I have been compiling the info available on this site, and it looks like a doable project. One qustion I have is...what trains ran through Willow Springs on the "Main?" The 1959 ETT shows a alternating day local service to Winona and Chicopee. This is interesting, but what will keep my F units busy? Glenn in Tulsa
Glenn - I've always thought this would be a very modelable branch. Karl has posted a 1939 Southern Division Timetable (ETT #31): http://frisco.org/shipit/index.php?threads/southern-div-ett-31-august-20-1939.1053/ The Willow Springs Sub-Current River Branch to Chicopee had a daily x-Sunday mixed train at this time, which would be nice for a small layout. The "mainline" shows 5 northbound and 5 southbound trains daily running through Willow Spring: 2 first class trains (KC-Fl Special and Sunnyland); 3 second class trains ea. way Add to this a third class local each way, every other day (SB M/W/F; NB Tu/Th/Sa). What does your layout plan entail? Do you plan on including the junction at Willow Springs?
Glenn, how big is your land grant? Is it that same room with the bay window for which I did a track plan years ago?
The space I have available is a "rectangle" 8.5 feet X 14 feet X 51.5 inches X 19.5 feet, with a lift out connecting the 14 foot side to the 51.5 inch side on an angle. Two foot shelves all around. I'm thinking of modeling Willow Springs on the long shelf, and Mountain View on the other...I'll post a sketch later, it's too much for my poor brain to describe in words. Doug, since you helped me with that layout design, I've lost a wife to cancer, re-married and moved twice! Oh, and also retired... Glenn (and the "Sands of Time") in Tulsa
Glenn, looking forward to seeing your sketch. Somewhere I think I have info from a 1950s article on the Current River Branch If I recall correctly, Karl Brand shared it with me when I was [relatively] dumber than a bag of hammers vis-a-vis Frisco prototype operations. Best Regards,
My first big layout was the Winona Branch from Willow Springs to Chicopee. Trains went to and from Willow from staging. The emphasis was on the branch. There was a wye at the south end of Willow then the junction. Points featured were Hutton Valley, Mountain View, Birch Tree, Winona and Chicopee. There was a wye at Winona to turn the engine for the return to Willow. I won't remember all of the industries but there was a wood products facility on the tail of the wye at Willow, a Furniture Warehouse. Hutton Valley was a short passing siding (maybe 4-6 cars in length) with a spur running off of it to the west for loading peaches. Mountain View has a large mill that received logs and produce railroad ties. I think you may have seen it if you attended the SLSF gathering at my house when we had the first meet in Springfield. Somewhere I have an article on the "Pea Vine Line". Now it's just a matter of finding it. Ron Williams
Ron, Good to see you on line. Hope all is well with you in Springfield. Recommend you start a post with some photos of your railroad and operating sessions. Thanks! Mark
Thanks Ron...never having actually seeing the area to be modeled is, as Monk would say, both a "a blessing and a curse." I would appreciate any and all info,track charts,etc. Also, were the industries constructed of wood or masonary (Assuming 1950-1960 time frame.) Anything helpful in the Walthers? Glenn in Tulsa
Glenn, If you start at Winona (Martin St) using Google Maps (Satellite view) you can follow the old Winona Branch right of way each direction. To get a feel for the topography, switch back and forth between Satellite and Terrain (topo map). Here's a link to the map: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...383,-91.334195&spn=0.015355,0.043774&t=h&z=15 I find that I use this technique to find abandoned right of way quite a bit. Some places it can be hard to trace but usually it can be sorted out from either end in places it gets "lost".
I was doing OK, I think 'til I got to the other side of Mountain View (towards Birch Tree) and then the map and my eyes gave out! The terrain looks relatively flat, which is good as I prefer my mountains to be in Colorado...not on my layout. Never could find that"Y" though...any thoughts. I am guessing it came off the main somewhere, proceeded through Willow Springsn and then headed 'east'. Maybe I'll just "imagineer" it. Thanks for the link and info. Glenn in Tulsa
Thanks for the link Keith, I don't know how I missed it in all my poking around. That's what makes this site great...everybody being helpful to each other. Glenn in Tulsa
GOOD WORK, Keith! Glenn, that's the article that I remember. I'd forgotten that Tim had included here. The way I see it, go ahead and imagineer the wye if you need to; you can always make adjustments later as you get more information. The Univ. of Missouri Digital Library Sanborn Map collection at http://digital.library.umsystem.edu/cgi/i/image/image-idx?page=index;c=umcscsanic has some early 1900s maps of Willow Springs but I could not find anything that would show the location of the wye. Perhaps this can help piece everything together, however. Best Regards,
The wye and other tracks still extant in the 1980s are visible on the USGS topographical maps available at http://terraserver-usa.com . See, for example, http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?T=2&S=12&Z=15&X=739&Y=5117&W=3&qs=|willow+springs|mo| Grades which were abandoned at the time of the map's publication are indicated by dotted lines. Note that the line to Mountain Springs and beyond did not extend from the tail track of the wye, but branched off from the main a short distance to the south. The Terraserver-USA site also provides links to black-and-white aerial photographs that correspond to the map coverage. If you closely examine the Sanborn maps mentioned above, you'll see that in the 1890s there was a turntable and roundhouse near the intersection of Walnut and Front streets. The wye location is outside the area of the Sanborn coverage, leaving open the question of whether the turntable and the wye existed at the same time, or whether the wye was a later replacement for a turntable and roundhouse deemed obsolete. Completion reports from the company's maintenance department, some of which are in the Missouri State University library's special collections, might answer this question. The MSU collection also has some WWI-era structure inventories from the Interstate Commerce Commission valuation reports. The maps that were produced for these reports would be extremely useful, but I don't know offhand where they can be found. If in your research you come across any photographs of the freight cars of the Current River Railroad, the KCFS&M affiliate that built this branch line and operated it until 1902, please post them here! I've never seen one.
Bradley... WOW! I'd forgotten about the topo maps in Terra Server (at 66, the "pigeon holes" are getting filled-up!) With help help of a printer app called "cutePDF", the images of Willow Springs, Willow Springs Wye, Mountain View, Birch Tree and Winona (Wye) are safely tucked away. Thanks again... Glenn in Tulsa
