Nostalgia & History > The Rock Island at Enterprise, KS, 100 years ago

Picture One is supposedly a picture that was taken 100 years ago as an eastbound/southbound Rock Island passenger train visited Enterprise, KS, on a run from Salina, KS, to Herington, KS.

I decided to tack on a second picture that was taken of the RI depot in Enterprise on Sept. 19, 1966, long after passenger trains quit visiting the small Dickinson County town on the branch line operation.

The Enterprise depot was later abandoned and razed, but the railroad tracks remain in place from Abilene to Woodbine, KS. They are owned by the Abilene & Smoky Valley Excursion Railroad, although passenger runs are only made between Abilene and Enterprise. The eastern segment of the line between Enterprise and Woodbine was severed a number of years ago after a diamond in Enterprise was destroyed in a derailment involving a former ATSF Railway train. The diamond was never replaced. The present-day BNSF, successor to the ATSF, reportedly has never been receptive to working out an agreement with the Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad in regards to restoring the interlocker diamond because of liability concerns.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/19/09 18:19 by thtinc41ed.

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Nice photos. That Operator's job must have been a lonely one..

Chico
http://www.heartlandrails.com