Western Railroad Discussion > Wichita Question

Can someone tell about the bridge and train in the picture? (Use the link below) I assume the bridge is the ex-Santa Fe bridge that Plains Division trains used to get to the Wichita and Medicine Lodge (?) districts. But the train.....? Maybe a SKOL train heading to their yard in what was once the ATSF Orient Shops?

http://www.pbase.com/jantuinstra/image/76836434

You're close on your call of that picture, that is a K&O train (Kansas & Oklahoma, a division of Watco just like the South Kansas & Oklahoma or SKOL, that serves Wichita via trackage rights on the BNSF from the south). The train is crossing the big Arkansas River headed west towards the old Orient yards, albeit none of the K&O buildings are original to the Orient/West Wichita shops that were torn down in 1968. From that yard the K&O has two directions they can go, the can head to Hutchinson, KS and beyond on the old Mopac branch that they own or they can head southwest and then west again and hit the remainders of the old Wichita Sub towards Pratt and the Medicine Lodge too I believe from there.

The K&O has a lot of diversity in the locomotive fleet, all the was from those former CN widecabs in your picture and these days we are seeing several former Bangor & Aroostook Geeps.

Dan Decker
Wichita

Adding to Dan's description. Under the Santa Fe, that was the Orient line that ran southwest to Harper, where it turned south to Oklahoma. A few years back the city of Wichita made a deal with the Central Kansas Railroad to eliminate trackage in downtown and west Wichita. This eliminated the old MP track from north Wichita, which curved west downtown and crossed the river at 2nd street. It also eliminated the old Santa Fe Wichita & Western from just west of this bridge to Garden Plain. The bridge shown was erected at that time, and the wooden trestle removed.

The line is now the Kansas & Oklahoma RR. All of their interchange in Wichita passes over thi bridge. Just west of here the line turns southwest to the former Orient yard. West of the yard the line goes northwest to Hutchinson on a new connection to the ex-MP line, and connects to the ex-MP line to the southwest to Conway Springs. To get to the ex-ATSF lines west of Wichita they take to ex-MP northwest from Conway Springs to a new connection south of Kingman.

Fred in Wichita