads, recently lent me an old Official Guide that her father had had. After looking only at the first few pages I realized that this was a real prize as this 1902 issue of the Official Guide had some pages on railroad time zones. (Recall that Congress did not pass legislation making time zones legal until World War I.) Below, for you to see, is one of those pages with a time zone map and some tables showing the dividing points between standard time sections, as the railroads then called them. Notice particularly the three Kansas locations: Dodge City, on the Santa Fe; Hoisington, on the Missouri Pacific; and Phillipsburg, on the Rock Island. GPTM ON THE WEB Visit the museum website www.gptm.us. The site has items from the Special Collections. Timetables, train orders and waybills are among the items. Also there are past issues of The Dispatcher, where one can study and review past events. Another item of note. The Dispatcher is available via e-mail. Contact editor@gptm.us to be added to the list. Get the newsletter early and in color. (Continued from page 4) RETURN OF THE BIG BOY Dickens said the crowd on hand to see the Big Boy return to live rail operations was enormous. The huge crowd was literally pressed against the chain link fence, he said. "The mood was very happy and very vocal, with lots of clapping. It was really a magical moment as the Big Boy was pulled backward by the UP 1996, the Southern Pacific heritage locomotive, from our holding track to Metrolink s track." Top speed during the move was 20 mph. Dickens said the operation was completed by 4:30 p.m. with the arrival of No. 4014 to Colton Yard, where it will remain over the coming months before its move to Cheyenne, which has yet to be scheduled. Dickens thanked the many who worked first-hand on the operation at UP s Los Angeles Service Unit, including General Superintendent Rod Doerr, Regional Vice President Transportation Shane Keller, the folks at UP s Harriman Dispatching Center and Metrolink. UPRR News

GREAT PLAINS DISPATCHER PAGE 6 FEBRUARY 2014 GROUP ABANDONS PLANS FOR AMARILLO RAILROAD MUSEUM The board behind the push to create the Santa Fe Railway Historical Museum voted Friday to put the brakes on its efforts and disband. It s a difficult thing, said President Walter Wolfram. The loss of this museum is very hurtful. The group met several challenges that threatened to derail them as they tried to raise money and find a home. First, they deemed the second floor of the Santa Fe Building to be impossible to adapt to show off in a secure environment some of the more than 20,000 artifacts donated for the museum. Then, the city of Amarillo bought the Santa Fe Depot before the board could come up with the money to buy and restore it and make a deal on it. And now the Potter County Commissioners s Court is looking into the group s finances. The agenda for the court s Monday meeting lists a report on the progress of an audit of the group s books. On the museum, since the audit is not complete, I don t believe it s appropriate to release much information in Monday s meeting, said Potter County Auditor Kerry Hood. Basically I will tell them that we are actively working on the audit. The audit came about after questions from Commissioner Mercy Murguia. In September, in open court, I began asking the organization for a financial report of the account. The account has received close to $400,000 of county funds in $50,000 increments since 2006, she said. In the last meeting of the Commissioner s Court, the president of the Santa Fe Depot Historical Museum came to court with an incomplete accounting which reflected half the funds had been spent, and the president of the organization was unable or unwilling to answer questions about the county s funds. It will take a month or more for the museum supporters to shut down their nonprofit. We have about $225,000 worth of donations to give back, or donors can designate the money to go to an account at the Amarillo Area Foundation, Wolfram said. We will deed the artifacts to the county. And under our 501(c)(3), when we cease to exist, anything else we have goes to the county. Murguia began wondering about the finances of the museum during budget writing in the summer. I objected to annual transfers of $50,000 from Potter County into an Rock Island model GP40 locomotive #360 rests briefly in Wichita before continuing on to its destination. At this Feb. 24, 1974 date the Rock Island was one year away from again declaring bankruptcy and only six years away from being shut down and liquidated. After the shut-down, Missouri Kansas & Texas Railroad (the Katy) formed a subsidiary, the Oklahoma, Kansas & Texas Railroad, which operated the Rock Island for a few years from Herington to Wichita and on south to Ft. Worth. In 1988 the Union Pacific Railroad acquired the Katy. This marked the UP's second entrance into Wichita, the first one being in 1982 when they acquired the Missouri Pacific. account named Santa Fe Historical Railway Museum Inc., she said. No one on the commissioner s court could answer questions about what was being done with the county s money or why the money was continuing to be transferred since no reports had been received in six years. Wolfram has hopes the idea could be revived. I want, at some point, somebody at the city to say, We can t let this go away, he said. Right now, it looks like we ve let a tremendous opportunity slip by. Amarillo News More about this locomotive: (The information is from the Louis Marre book, Rock Island Diesel Locomotives.) This locomotive had originally been a 2500-h.p., model GP35, carrying the number 306. During its career it was wrecked and rebuilt, in September of 1966, as a 3000-h.p., model GP40. It was wrecked again in December of 1970, rebuilt and returned to service. Still another wreck happened in June of 1976. The RI retired it in December of 1978 but kept the frame for their slug program. The Marre book shows no information that the frame ever actually became a slug unit. Photo by Allan E. Ramsey, J. H. Koehn collection

GREAT PLAINS DISPATCHER PAGE 7 FEBRUARY 2014 THE GREAT PLAINS TRANSPORTATION MUSEUM Membership and Volunteer Application Membership Categories Regular Memberships Individual $25 Family $35 GPTM ADMISSION AND DUES INCREASES At the January board meeting it was decided to raise admission prices effective immediately. Adult rate will be increased from $5.00 to $7.00 tax included Child rate will be increased from $3.00 to $4.00 tax included ages 4 to 12 Membership rates and renewal terms effective July 1, 2014. Individual Membership from $25.00 to $30.00 Family Membership from $35.00 to $40.00 Rock Island switch engine #767 rests, probably between work shifts or while the crew has "gone to beans," i.e., to eat a meal. EMD (Electromotive Division) manufactured this 12-cylinder, 1000 h.p., locomotive sometime in December of 1948 or January of 1949. This locomotive model is the same as the Burlington Northern locomotive #421 that is on display at the train museum in Wichita. Photo by Allan E. Ramsey, J. H. Koehn collection Renewals will be due January 1 of each year. New members joining between July 1 thru Dec. 31 will charged half price, with renewal at full price due January 1 of the following year. WICHITA TOY TRAIN CLUB The Wichita Toy Train Club and Museum, 130 S. Laura, is open to the public the second and fourth weekends of each month. Saturdays 10:00-5:00 Sundays 1:00-5:00 Adults $5.00 Children up to 12 are free. 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: Add me to your special activities mail list I would like to receive my newsletter via E-mail I am paying by Cash Discover Visa Check Master Card Account Number Exp. Date Name Address City State Zip Telephone: E-mail: Signature: Date Received: Please remit to: Great Plains Transportation Museum Membership Coordinator 700 E. Douglas Ave Wichita, KS 67202-3506

February 2014 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Museum 16 17 18 19 20 21 Meeting 22 BOD Washington s Birthday Evening Work Session Evening Work Session Evening Work Session 23 24 25 26 27 28 Evening Work Session NRHS GPTM Annual Meeting 1 Museum Open Work Day Museum Open Work Day Museum Open Work Day Museum Open Work Day GREAT PLAINS DISPATCHER Great Plains Transportation Museum 700 East Douglas Ave Wichita, KS 67202-3506 (316) 263-0944 Return Service Requested