Greetings from Mt. Vernon, MO

Discussion in 'New Member Introductions' started by Railtester, Mar 8, 2020.

  1. Railtester

    Railtester Member

    Hello, my name is Mark. I am an old rail tester. Started with Sperry Rail Service in June of 1987 and two years ago hired on with the Union Pacific to test rail for them.
    I found this site after viewing some plats of Lawrence county, Missouri. I am researching the house I bought in 2001. The house was was built in the 1890s'. While viewing a plat from 1930 I noticed that the Frisco passed by just a mile or so from the house. The line was bought by the BN and eventually shut down and removed. I was able to trace the road bed, as it is still visible, from Aurora, MO to Mt. Vernon. The old line becomes road Lawrence 1147 that passes under Hwy 44 and into Mt. Vernon. This is interesting. I know of the Missouri & Northern Arkansas RR that runs up through this area as I once tested it years ago. It is now owned by the G&W. But was unaware that the Frisco once passed through here. Looking back at older plats from the 1870s' I see that the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway owned a good portion of Lawrence county. My wife and I now have plans to hike the old line (with permission from land owners, of course.) One particular area of interest is the old trestle that passed over Honey creek. From viewing google earth, it is still there. Looks like I know what I'll be doing this summer when not testing rail!
     
  2. Joe Lovett

    Joe Lovett Member

    Welcome to the Frisco website Mark!!!

    My mom, dad and I used to live in Aurora 1960 to 1962 and Neosho 1962 to 1967 then moved to the Tulsa area. My wife, Cynthia, and I live in Broken Arrow OK now.

    Joe
     
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  3. Karl

    Karl 2008 Engineer of the Year Frisco.org Supporter

    Welcome Mark,

    The line line between Aurora and Mt Vernon was once a part of the Frisco's Aurora Branch, nee Greenfield and Northern Rwy, which ran between Aurora and Greenfield. The track is still down between Greenfield and South Greenfield, where the stub connects with the Frisco's former Ash Grove Subdivision (now BNSF). Last I knew, the line was still in service. The BNSF kept a caboose on the stub, and it was used as a shoving platform. The climb to Greenfield from South Greenfield has a 3.6% grade, which was the steepest grade on the former Frisco.
     
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  4. Iantha_Branch

    Iantha_Branch Member

    Welcome aboard Mark.
    I grew up not too far away in Lamar, so I've been to Mt. Vernon a few times for school sports.
    Karl beat me to it, but that line through Mt. Vernon originally connected Greenfield with Aurora. The line was cut back through the years. The portion between South Greenfield and Miller was pulled up in the 30's and Miller to Mt. Vernon was pulled up in the 50's. The remaining branch into Mt. Vernon was pulled up in 84 by the BN.
    As far as I know, BNSF still uses the branch into Greenfield to serve Pennington Seed.
     
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  5. klrwhizkid

    klrwhizkid Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    Mark, Welcome Aboard!
     
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  6. William Jackson

    William Jackson Bill Jackson

    Where did you test, I had lots of the Sperry guys on my territory over the years.
     
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  7. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member Staff Member

    Ahh yes, 10 mph slow orders or red signals everywhere, for a while :ROFLMAO:
     
  8. Karl

    Karl 2008 Engineer of the Year Frisco.org Supporter

    gjslsffan and Ozarktraveler like this.

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