Rolla-Lebanon Subdivision - Salem Branch - List Of Stations And Mile Posts

I have information on some accidents and mishaps.

The most notable are the 1911 derailment on the Sligo Branch that killed the conductor, and the 1930 head-on between the gas-electric and the double-header freight at Cook Station.

Almost all of my research has been done through the Missouri Historical Newspaper Research Project, and I think there is more out there that I have not discovered yet. I am happy to share what I have learned, and even though it is available to the public, I would rather be contacted privately about them.

Some of the details are a little sensitive and very tragic, even though they happened such a long time ago.

My email is wpmoreland77@yahoo.com.

Thanks,

Pat Moreland
Wesco, Missouri

 

Hi Pat!

My dad has a photograph of the accident at the Meramec bridge at Goltra, MO.

Unfortunately, after a couple of moves, he is not sure where it is.

He is still searching for it, and we will scan it as soon as we find it.

Do you have any photographs from the accident?

Thanks.

 

I found this photograph on eBay last night.

Unfortunately, it had already sold. The writing on the back states that this picture was taken in 1873, and the men had just finished the St. Louis, Salem, and Little Rock Railroad grade into Simmons Mountain Iron Mine, southeast of Salem, MO.

The description gives a brief history of the railroad as well. The description is signed W.P. Elmer, who is a well known historian from Salem. I have been using his writings for source material in my research. I believe he was the attorney for the S&E, as was mentioned on this forum before.

St. Louis, Salem, & Little Rock Railroad grade completed into Simmons Iron Mine, 1873.

W.P. Elmer

 

Charles,

If this map was made in 1905, the Salem and Southeastern and the branch to Simmons Iron Mine would have already been removed.

Salem and Southeastern was abandoned in 1888.

 

Don,

I believe you posted somewhere that the diesel that was used for some time was VO 660 SLSF 61 or 62.

Was that one of the Baldwins switchers?

I heard the story from my grandfather that the first diesel they tried “broke every rail". I am assuming that was a GP7.

A recollection of the event published in the Crawford Mirror in 1974 said that a smaller locomotive was used afterward, but did not specify exactly what type.

Pat Moreland
Wesco, Missouri

 

Jacob,

If it is the same photograph I am thinking of, showing the mangled bridge on a gravel bar, a crowd of spectators, and a livestock car resting on a stone pier, the location is Birds Nest east, geographically north, of Steelville over the Meramec River.

A caption with the photograph misidentifies it as Goltra, but if you visit the Birds Nest river access, observe the stone piers of the original bridge as well as a the terrain, then compare it to the absence of such piers and the comparatively short span at Goltra, you will see what I mean.

Rumors of a wreck in the water at Goltra have circulated among the Cook Station locals for years. It may have happened, but I have not found any evidence for it.

Pat Moreland
Wesco, Missouri

 

Located newspaper clippings regarding 2 additional spurs to the Salem Branch.

Griffith Bank Spur, off of the Cherry Valley Railroad, constructed by Frisco in 1908.

Stimson Bank Spur, off of the Dent-Phelps Railroad, built in 1880.

I know that the Stimson branch was 3 miles long.

Mention of Stimson Branch (misspelled).



Another mention of the branch, while under construction.



I believe the Stimson Branch is the railroad bed that is visible in a bottom crossing Missouri 68 Highway just south of JJ Highway. This would be just after the railroad left Clinton switch.

The Griffith Bank Branch.



And again.



I do know that the Griffith Iron Bank had tracks into the bank, as documented in this photograph.



Does anyone know anymore about either spur?

 

Just what we needed!

Missouri Historical Newspaper Research Project.

Thanks Pat!

 

Jacob,

More!
More!
More!

I have some summer time ideas!

 

Charles,

My apologies, it is actually called the Missouri Digital Newspaper Project, and is a collection of the State Historical Society of Missouri.

 

REMEMBERING SLIGO AND RAILWAYS

The SLIGO SONG
with pictures of Sligo, the furnace and the railroad.

Memories of Sligo, MO › watch
4:34
This is a song that I composed on piano on August 12th, 2012, in honor and in memory
of a town that is in my heart, Sligo, Missouri.
YouTube · Marshal Allen Bailey · Aug 12, 2013

An overview of the Sligo Furnace and its Railway.
scroll down to Page 10; has a picture of the furnace and
a summary about it.
https://shsmo.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/missouri-times/2009november.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sligo,_Missouri

Newspaper article:
Yesteryears
https://apis.mail.yahoo.com/ws/v3/m...nt/parts/@.id==17/thumbnail?appid=YMailNorrin.

PHASE I: HISTORIC INVENTORY OF DENT COUNTY AND MARIES ...
Mar 14, 1981 ... The second largest iron blast furnace
in Missouri was located at Sligo in the 1880's.
The iron ore industries were instrumental
for growth within these areas of the Ozarks.

• 
  DENT COUNTY, MO.
  http://genealogytrails.com/mo/dent/county_history.html
  Before the St. Louis Salem & Little Rock Railroad,
• other railways spur branches and the Sligo Furnace,
• life was much harder:
  These are the categores;
  Physical Geography --
  Boundary –
  The Surface –
  Mineral Wealth –
  Valuation –
  Era of Settlement --
  Earthworks –
  Indians –
  Settlers –
  Land Entries –

 

Here is a large scale 1:250,000 map that shows the Salem Branch and the Crawford Midland Railroad, (Cherry Valley Railroad, in 1959.

https://apis.mail.yahoo.com/ws/v3/m...&ymreqid=d9fc76fe-ee6c-ffd6-1c89-87001d01bc00

Do not forget the bridges.

https://bridgehunter.com/mo

 

A 1959 large scale topo 1:250,000 map that shows the Salem Branch from near Cuba through Steelville and Wesco to Salem.

It also shows the Crawford County Midland Railroad, Cherry Valley Railway. Red bordered grid sections are approximately 5 miles east to west by approximately 6 miles north to south,
being about 30 square miles each. Contour lines are 100' change in elevations.

Highest location at 1,771.7' is Taum Sauk Mountain where it snows more often. The highest peak in Missouri. West of Ironton, its northern and eastern segments are in Iron County; its bulk in Reynolds County. More is available at State Historical Society of Missouri library Rolla, Search Name Place Iron County and Name Places Reynolds County.

This map also shows the SLSF from St. James, through Rolla to Arlington by the Bundy Junction U.S. Army Railroad. Click on the map to magnify the view.

https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/ht-bin/tv_browse.pl?id=065855d82df387456f20f95ab74aa5a3

 

Charles,

Red bordered squares are called Townships, they are six miles square.

Therefore, a township contains 36 numbered sections. Each section being a mile square, and so each section contains an area of 640 acres. The sections are numbered in a serpentine manner.

In a map view of a township the sections are numbered thusly:

6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12,
18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13,
19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24,
30, 29, 28, 27, 26, 25,
31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36.

This survey method was largely the brainchild of Thomas Jefferson. It was enacted into law during 1785, and for your edification, this act was probably the most significant thing to come from the US government during the days when it was governed by the Articles of Confederation.

This survey method is used in in all fifty states, save the 13 original states, Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas, and Hawaii. The survey system is called the Public Land Surveying System, although the terms The Jeffersonian Mapping System or The Congressional Mapping System are used in the oil business.

It is much better than systems, which use metes and bounds, An example from the large gray rock, go N30E for 607 feet. Much of south Texas is based on old Spanish land grants. Trying to spot wells, when the location is given by something like this, “go 24987 feet north of the Rio Grande River in the Juan Hernandez grant of 1647”, is fraught with peril. I have numerous horror stories and come to Jesus meetings about poor well spots due to poor geodetic practices.

A series of grids have been laid out that consist of principal Meridians, north to south, and Baselines, east to west. Townships are measured north-south, and ranges are measured east-west. The legal description of a Township contains the “distance” from the origin of the grid, as in Township 4 North, Range 6 East. A 36 mile square township may also have a legal name.

So, if I had a 160-acre parcel of land, it might have this legal description: NE 1/4 Sec 26, Twp 4 N, Rge 6 E. It is a very simple but elegant solution. A 1/4 section of 640 acres equals 160 acres.

 

This valuation is interesting.

This document refers to Riverside Mine as Bogy Mine, which it was once called. Also confirms the existence of the Stimson Branch, which I am currently tracking. Also included are the Dent-Phelps Railroad and Sligo Furnace Railroad. Salem And Southeastern is misnamed at Salem And Eastern.

Valuation of the St. Louis, Salem And Little Rock Railroad and its branches in 1883.

 

Note 2) Sligo, MO revised.

Founders of the Sligo Furnace Company

The Sligo Furnace Company was formed to exploit iron deposits in Crawford, Dent and Phelps counties, first noted by surveyor E. B. Sankey along the line of the St. Louis, Salem and Little Rock Railway. Sankey invited A. L. Crawford of New Castle, Pennsylvania, H. A. Crawford of St. Louis, Missouri; A. J. Crawford of Terre Haute, Indiana; J. P. Crawford of Missouri; and David Carson, former superintendent of the Meramec Iron Works in Phelps County, Missouri, to inspect the area’s prospects.

As a result, the Crawfords and Carson determined to build a furnace along Crooked Creek in Dent County, a site within reach of the St. Louis, Salem And Little Rock Railway and close to plentiful deposits of iron ore, limestone for flux, and timber for charcoal-making. Sligo forges near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, capitalized at $30,000. H. A. Crawford of St. Louis was

Consequently, the Crawfords and Carson incorporated the Sligo Furnace Company, a Missouri corporation named after the the major shareholder, with 150 shares; his brothers and David Carson held 120 shares.

After the purchase of land in January 1880 for a furnace site, the company was recapitalized at $100,000. David Carson supervised construction and operation of the plant until his death. The company’s physical plant took shape in 1880.

Edward Goltra purchased the Sligo Furnace Company in 1898. Soon later he sold it to the American Car and Foundry when he became the President of ACF.

 

jdstotler 1883 p.870 Manual of Railroads--Missouri
St.l. S. & l.R.

Hi Jacob!

Lots of new information from you, thanks!

I really like that manual. Quantifies information about our railroads. This manual is the first to acknowledge what I keep saying, it was "Sligo" Junction, not "Goltra" Junction until approximately 1898.

Edwards Goltra showed up in 1898 when he came to town and purchased the furnace with others' money. That is called an investors group. When he got control of the highest-grade iron ore and the furnace company, he worked his way into the position as President of American Car & Foundry.

Once there, he did not do as well supporting Sligo. He moved on to other ACF adventures. Then in 1921 boom, the furnace blew out again and Edward's ACF did not replace it that time.
From then on Edward Goltra was to iron, is sorta like what John C. Frémont was to constructing more rails forward along the Pacific's planned Southwest Branch.

Notice that the president, vice-president and directors of the railroad were the same names as the owners of the furnace. Major investors were Jay Gould, New York, NY and H. S. Hayes, both well known names in many other railroads.

E. B. Sankey superintendent of the railroad was the guy who surveyed everything in these three counties. He had his fingers in everything business and got people working together. Just north northeast of Steelville is the hamlet of Sankey.

On one of your newspaper clippings, it stated "there was a turntable here". Another hot find, you are on a roll!

Perhaps the research team will find some remains of it?

We need to keep posting your Evergreen website "Jacob's - research results - google map". Keep your followers, following.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewe...415777,-91.40595545000001&z=9&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

Again, thank you!

 

Jacob,

The amount of time and research you are putting into this is amazing, and great to watch in real time.

I live about 3 minutes north from the De Camp mine site on Highway F and have been intrigued by the Dent-Phelps Railroad ever since I found out about it years ago.

If you ever find another spike and need someone to take it off your hands, just hit me up.

I am interested to know what is left of the De Camp site, with Cahill greenhouses taking up the space of where it would be along Highway F.