Railroaders' Nostalgia > a quiet spot amongst the rivers

We all have our absolute favorite places on our Good Earth where we practice this grand hobby of railfan photography. It’s no secret my #1 favorite area is the Kansas Flint Hills around Matfield Green. But thank goodness there’s no rule against having multiple other ‘pet’ favorite locations. For me one of those alternate areas is in the lowlands in rural Lyon County Kansas between Emporia & Neosho Rapids. There is a confluence of 2 Kansas rivers: the Cottonwood & Neosho in those lowlands east of Emporia.

The Cottonwood River was a major presence in early AT&SF history. It was intertwined with early Santa Fe main & branch line construction. Once Mr Holliday’s fledgling young Santa Fe reached Emporia in 1870 the original main line turned in a more westerly direction and followed the Cottonwood to Florence where the river bends north toward its headwaters in Marion County. It comes across from the west and flows through Soden’s Grove on the south side of Emporia city limits. The Neosho River’s headwaters are in Morris County to north & west of Lyon County. It flows in a southeasterly direction, passing near Emporia on the north & east sides. It had to be crossed many times by Santa Fe construction in southeastern Kansas.

By 1884, all vital links of the “Ottawa Cut-off” were in place giving the Santa Fe a direct main line between Holliday, on the southwest side of Kansas City & NR Jct in the east side of Emporia. Completion of this line required construction of 2 major bridges about 2 miles apart. One was over the Cottonwood and the other was over the Neosho in these same lowlands. This line would ultimately become one of the busiest & most vital main lines in the country, and is now a major piece of what is called the BNSF transcon.

Being furloughed from Santa Fe train service quite a bit in the early-mid 1980’s I had ample time to make several treks out into this area from nearby Emporia. I would shoot many Santa Fe trains when the line was busy, and I would enjoy the unbelievable peace & quiet when it wasn’t. The nearest highway (Interstate 35) passes by only a couple of miles to the north, but for some reason the lay of the land prevents much road noise from reaching the rivers. In my post-1982 divorce & seemingly never-ending furlough days I could always make the sojourn out here and count on being alone with my thoughts. That is, until I was happily interrupted by a train…

One of my favorite singular spots became the “U Road” crossing. It is merely a dead-end road that provides access to farm land tucked inside the first sweeping U-turn river bend just east of the confluence of the Cottonwood & Neosho Rivers. It afforded a view (still does) of eastbound trains coming over a leveed tangent straight out of the massive double-track bridge over the Cottonwood. It also afforded a view of westbound trains rounding a sweeping curve underneath an overhead intermediate searchlight signal bridge. This became one of my favorite shots during those tranquil visits, combining both train & signal.

But now all my friends from those halcyon 1980s are just about gone. In the westbound shot that familiar smiling yellow face wrapped in a dark blue cigar band will most likely never be seen again, at least on a regular basis. It has been replaced by an impersonal orange face with a swoosh. The signal bridge along with its companion searchlights have been retired & removed. 2 generic & antiseptic replacement signal masts now adorn either side of the double main right on the west edge of U road crossing, making the eastbound shot a tiny bit more challenging.

(sigh…) yes sir, Mr Dylan: “…the times they are a-changin’…”

1. AT&SF 3625 at the point of a Texas-bound manifest at ‘U Rd’ crossing west of Neosho Rapids, KS in May of 1985.

Thanks for looking back!
Lance Garrels
santafe199

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Lance,

Thanks for for sharing your story. I know what u mean about finding that 'place', and two rivers with a busy mainline, away from cars, sounds like a great spot.