Nostalgia & History > A U.P. rock train on a former ROCK branch line

On June 21, 1990, about 6:15 p.m., I happened to catch a Union Pacific Railroad locomotive pulling more than a dozen carloads of crushed rock through the small Dickinson County,  Kansas, town of Enterprise. This was on trackage that was originally built by the former Rock Island Railroad  and was then taken over by the former Oklahoma-Kansas-Texas Railroad (OKKT) after The ROCK failed in 1980.

Interesting back story on this scene is that the U.P. abandoned part of this branch line between Woodbine and Herington, Kan., soon after acquiring the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (Katy) and its subsidiary, the OKKT.   Serving a quarry north of Woodbine required running power and equipment out of Abilene, Kan.

In this particular move with the loads, the engine had to run in reverse all the way from Abilene to a pickup point near the quarry. When the U.P. delivered empty gondolas to the quarry loading site, the power could make a run to a rural grain elevator siding at Pearl and then do a run-around to make a shove the last 3 or 4 miles.

Hauling rock from near Woodbine lasted only about a year or less. This branch line between Woodbine and Abilene was eventually acquired by the Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad excursion line. The trackage seen in Enterprise now serves as the eastern terminus on the A&SV RR.

(Photos by Larry Byers) 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/19 10:08 by JoCoLB.

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Here is a going-away shot of the same U.P. rock train as it was moving westward about 2 miles east of Abilene, Kan. (Photo by Larry Byers) 

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Back in 1909, Rock Island passenger trains regularly served Enterprise, Kan.  This train was an eastbounder. I imagine this train was making a run from Salina, Kan., to Herington.

(Photographer unknonw; from Larry Byers collection)

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This view shows the former Rock Island depot at Enterprise, Kan.,  on Sept. 19, 1966. Unknown when the station was abandoned and razed.

(Photo by Howard D. Killam) 

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Great thread, Larry! Very well done. That's very interesting about the gravel movements. They would have been fun to chase, considering the history of this line. But I was busy railroading up in the big sky.

JoCoLB Wrote: > ... Unknown when the station was abandoned and razed ...
My maternal grandfather was the second-to-last (I think) regular operator working the Abilene depot. I believe he retired in the mid-1950s. It was abandoned and donated to 'Old Abilene Town' by the early 1960s. So I'm guessing this Enterprise depot was abandoned around the same time. I have 2 slides of it in my collection, the last of which I took in July of 1980. So it must have stood vacant for at least a couple of decades, unless it was used in a non-RR capacity as many small town depots were in those days...

Lance 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/19 09:49 by santafe199.

Larry, I really enjoyed your photo-story. Thank you. wag216

Larry, Great Photo's.  Was nice to see the ABB office building in good repair.  It was torn down a few years ago and is no longer present.  I enjoy all of these posts from up there. 

Lance, I would love to see your pics of the depots from this line if you can find them and are willing to post them. 

Mark
 

Cumbres Wrote: > ...  love to see your pics of the depots from this line ...

Enterprise is the only trackside depot I ever shot on this branch. I do have a rough scan of a Bill Gibson copy slide of the Woodbine depot, taken by Merle Graves about 1958(?). Keep an eye on the upcoming 'Depot Friday'... :^)

Lance

Cool!

Very timely thread.  In honor of Mr. Schneiders' work "In the Violet Hour", a planned stop was scheduled in the Abilene area to commemorate his experience with the Rock L537-11 crew, track maintenance workers and coverage of the Rocks' last days.  But Mother Nature had other ideas for Kansas on the last Saturday in February, so the stop was cancelled.  Thanks for filling that gap with good stuff on this former Rock branch line.

Nice catch and shots! Neat little GE!