Nostalgia & History > Depot Friday: MKT freight depot at Emporia

Emporia, KS wasn’t always a one RR town. There used to be this other RR called the “Katy” which passed through from SSE to NNW. I haven’t seen much photo evidence from this branch which ran from Parsons on the main line up to a connection with the KP (UP) at Junction City. In the post-1951 Flood days the whole branch was a casualty of the late 1950s eastern Kansas flood-control reservoir construction project. Council Grove Lake and John Redmund Reservoir were both built along the old MKT right-of-way. So the short days were very much numbered for this old freight depot...

1. MKT freight depot in Emporia, KS on August 31, 1957.
Copy slide, photographer unknown.

Thanks for looking back!
Lance Garrels
santafe199

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First-class photo of a now-gone depot.
Bob

Lance thanks for this. I knew about this line but not a lot and see very few pictures. This is a gem.
 

Cumbres Wrote: > ...  see very few pictures. This is a gem ...

You might wanna check out this link: ( Steam in Emporia, not what you think! ). It goes back just a few more moons... ;^)

Lance

Cool photo and appreciate the other images at the link (and linked links). I've long wondered about this line but hadn't seen photo evidence.

At one point I had a 1970s KDOT map that still showed the Katy line to Junction City, though obviously it was no longer extant.

y goodness, never the Katy was in Emporia.

Great image of the freight depot, there is a small piece of the MKT in Emporia that is still in use going north of the ATSF/BNSF main which is utilized to access some grain elevators.  Otherwise it's all gone....  The depot still existing in Council Grove is nice to see and still sits on its' original aligmnent where the r-o-w went through town.

Dan in Wichita 
on the ATSF Arkansas City Subdivision

Lance I just looked at that old posting. I guess I missed it when you put it up originally. Found the link to the David Rumsey map to be very interesting also.
Thanks!!

When I worked out of Emporia. I lived south of Americus. The diagonal road coming into the south side town, near Caseys. was the old Katy right of way.

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