Aurora, MO, Springfield Subdivision, MP 268.9, Aurora Branch, MP 198.1, Mt. Vernon Branch, MP 268.9

Aurora, MO.

Photograph dated 7/2000.

Edit 3/24/2023: This photograph is the former Missouri Pacific (MP) depot. Note the square corners on the agent operator bay extension forming the roof copula.

This is located on the Missouri Pacific's Carthage Subdivision. The route is now operated by the Missouri and Northern Arkansas (MNA) Railroad.

The MNA began operations on 12/13/1992. It was acquired by and became part of Genesee and Wyoming, Inc. family group of short line railroads in 2012.

The depot is currently occupied by the Aurora Chamber of Commerce and the Aurora Historical Society. The Missouri Pacific depot address is 121 East Olive Street, Aurora, MO 65605.

This line crosses the Frisco's Springfield Subdivision at MP 269.0.
MKD

 

Aurora, MO

Hi Roger,

I believe that the photograph that was posted for Aurora, is for the Missouri Pacific (MP) depot.

The depot has been preserved there.

I an attaching some photographs that I have come across of the Frisco depot in Aurora, MO.

Take Care,

Rich

Ship it on the Frisco!

 

Re: Frisco Depot - Aurora, MO

1927 Sanborn Map - Aurora, Mo Station

 

Aurora, MO

Aurora, MO today.

All that is there are the small Frisco/BNSF metal replacement depot for employees and directly to the west, the remains of the Frisco Transportation Company (FTC) freight house.

If you walk around directly across from the depot you can find the foundation for water tower.

 

Aurora, MO depot.

Photograph dated early 1970s.

 

Re: Frisco Depot - Aurora, MO

Is there a track plan or schematic available for the Aurora, MO depot trackage from the 1950s or 1960s during the passenger train era?

Maybe just a sketch like Doug Hughes did recently of Lebanon, MO?

Thanks,

Tom G.

 

Aurora, MO

Not quite the 1950s-1960s, but late 1970s.

 

Thanks Karl!

Tom G.

 

Aurora, MO

Attached are Missouri Pacific (MP) Railroad track diagrams and industry list for Aurora, MO.

Hope this does not get me banned from Frisco.org.

Both have Frisco content with the SLSF interchange listed.

Dale Rush
Carthage, MO

 

Thanks Dale,

I would not worry about mentioning something pertinent, Missouri Pacific (MP) or whatever.

Some of these guys on here are just too silly, "rooting" for the Frisco like a ball team! The MP trackage at Aurora was part of the general track plan and traffic pattern.

Something that would have to be included on a layout if you modeled Aurora.

Tom G.

 

That picture of the SLSF depot at Aurora by Railroadguy65 is just beautiful.

Grandpa Leidy in the 1970s would walk from his home on Walnut to Elliot and then downtown, about 2 miles. He would take my twin brother and I along.

We would stop at the library and the Post Office, both the Frisco and MoPac depots and some feed store on the street that led up to City Hall.

Then we would stop at Ramey Market and head back home. I took one black and white picture of the depot and a GP, but my brother has it and he would have to dig it out.

It was taken with a 1970 Kodak Hawkeye Instamatic.

 

That is just too fun!

That brings back memories.

 

I cut my teeth on the tracks in Aurora around the 1960s time era.

My mom, dad and I moved from Albuquerque, NM to Aurora, MO in 1960 and then on to Neosho, MO in 1962. But I still had my roots in Aurora staying with my grandparents for the summers.

My cousin and I would spend hours exploring the railyard and one particular bridge just north of the yard on the Missouri Pacific mainline. The last time I was in Aurora was about ten years ago when my grandparents passed away.

A lot of good memories in that part of the country.

Joe

 

Mark,

What is your grandparents last name?

My family from Aurora is the Watkins. It would be funny if they knew each other or lived close by. My grandparents lived on High St. just east of Harrison Ave.

I still have an aunt and several cousins in Aurora but most of my relatives have passed away.

Joe

 

Their names were Ralph and Elva Leidy.

They lived on the Northeast corner of Walnut and S. Park. Grandpa had semi-retired in 1953 and sold his propane business in O'Neill, Nebraska and bought an acreage in Bentonville, Arkansas for some reason.

I was born in 1962 in Omaha, Nebraska. That same year, Grandpa decided he did not like Bentonville, AR. Do not take his word for it, Grandpa would say just about anything. They built the house in Aurora. Grandpa loved Gladiolas and photography. He died in 1980.

Grandma belonged to First Presbyterian Church in Aurora and was very active in it. She died in 1996. They were both buried in Inman, Nebraska.

My grandparents knew a lot of people in Monett, Marionville, Pierce City and Billings as well as Aurora. It is very possible they knew some Watkins. After FRISCO tore down their depot, they had a freight house. I would sit on a step hoping a train would go by during the 1970s and early 1980s until I joined Navy late in 1981.

Except for the Mount Vernon geep and caboose that were always sitting there, I seldom ever saw a train in Aurora. I would only be down there twice a year and then only for a few days. Grandma moved to Lincoln, Nebraska in 1992 to be closer to my mother.

My Mom has a nursing school friend in Mount Vernon, MO with the last name Woods. Except for Olive and Church, I seldom was ever on the West side of Aurora. I spent most of my time east of Elliot.

My twin brother loves the MFA Elevator and Mill. I wrote a little ditty for piano and voice about the TEXAS SPECIAL, but I will tell you there are still quite a few Chicago, Burlington and Quincy (CB&Q) people alive who are anti-Menk in Nebraska.

What Jenks did with Missouri Pacific is admired up here. There was a world of difference between Menk and Jenks.

 

I spent most of my time in the North side of Aurora along High St. and Hawthorne St.

The grain mill is another area my cousin and I visited on a regular basis. I remember during the summer nights the Frisco locomotives would shuffle railcars for the mill. You could hear the locomotives roar to life and then the crash of couplers all night long.

Some nights it was hard to get any sleep because of the noise. A lot of great memories!

Joe

 

When I was a 4 year old kid, my Mom took me from Lincoln to Omaha on the CB&Q Nebraska Zephyr.

I fell in love with passenger trains and timetables. Frisco pulled its Oklahoman the next year. I did try to get my parents to take us by train via Lincoln-Omaha-Kansas City-Springfield-Aurora, but they refused. They were not going to take 5 year old twin boys. And David and I were considered mild, more like forced to be tame.

In Lincoln, we lived 3 blocks from the Missouri Pacific's Lincoln-Union branch. Up until 1954, you could catch the Eaglette, change at Union to the Sunflower, then catch the Southern Scenic remnant to Aurora. Between 1954 and 1959, you took a MP Trailways bus to Union.

The streets I kind of wandered were Elliot, Park, Madison and Oliver. I thought the High School mascot was a Dalmatian, but I just found out why Aurora is the Summit City of Haun Dawgs! Some troops brought a dog home from Europe I guess in World War II.

I recall an MFA Oil Service Station at Church and Madison I believe. I miss going to Aurora.

My grandfather had an odd sense of humor and it is possible I inherited the rare form of Asperger's Syndrome I have from him. Back when he was alive, he was just considered strange. He was a consummate story teller, what some people call a liar. He had steel blue grey eyes. One of them was split from a wood chopping accident.

He was friends with the librarian at the Carnegie Library in Aurora. She had Boston Terriers in the library. He never wanted a mail box on his house and insisted on walking to the post office every day. He knew so many people and he loved to pull stunts on people. You have no idea.

I do not think I ever went north of the railroad tracks except where 39 would turn north west of town. Even went to movies at the old Sunset Drive In. There is now a new screen. I have looked for a picture of the original screen with the Sunset painted on it or tacked to it.

There was a Walmart north of U.S. 60 on 39 on the west side of Elliott. I thought it was connected to Skaggs until grandpa told me he and grandma knew Sam and Helen Walton when they lived in Bentonville, AR. Grandpa said that Sam Walton was lazy, because he would not do what he made his employees do.

Of course, Grandpa thought everybody was lazy including himself. I could go on and on. I have a very high IQ and an extreme memory for certain things, but I have a rather odd personality.

Serving in the Navy was a trip, mostly for the Navy. I was in nuclear propulsion until they figured out that I was not quite normal. I have an Honorable Discharge. I would say off the wall things to some people and believe me I was not about the Soviets. Some of my shipmates wanted to kill me. I will refrain from that kind of thing here.

My brother would have loved to have been around the mill at night. He is in chemical and environmental engineering although he presently works in a cosmetics factory.

Anything about the Frisco, MoPac and Aurora that you know, feel free to tell me. I never knew that much about the town.

Thanks!

 

My grandpa was Ernest Watkins.

He worked for the Missouri State Highway Department driving the trucks and road grader assignments. My grandma, Bessie, was a homemaker.

Orville and Kathleen Watkins were my aunt and uncle. They owned Watkins Electric on High Street next to the Frisco's branch line from Aurora, MO to Mt Vernon, MO. He did contract work and she helped at the shop.

My uncle was a big kidder, he liked to pull pranks on his friends. One time his friend owned a Taste T Freeze and put up a new sign in front of the store. So my uncle made a prank call saying that he was from the Highway Department. He told his friend that the new sign was too close to the Highway. You could have heard a pin drop. LOL. I never heard if the friend got my uncle back for that.

Kathleen is the only one still living. Most of my other relatives have passed away except for my cousins.

I miss going to Aurora, a lot of good memories happened there.

Joe