Does anyone have a track diagram of Columbus around the 1960's or 1970's time frame. I have scratchbuilt the triple crossing and want to include it on a Freemo module but dod not have any information. Any and all help will be greatly appreciated. Bob Wintle Parsons, Ks.
Re: Columbus Kansas Hi Bob This what I have for Columbus, KS - Sanborn maps from 1900- 1928 and google maps 2009 RRG65
Re: Columbus Kansas Columbus KS today (2009) I took several shots of the three way interlocking track with SLSF 1701 Caboose & the site where the former freight depot was. I then went further north of there on N. Railroad Ave. Looking west across the tracks is the Frisco-BNSF Employee Station and on a wye just north of the station, were two diesels with a BN12583 caboose ( Frisco#?)
Re: Columbus Kansas While not an exact match in degree of crossing, here is a picture of an HO scale version that I have built for a future Freemo module.
Re: Columbus Kansas Wow, nice work Bob. I know who to call within a day's drive when I'm ready to take a stab at handlaying!
Re: Columbus Kansas--3-Way Crossing Might be a good question for Bob Wintle: Bob what were the three different (Routes, RR lines, branches etc.) that went through that crossing? Two Frisco lines and one Katy, right? Or something else? Thanks, Tom
Re: Columbus Kansas I remember seeing Bob's triple diamond crossing at the convention. Unfortunately I can't remember all the towns but here it goes: The 2 tracks that come to make a 90 degree are frisco, the one coming in at a 45 degree are Katy. I remember 2 towns: On the left side of the Katy line was Parsons, and then on the right side of the Frisco was Carthage. Well that's what I remember. Bob, can you fill us in?
Re: Columbus Kansas--3-Way Crossing The track diagrams Karl posted shows the two Frisco lines are the Afton sub between Kansas City and Afton,OK and the Carthage Sub between Monett,MO and Ellingsworth,KS. The track diagrams show an MKT line, but they do not show where the line went. Paul
Re: Columbus Kansas The roughly north/south Frisco line is the Afton Sub. from Fort Scott (Edwards), Kansas to Afton, Oklahoma. East/West line is the Frisco Carthage Sub. from Pierce City, Missouri to Neodesha, Kansas and the Northwest/Southeast line is the Katy Joplin Sub. from Labette, Kansas to Joplin, Missouri. John Chambers
Re: Columbus Kansas John got it right but he cheated, he has all the maps. My crossing while a triple crossing is not quite the correct angle for the exact turnout but I cheated and used a 90 degree template that I drew a 45 degree crossing onto. Looking at the real thing those are not the exact angles but they are close enough for me. It took me two tries to get one to work really well. I used an old carpenters trick to build them and it worked really well. I notched the tops of one rail and the bottom of the rail that crossed it before soldering. When completed I used a Dremel tool to cut the electrical gaps. Doing it this way allowed all the rails to stay level with each other with no bumps. Scratchbuilding track can be addicting. Bob Wintle
Re: Columbus Kansas The interlocker at Columbus. http://www.frisco.org/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=1181&d=1129506817
Re: Columbus Kansas If any one has other views of this building please post them. I would love to model it. Bob Wintle
Re: Columbus Kansas Thanks for the info and maps guys. That welded crossing track piece would make a nice yard sculpture. Better than a lawn jockey or pink flamingoes!! Tom
Re: Columbus Kansas The more I look at this thread and all the information about this junction (And the trackwork itself), the more I'm facinated! I really don't know how I could possibly incorporate this crossing in my layout plans, but it's sure a great thing to save and file away just in case... Tom PS: Does anyone know if there were ever wrecks or derailments at this junction? Also what were the RR speed restrictions at this location? Thanks.
Re: Columbus Kansas Wouldn't be even better if the NEO line went though that too? Then it would be a quadruple Diamond!!! I wonder if that is even possible.
Re: Columbus Kansas Tom to answer your question, I am not aware of any derailments or wrecks at the crossing itself and I am not saying none ever happened. I do know that there was a wreck about a mile to the west of it on the line that went to Oswego. A Frisco train was eastbound and stopped on the main jsut to the west edge of Columbus. An MKT train being pulled by MKT GP 40 #222 rearended the Frisco Caboose killing the conductor. There are many stories as to what actually caused the accident including one that speculated that the conducter of the Frisco train had died due to a heart attack before the incident. I have never really heard an official report, maybe someone on here has one. Ethan, I have never heard of a quadrupile crossing but I know that the tripe crossing in Columbus was the only one in the United States and there was only one other in the entire world. That one I believe was in Europe. I have heard MOW guys from both the Frisco and the Katy talk about what a maintenence nightmare the crossing was so I would guess a qudrupile one would have been even worse. Bob Wintle
Re: Columbus Kansas Actually Bob, there are 3. One in Columbus (no longer in operation), one in Ohio some were in operation, and one in Germany and I'm not sure if it's in use or not.
