Nostalgia & History > UP: Remembering the Plainville Branch....

In my Union Pacific heritage, both of my grand-dads worked on the Plainville Branch. Bill Dermody has noted in a 1961 timetable in the first picture that he worked in several bridges on the branch with his pile driver. Bill was my dad's step-father and had a long career with Union Pacific. The other two photos show the depot at Hoxie Kansas, on the Plainville Branch. My mom's dad, Roy Lemons, was agent at Hoxie for several years and my mom lived in this depot with her family for a number of years. He also was agent at Menlo and Bogue, nearby towns on the branch. My mom and dad met at Hoxie when my dad went to work as agent's helper there. Of course, as many know, the branch was abandoned after high water from the Saline River damaged the trackwork beyond reasonable repair in 1993. After his time in Western Kansas, he came to Northern Colorado as telegrapher in several towns.

Jim Burrill
 

---

---

---

That's a great story, Jim.  The Plainville branch was another of those things right in my backyard that went away before I had a chance to study or really appreciate it.

People were always friendly in Western Kansas. Some of those towns have just about dried up and blown away over the years, especially with the loss of this and other branchlines, kind of sad.

Great photos and timetable Jim. They compliment your story quite well. And You got a motor car shot as well.
UPHS is working on a McKeen motor car book for in the future.
Bob K

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

There's a fella named Larry Dilts who wrote a book on the Plainville Branch. It's an excellent source of information. I think he's a UPHS member, spoke at Topeka if I remember correctly. Highly recommend his book.

Great story including the railroad and family.  Although I'm straight south of Plainville and still in Kansas, we little towns seem to be fading fast, but what there are of us, we're good at surprising Hillary and friends!  I like the photo of M-38 which I assume was a winter shot.  I've never seen any such motor-car with the covering on the top radiator.  Thanks again for the great input here.

Oakley, Colby,. Hill City still show some life but the rest as mentioned are pushing dust. The small elevator towns
along the ex-MOP line through Kansas are following the same pattern. Sad, but fact of life, major story in China
as their evolution follows a similar path.

Out

I was lucky enough to work the plainville, as brakeman during wheat harvest
beautiful hilly country  we would work a hard 12 hr dropping off all the empties and tie up at the
plainville downtown hotel. Grub at the hotel restaurant and watch the tumble weeds
blow down main street in the evening, may be see the Salina local who came up the east end of the branch
  fun memories.

Here is a photo of my mom and my uncle outside the Hoxie depot. I would put the year at 1939, my mom was 21 and my uncle Lloyd Lemons was 19. Lloyd went on to work for UP for 47 years, retiring as the Manager of Communications in the Denver UP office that now houses the Denver Chop House.

---

I have a 1956 GUIDE that shows the trains as mixed trains, where they would still carry passengers.  By 1961 it appears they were pure freights.  Anyone know when the mixed train status died?  It would have been a neat line to ride.  

Nice story and photos of my favorite branchline.  My Dad worked the branch  out of Salina many times in his career and I got to make several trips with him. I remember a trip in the early 60s after the motor car service was gone, we picked up a family in Lucas or Luray that had bought a ticket to Plainville and they rode in the caboose with us.
It was a great branch that handled nearly 100 cars in trains much of the time---there just wasn't enough car loadings to justify the branch outside of the wheat rush so the flooding and bridge damage put the final end to it.
Brian Stevens