Nostalgia & History > Toto Tuesday: a thief in the night

After the Rock Island folded in the spring of 1980 a lot of us Kansas fans had to readjust our perception of the former territory. Chasing trains on the old Golden State Route around Herington, KS or the mainline south through Wichita was at best a hit or miss proposition. The Rock did have a freight train schedule... sorta. But toward the end a regular manifest could easily be many hours off its schedule, and very often was. It was just a railfanning pill that had to be swallowed.

Now it's post-bankruptcy 1980. Enter the Cotton Belt. And the Katy. The Golden State Route would now be under the operating control of the Southern Pacific, through subsidiary St Louis & Southwestern. The line down to Texas would be operated under brand new reporting marks "OKKT" (Miss Katy just the same). For us railfans the prospects of continued opeartion, or even (gasp) an increase in traffic volume on one or both mainlines was a near-palatable replacement for the dear departed Rock. We would embrace the continued railfanning opportunities. But it would never be the same.

On a personal note, between 1978 & 1980 I loved the times my employer, the Santa Fe would send me out to cover some brakeman's vacancy on an 'outside job' at Abilene or Salina. My deadhead route to that job (by personal automobile) always took me through Herington. I would always try to grab a few shots, day or night. After the heartbreaking death of the Rock Island I still made the stops at Herington while deadheading. And I always found some stuff to shoot, even though it was now mostly bloody noses or john deere paint jobs. But I would never totally accept the new tenants. In my viewfinder they would always be like "a thief in the night" who stole the Rock Island away from us.

1. SP 7954 & SP 6320 snooze the night away in Herington, KS on the night of July 18, 1980.

Thanks for looking back!
Lance Garrels
santafe199
(posted from the Front Royal [VA] campground on the toto vacation road)



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/22 20:42 by santafe199.

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Nice one, Lance!

Randy Lundgren