Nostalgia & History > WAG Wednesday: Clay Center pt 1 (B~W)

By 1954 it was public knowledge that the Union Pacific branch line between Junction City and Concordia, KS was slated for abandonment. Much of it would go under water after what is now Milford Lake was completed. Milford is one of many flood-control reservoirs constructed after the Great Flood of 1951 devastated much of eastern Kansas. This old UP branch angled northwest out of Junction City. It ran up through Milford, Wakefield & Broughton to Clay Center. Then it ran west over the old Leavenworth, Kansas & Western (nee Kansas Central narrow gauge) through Idana and on to Miltonvale, where it utilized AT&SF trackage rights on up to Concordia.

In October of 1954 five Kansas Railfans set out to chase this branch while both steam locomotion and the branch itself were still alive. Four of these fans will be introduced in the very last caption. Here are 9 Bill Gibson photos with captions + 3 related thread links you’ll probably like:
( https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,2520543,2521085#2521085 ).
( https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,1686384,1686384#msg-1686384 ).
( https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,3996433,3996433#msg-3996433 ).

1. 2. & 3. UP 2-8-0 #481 is leading mixed local #176. The train stopped to take on water near the Republican River about a mile outside of Clay Center, KS. This is former LK&W track.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/23 00:34 by santafe199.

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4. At the water stop the train crew was persuaded to temporarily change the number boards to read as train #192. This was an old LK&W train # Bill had photographed back before the eastern portion of the LK&W was abandoned & torn up (1935).

5. With the number boards restored to correct status here’s the entire train.

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Three historic gems.
Bob

6. & 7. there’s Art Gibson sitting the hogger’s seat.

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8. It looks like some of the crew is posing for Bill’s camera on UP caboose 3253. It was a long day for these boys! On duty in Junction City in the AM, tend to all local work all the way up to Concordia and all the way back to J. C. to tie up that night. Keep in mind this was back in the days a train crew could legally work 16 hours.

9. With Bill behind the camera, here are 4 of the 5 usual railfan suspects thoroughly enjoying the occasion. From left to right: Charlie Gartner, Frank O Kelley, Art Gibson & Clayton Tinkham. Art tells me this was one of his all time favorite outings. He killed the proverbial two birds with one stone: (A) He chased this particular local and (B) he did so while it was still under steam. All 9 photos were taken in or near Clay Center, KS on October 16, 1954.
Original B/W negatives by William A. Gibson (WAG) Sr.

Thanks for riding along!
Lance Garrels (santafe199)
Art Gibson (wag216)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/23 00:38 by santafe199.

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That tall fellow on the right in the last photo, Clayton Tinkham, was a Signal Engineer for the Santa Fe, Metrolink, and for consulting companies and a great photographer, railfan, and father/husband.
He told me tales of working as a maintainer at Raton right after WWII.  The maintainers who lived in that company house had to dig their own coal out of the mountainside if they wanted any heat.
From Wisconsin, the Santa Fe was his second favorite railroad, the Green Bay & Western being No. 1.  And he always knew the schedule and scores of the Packers' season.
Great post and great photos, thanks.

Great stuff!!!!   Why does the locomotive show "192" in the train number indicators, in the top 4 photos?

192 was the train number that ran from Leavenworth to Miltonvale, the other way was 191 or vice versa. Art told me they swapped numbers just for the nostalgia thing of getting pics with 192. I have seen a couple of these, but it is great to see more, thank you Art & Lance.

HotWater Wrote: > ... Why does the locomotive show "192" ...

Caption #4!

ADDED, Here's another WAG Wednesday link to a shot of the REAL train #192 plus its counterpart #191, taken by Bill "back in the day" @ Winchester, KS:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,4002864,4002864#msg-4002864

Lance

That cab shot of Art.....Perfect profile pic.!

I'm sure there is a logical answer tro my question...but, visible in the stack is an object that looks like a junior sized auto tire.  At first I thought it could be a screen to catch cinders, but surely that cannot be the case, so can anyone ID that item and it's function?
Any photo essay of railroading in the steam era is a keeper in my book....and a treasure trove of historical lore, not just the railroading variety.

AA

Stanford White
Carmel Valley, CA

I had no idea about the number swap.  Really interesting and thanks to Lance for this series and to Mr Gibson (s) for this series.

Jeff N

The "little tire" is exactly what you thought  it was.The cinder catcher. wag216




























 

Thanks for the response, it can't be a "little tire", so I suppose it's really some sort of screen?

AA

Stanford White
Carmel Valley, CA