Western Railroad Discussion > The boondocks of Kansas City!

In a recent census according to Wikipedia the Kansas City Metropolitan area (comprising 14 Missouri & Kansas counties) has a population of over 2 million people. The same census shows the Johnson County, KS county seat of Olathe with a population of over 130,000.

In the summer of 1882 Santa Fe construction crews completed a railroad line through Olathe between Ottawa & Waseca Jct, the present day location of Holliday, KS, just outside of Kansas City. And by 1884 that line had been extended west from Ottawa to NR Jct in Emporia, which created a short cut between Kansas City & Emporia. This short cut acquired the nick name of “Ottawa Cut-off” and eventually became the main freight line we know today as the transcon.

Yet between the 2 major population points of Kansas City & Olathe that main line is very easy for the average civilian to overlook, even today. Santa Fe survey crews were probably unaware of how well they plotted their new line in that bygone 19th Century. At Holliday the original connection between Topeka & Kansas City turns west-northwest, crossing Mill Creek. By following the same Mill Creek valley Santa Fe surveyed & built a RR line out of Olathe that seemed to avoid any major roadway crossings. And in the decades since, quite a few of the minor crossings were eliminated. This gave the Santa Fe a true, ‘out in the country’ RR line that was relatively free from conflicting civilian traffic. 130+ years later in our present 21st Century there are still many areas along this 13 mile stretch of the BNSF mainline which are completely out in the sticks. Or to be more colloquial: Down in the Boondocks* of Kansas City. Here is one example:

1. 2. & 3. BNSF 6922 leads an eastbound stacker through the Craig, KS crossover plant out in the boondocks just north (TT east) of Olathe on July 10, 2016.

Thanks for looking!
Lance Garrels
santafe199

*Unfortunately there are no real lyrical connections between my thread title and the Billy Joe Royal song of the same name, but you can still enjoy the song on its own merit: “Down in the Boondocks” broke into Billboard’s Top-40 in July of 1965. It stayed 8 weeks on the chart, topping out at #9.

DJ Sir L



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/16 07:48 by santafe199.

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Speaking of Billy Joe Royal, my new wife and I were chasing trains through W. VA and VA in the late 70s, early 80s. Ended up one night in Bluefield W. VA at a Holiday Inn. Bad choice that was but that is another story. My wife was exicited to find appearing at the Bluefield Holiday Inn bar and grill that night was Billy Joe Royal. Fair play entered the conversation and I traded more trains for that evenings music event. My wife and I were 2/3 of the audience that night. Thankfully the N&W put on a good show.

railrob Wrote: > ... My wife and I were 2/3 of the audience that night...
Ouch! I've heard several stories of faded glory, past stars hitting rock-bottom, if you'll pardon the bad pun. In the early 1980s I had brief designs of getting into the music business as a photographer. I even got to know & make friends with a couple of Kansas City area bands that were only a notch or 2 above the basic bar/club circuit level. By all accounts the music business was and no doubt still is very brutal for aspiring musicians...

DJ Sir L

railrob Wrote:
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> Speaking of Billy Joe Royal, my new wife and I
> were chasing trains through W. VA and VA in the
> late 70s, early 80s. Ended up one night in
> Bluefield W. VA at a Holiday Inn. Bad choice that
> was but that is another story. My wife was
> exicited to find appearing at the Bluefield
> Holiday Inn bar and grill that night was Billy Joe
> Royal. Fair play entered the conversation and I
> traded more trains for that evenings music event.
> My wife and I were 2/3 of the audience that night.
> Thankfully the N&W put on a good show.
Dang, I know that Billy Joe wasn't the biggest name in show biz, but I thought he was better than that! Gives some truth to a song that my favorite, the late John Stewart, (No not the comedian) wrote about singing on the road "Holiday Inns and two dollar gins sure are gettin' old."
Bill Pyper
Salem, OR