The Leaky Roof - Kansas City, Clinton And Springfield (KCC&S) and Olathe

I liked that!

Skim read, but will come back for a closer look.

 

When The Printery in Clinton, MO published Mahlon Whites booklet, the Kansas City Star promoted the publication with an article about the Leaky Roof. The map in the attached article incorrectly identifies the railroads between Grandview and Harrisonville and between Lowery City and Vista.

One of Mahlon's sources was a an article by A. B. MacDonald taken from the Style Section of Kansas City Star, July 29, 1934. After the ICC granted permission to abandon the line, Mr MacDonald, spent two days riding the line between Grandview, MO and Springfield, MO. If one wanted to ride from Kansas CitC to Springfield via the Leaky Roof, a three-day journey was required.

 

Employee Timetable (ETT) evidence and other sources suggest that the Raymore Jct. to Pleasant Hill segment may not have been abandoned until circa 1916; however, the service was suspended earlier. I believe that this was done in part as an accounting maneuver to maintain asset value on the Kansas City, Ft. Scott and Memphis (KCFtS&M) / Kansas City, Clinton and Springfield (KCCS) side of the ledger after the merger with the Frisco.

The ICC gave formal approval on October 24, 1924, for the Frisco to acquire the Leaky Roof. Prior to this date, the KCCS was "owned" by the Memphis Road. The Stanley, KS, MP 9.14, to Belton, MO section was abandoned during 1928. The abandoned work was funded under AFE 19641, which was dated 10/1/1928. In Kansas, the Olathe to Stanley, MP 9.14, segment abandonment was funded under AFE 20701, which was dated 3/21/1934.

The Stanley Depot was sold, and moved. Rumors persist that it is still extant, and in one of the Johnson County or "Shawnee" Parks

By the way, Buck Dean is our "Rancho Bob".

 

Valuation Maps.

As I recall, the 1909 Annual Report still has the Raymore Jct. - Pleasant Hill segment on the books.

I agree that it was not operated during 1909.

 

I have a 1901 Kansas City, Ft. Scott and Memphis (KCFS&M) employee timetable which includes the Kansas City, Clinton and Springfield (KCC&S).

It shows a twice-weekly, Tuesdays-and-Fridays scheduled way freight between Raymore Jct. and Pleasant Hill, MO. However, it is described in the side notes as being operated by the crew and equipment of the regularly scheduled southbound way freight on those days.

There is no additional time allocated to the southbound way freight on those days, so it would presumably have had to run late the rest of the way to Clinton, MO if it detoured to Pleasant Hill and back. It is an open question to me whether these trains actually operated as often as described or whether they were regularly annulled.

I cannot actually think of any good reason for any freight to travel this route, unless coal or some other traffic originating on the KCC&S was being sent to a destination in Pleasant Hill and the KCC&S wished to avoid dividing the revenue for the haul.

The Missouri Pacific (MP) did have a coaling station there, according to contemporary Sanborn maps. I do not know if they have any nearby online coal source. Surely any remotely time-sensitive interchange traffic could have been better handled more efficiently at Harrisonville, MO where both railroads operated daily freights.

Raymore Jct. continues to appear in KCC&S ETTs for 1904 and 1910, but without Pleasant Hill or any scheduled train movements to P Hill. It does not appear in an 1918 ETT, either in the main list of stations, or in the list of sidings and spurs between stations.

This is all plausibly consistent with Roger's description of Raymore Jct. - Pleasant Hill being abandoned in 1902.

A couple of years ago I casually inquired by telephone with Kemper Farm, the park rumored to hold the Stanley, KS depot. Unfortunately, the response I got was that it had fallen into disrepair and had been torn down sometime within the last few years. No one I talked to really seemed to know for certain.

A Bing birds-eye view of the buildings at the farm does seem to show a dilapidated building about the right size and shape to be a small railroad depot, just west of the large white barn. But I have not been able to find out anything further about it.

 

From ICC valuation Google Books.

DEVEOPMENT OF FIXED PHYSICAL PROPERTY

The owned mileage of the Kansas City, Clinton and Springfield (KCC&S), aggregating 155.181 miles, was acquired as detailed below. Of the ten corporations that comprise the line of succession culminating in the Kansas City, Clinton and Springfield as at present constituted, five corporations did not construct any road or other common-carrier property. These companies were:

• St. Louis, Lawrence and Western Railroad Company.
• Saint Louis, Lawrence & Denver Railroad Company. (Fourth corporation.)
• Lawrence and Carbondale Railroad Company.
• Pleasant Hill and Lawrence Branch of the Pacific Railroad Company.
• Lawrence and Pleasant Hill Railway Company.

The extent of the construction completed, if any, by two corporations is not known. These companies were:

• Saint Louis, Lawrence and Denver Railroad Company. (Second corporation.)
• St. Louis, Lawrence and Denver Railroad Company. (First corporation.)

The property constructed by the remaining corporations, the years when the various portions of the line were constructed, and the manner in which the Kansas City, Clinton and Springfield acquired the property, are indicated in the following table.

Acquired in the consolidation of January 20, 1885: From the Pleasant Hill and De Soto Railroad Company, construction commenced by the St. Louis, Lawrence and Denver Railroad Company (first corporation) and completed by the Saint Louis, Lawrence & Denver Railroad Company (third corporation), Cedar Junction, Kansas, to Pleasant Hill, Missouri, completed about 1871, 44.82 miles.

From the Kansas City, Clinton and Springfield Railroad Company, the exact mileage not indicated by the records reviewed. Acquired by purchase from the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis Railroad Company, June 27, 1901, Arcadia, Kansas, to Springfield, Missouri, 85.00 miles.

Acquired by construction, the exact mileage not indicated by the records reviewed. The mileage constructed by the Kansas City, Clinton and Springfield Railroad Company and the Kansas City, Clinton and Springfield, Raymore Junction to Ash Grove, Missouri, completed about April, 1886, 129.70 miles.

Total 259.52 miles, less sales and abandonments.

Sold to the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis Railway Company, November 1, 1906. 85.00 miles.

Abandonments - Cedar Junction to Olathe, Kansas, 1894, 11.49 miles. Raymore Junction to Pleasant Hill, Missouri, 1916, 7.80 miles. Abandoned total 19.29 miles.

Total 104.29 miles sold and abandoned.

Net total of above items 155.23.

Difference between total recorded mileage and mileage inventoried as of date of valuation, deduction .049. Mileage inventoried as of date of valuation 155.181

ICC Valuation Summary

DEVELOPMENT OF FIXED PHYSICAL PROPERTY

The owned mileage of the Kansas City, Clinton and Springfield (KCC&S), aggregating 155.181 miles, was acquired as detailed below. Of the ten corporations that comprise the line of succession culminating in the Kansas City, Clinton and Springfield as at present constituted, five corporations did not construct any road or other common-carrier property. These companies were:

• St. Louis, Lawrence and Western Railroad Company.
• Saint Louis, Lawrence & Denver Railroad Company. (Fourth corporation.)
• Lawrence and Carbondale Railroad Company.
• Pleasant Hill and Lawrence Branch of the Pacific Railroad Company.
• Lawrence and Pleasant Hill Railway Company.

The extent of the construction completed, if any, by two corporations is not known. These companies were:

• Saint Louis, Lawrence and Denver Railroad Company. (Second corporation.)
• St. Louis, Lawrence and Denver Railroad Company. (First corporation.)

The property constructed by the remaining corporations, the years when the various portions of the line were constructed, and the manner in which the Kansas City, Clinton and Springfield acquired the property, are indicated in the following table.

Acquired in the consolidation of January 20, 1885: From the Pleasant Hill and De Soto Railroad Company, construction commenced by the St. Louis, Lawrence and Denver Railroad Company (first corporation) and completed by the Saint Louis, Lawrence & Denver Railroad Company (third corporation), Cedar Junction, Kansas, to Pleasant Hill, Missouri, completed about 1871, 44.82 miles.

From the Kansas City, Clinton and Springfield Railroad Company, the exact mileage not indicated by the records reviewed. Acquired by purchase from the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis Railroad Company, June 27, 1901, Arcadia, Kansas, to Springfield, Missouri, 85.00 miles.

Acquired by construction, the exact mileage not indicated by the records reviewed. The mileage constructed by the Kansas City, Clinton and Springfield Railroad Company and the Kansas City, Clinton and Springfield, Raymore Junction to Ash Grove, Missouri, completed about April, 1886, 129.70 miles.

Total 259.52 miles, less sales and abandonments.

Sold to the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis Railway Company, November 1, 1906, 85.00 miles.

Abandonments - Cedar Junction to Olathe, Kansas, 1894, 11.49 miles. Raymore Junction to Pleasant Hill, Missouri, 1916, 7.80 miles. Abandoned total 19.29 miles.

Total 104.29 miles sold and abandoned.

Net total of above items 155.23.

Difference between total recorded mileage and mileage inventoried as of date of valuation, deduction .049. Mileage inventoried as of date of valuation 155.181

The Kansas City, Clinton and Springfield reconstructed and rehabilitated the road acquired from the Pleasant Hill and De Soto Railroad Company in the consolidation of January 20, 1885, with the exception of about 11.49 miles extending from Cedar Junction to Olathe, Kansas, the tracks on this portion of the road being taken up in 1894.

The company states that this 11.49 miles of road was not operated from 1885, when it was acquired, until 1894, when the tracks were taken up, and that the remainder of the property acquired from the Pleasant Hill and De Soto Railroad Company was not placed in full operation until April 1, 1886.

 

Roger,

I have no doubt that service on the Raymore Junction - Pleasant Hill segment ended during 1902.

You are correct, there was a passing track at Raymore Junction. Even though KCCS ETT Number 27, June 12, 1910 does not list side track capacity, we can infer the presence of a passing track because through passenger trains No 5 and No 6 met daily at Raymore Junction at 2:50 PM.

I also believe that even though service was suspended on this segment of the KCCS, the track remained in place until 1916 as stated in the ICC valuation. The 1909 Frisco Annual report on page 67 lists a summary of debt. Included in this summary are bonds issued during 1885 by the New England Trust Company.

To secure the bonds a lien was placed on 162.63 miles of KCCS track, which included the Raymore Junction - Pleasant Hill segment. As of 1909, approximately $3.3 million were outstanding on the debt. It is my belief that because of the lien, the track could not be removed at the time service was suspended.

After the bankruptcy of 1913, and the sale to a receiver during 1916, the debt was most likely restructured which removed the lien, thus clearing the way for the removal of the track.

 

Keith,

I hope that during your “walk-about”, your group will be able to explore for any remnants of the Olathe KCCS engine house, which was still around during the mid-1920s.

Until the line was severed between Stanley, KS and Belton, MO, Olathe was a “going Jesse” with both Frisco and KCCS freights originating and terminating at Olathe. During 1923 tri-weekly KCCS freights, numbers 5, 11, 6, and 10 operated between Olathe, KS and Clinton, MO.

Frisco trains No 160 and No 169 operated between Olathe and 19th Street Yard, and trains No 140 and No 141 operated between Olathe and Ft Scott, KS. KCCS trains No 6 and No 11 connected with Frisco trains No 160 and No 169.

At this time, KCCS passenger trains reached Kansas City, MO via the Frisco’s Kansas City Subdivision, which hosted 19 passenger trains per day.

An operational wrinkle from 1910 saw the Frisco routing Clinton Sub trains numbers 48, 49, 53, and 54 between Olathe, KS and Belton, MO where they assumed Frisco rails. One can only speculate about the reason that traffic was sent over the Leaky Roof.

At present Thanksgiving plans are in flux, and I do not know where in Missouri, I will be. The spousal unit is the travel agent.

Your group will be looking at some interesting areas.

 

Karl,

I am curious about trains Nos. 111-112, "The Meteor", on your timetable.

I am unfamiliar with a "Meteor" out of Kansas City, MO.

Was it a connection to the St. Louis, MO - Oklahoma City, OK "Meteor"?

Or was the Meteor running from Kansas City in those days?

Thanks,

Tom G.

 

I remember hiking with a friend about one to two miles east of Pleasant Hill off of Raffurty Road and finding sandstone bridge supports for the old AT&SF line through there.

Pete

 

Oops, That should be two miles West of Pleasant Hill!

 

I have a beautiful photograph of KCC&S 4-4-0 No. 186, and Caboose No. 5.

So good, that I can make decals for them.

How many of you would like decals for the KCC&S besides the 34' boxcar I have coming out.

If I can find other pictures of gondolas, flats, etc., I would do those as well.

Let me know.

Thanks,

Manny

 

Manny,

Do you mean number KCCS 86?