Western Railroad Discussion > MoPac across Kansas

A few days ago while returning east from a trip out to CO and NM, I decided to follow the old MP from Chivington, CO. Having started my railroad career on the MP, I was interested in this line as I had never seen much of it. I was greatly saddened to see large parts of it being ripped up, with nothing but a ballast trail left in places. Can anyone provide some history of this line such as construction dates, when signalized, where crew change points were, etc? In this day and time, with congestion everywhere on the nation's rail system, it seems ridiculous for a once prime route to be dismantled. I know the KP is only a few miles to the north, but this MP route with its Pueblo conn with the former DRGW for movement across the Rockies avoiding Denver and Moffatt tunnel would seem to have been the more logical route to have kept.

Steve Forrest

With UP closing Tennessee Pass and rebuilding the KP line, UP claimed they had no use for the old MP KC-Pueblo line. Before the D&RGW -SP take over the line had D&RGW trackage rights and was used with freight from the SP at Odgen going to KC (no longer being given to the UP). So UP was probably right that they did not need it. However, I was amazed at the speed with which UP abandoned and pulled up the track. It was immediately done. It was obvious that they did not want another railroad to get hold of it and have a competing route to Colorado with it. For your other questions, some one else with better knowledge will have to answer them.

Crews were changed at Herington, Ks and out west near the state line at Horace, Ks which is just 2 miles west of Tribune. They had a bunk house there for the Pueblo and Herington crews to stay in and a small yard that might have had five tracks. In the later years, these tracks were used to hold trains waiting for the crews to come on duty.
A lot of the line has been pulled up in Kansas although it didn't come up that quick. They started last year I think and have moved west slowly. Some of the rail is going in from Hutchinson to Wichita to beef up the line there. Seems to come out in pieces as they need it as far as I know.
I don't know what will happen with the line from NA Jct. east to the state line or Horace yet.

dcfbalcoS1 Wrote:
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> Crews were changed at Herington, Ks and out west
> near the state line at Horace, Ks

The original crew changes starting at Neff Yard in KC were Osawatomie, KS; Council Grove, KS (24 miles east of Herington), Hoisington (near Great Bend) and then Horace (aka Whore's ass), and then on to Pueblo, CO. Toward the end of the line, the crews from Council Grove would still go to work at that location and van to Herington to pick up their train off the Cotton Belt (ex-RI).

Dave in Msla (who used to live in KS)

This route has kinda come up in pieces but the first section to go between Hope and Bridgeport, KS came up almost immediately. They definitley didn't want anybody else in there. Even the smallest trestles were demolished. I agree it's a shame that piece of prime mainline got the axe.

The history of the "Hosington" line is fairly simple to understand...

First, when the UP and the MP merged, all of the major traffic flows shifted to the UP core route thru North Platte and Ogden. Only locally generated traffic off of the Hoisington line remained on that line as far as the merged UP system was concerned.

However, in the course of the approval of the UP/MP merger, the DRGW was given trackage rights between Colorado and Kansas City. DRGW had their choice of routes, either the KP or the MP. DRGW chose the MP route via Hoisington, since it was more convienient to Tennessee pass and the DRGW thought that it had capacity issues with Moffit route.

After the DRGW/SP merger, all of the SP overland manifest would now be routed accross the MP from Pueblo to Herrington, KS. Then turn north on the SSW Cotton Rock to Topeka, then east on the KP to KC. At this point, the MP between Herrington and Council Grove became redundent and the UP abandoned that portion. This of course left the SP/DRGW paying for well in excess of 90% of the upkeep for the MP line from Pueblo to Herrington, and also resoponsible for the costs of the ATSF trackage rights from Pueblo to NA junction, too.

By 1994 SP/DRGW realized that this decission had locked them into continuing to use Tennessee Pass, which was costing a bundle. SP then approached the UP and asked under what conditions the UP would allow the SP to move over to the KP line. Too bad that we did not put this together in 1994 instead of after the merger of the UP and the SP in 1996. SP was prepared to fund all of what has been subsequently spent to upgrade the KP, and it would have been done long before now.

Once the UP had merged with (acquired) the SP, all of the rest of the manifest off of the SP moved to the UP core route between Ogden, and North Platte. This left only the Coal and it, of course moves most efficiently via the Moffit and the KP east to Kansas City. RIP Tennessee Pass!

mdo

mdo Wrote:
> Once the UP had merged with (acquired) the SP,
> all of the rest of the manifest off of the SP
> moved to the UP core route between Ogden, and
> North Platte. This left only the Coal and it, of
> course moves most efficiently via the Moffit and
> the KP east to Kansas City. RIP Tennessee Pass!

Of course nobody really remembers that Washington Transportation Group(MRL-IMRL-SRY) tried to purchase this route (KC-Tenn Pass-SLC) as a condition of the UP-SP merger. UP was able to convience the courts that WashCorps couldn't have it.

Imagine...

Dave in Msla

Does anyone have a breakdown of whats in place between Herington and NA Junction? What about regular operations of shortlines on the parts that are left?

I think UP kept the small portion between Herington and Hope for car storage, with what's left west of there part of shortlines now.

Steve, were there any signals/code line left on the part that was ripped up or on the shortline segments?? Curious if it looks like the Kyle across western Kansas.

Thanks,

Midwest

Hello the track is gone, the ties are going to Etter Texas. I have traveled with drivers who are taking them down there. Some company has a large tract of land between Etter and Sunray. They are putting in storage for cars. I was told that there was a section of land to be one large parking lot.

Most of what is left is run by K&O, a Watco railroad.

http://www.watcocompanies.com/Archive/ko_map2.htm

There is track yet between Geneseo and Hoisington and I don't know what is beyond Hoisington yet if any. upkpfan

The rail is still in place NA Jct to Towner. Scrap outfit A&K railway supply out of Utah bought it. Calling it VST rr(very short time). Supposed to service elevators in Towner. We delivered a yellow (UP) B-23-7 and the B-30-7 b unit that was at Dodge City, Ks to them at NA Jct. Went out past Sugar City the other day, only thing I saw different was all the signals back sides were opened and the lenses were removed. The heads have been turned a long time ago. We have set out a few cars at NA Jct. but no one has come for them yet. Flat cars and a 5 pak spine car.

mdo Wrote:
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> This left only the Coal and it, of course moves most efficiently via the Moffit and
> the KP east to Kansas City.

Is this opinion or fact? ;-] I'm not sure the movement of coal over the Moffat Route and across the KP can really be deemed efficient. I've always wondering if DP technology would actually make the TP route a better one now if it still had an outlet.

Paul Birkholz
Sheridan, WY

midwest Wrote:
>
> Steve, were there any signals/code line left on
> the part that was ripped up or on the shortline
> segments?? Curious if it looks like the Kyle
> across western Kansas.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Midwest

Yes, a lot of block signals remain and the pole line in still in place on both the ripped up portions and the areas that still have track, altho poles are down in places and lots of others with broken cross arms.

SF

Just drove across some of Kansas today along the MoPac line. The line is completely gone from Bridgeport, KS to just east of Geneseo, KS. Then it is intact from Geneseo to McCracken, KS. From McCracken west to Healy it is all gone. Rails, ties and ballast have all been taken out.

It is still in place from Healy west to Scott City and on to at least Leoti.

The K&0 uses the line that is left. They use the former ATSF Scott City branch to connect to the very western part. Leoti, KS, is the home of a large feed mill that receives ingredients by rail. Grain, mainly wheat and milo, is loaded into hoppers at Leoti, and Scott City for outbound shipments.

CM