Kennett, MO depot The Kennett depot is very similar to one at Caruthersville. It was torn down in the early 1990s to make way for a Veterans Park. Does anyone have floor plans or a sell a HO-scale kit of this depot?
First Kennett MO depot, built by Louis Houck on his St. Louis, Kennett and Southeastern (SLK&SE) Railroad, purchased by the Frisco. FM
From Richard Crabtree on Frisco Rails Across Missouri. Here we are in Kennett, Missouri and we have a couple of the rail lines that serviced the area, the Frisco and the St. Louis, Kennett and Southeastern (SLK&SE) Railroad. Photo 1) The original Frisco depot in Kennett, Missouri around 1900. Photo 2) At the Frisco depot in Kennett, Missouri in 1903. The Drummers Association was heading to Farmington, Missouri. Photo 3) The Frisco depot at Kennett, Missouri built in 1914 that replaced the original one that burned in 1913. Photo 4) Blueprint for the 1914 Frisco depot in Kennett, Missouri - Missouri State University (MSU) Digital Collection Photo 5) 1919 Sanborn Map for Kennett, Missouri showing the The Frisco and the St. Louis, Kennett and Southeastern (SLK&SE) Railroad depots. Photo 6) The St. Louis, Kennett and Southeastern (SLK&SE) Railroad depot. Click here for current view. https://www.google.com/maps/@36.23664,-90.0524925,3a,75y,192.46h,83.19t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sHT0LePyxL1rgFSdB12sFVw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
From what I have been told over the years regarding the above post. Photo 1. Originally Houck's St. Louis, Kennett and Southeastern (SLK&SE) Railroad stone depot. Note the stone design Houck used. Later bought by the Frisco. Photo 6. Butler County Railroad (BCRR) depot in Kennett. BCRR liked the 2 story depot. Photograph 1 below, here is a photograph of the BCRR depot at Broseley, MO. My grandfather Byrd was from there. Photographer unknown. Photograph date unknown. Photograph 2 below, also another Frisco Kennett depot of 1913 picture. Photographer unknown. Photograph date unknown. Edit 3/29/2024: Note in the second photograph the bracket light on the corner of the depot. The light is attached on a coonskin shaped mounting plate base. There are bolts in the four "leg" corners that attach into the building structure. This design light was used on several similar style depots of the period, including at Claremore, OK. MKD
Tim, the Brosely photo is a dandy. That Bull Moose(?) alongside has some rather unique windows. Reminds me a bit of the porthole look on some of the streamlined Firefly equipment. The Caruthersville depot on the other end of the Caruthersville Branch is virtually identical to the Kennett depot, down to the Coonskin light brackets on the corners. http://www.frisco.org/shipit/index.php?threads/caruthersville-mo.389/#post-3066
Missouri was entered into the United States as a slave state in 1821. The "Missouri Compromise" included the state of Maine, which entered as a free state in 1820. Kept things even I guess. As a native Missourian (St Louis), I am not sure the entire state was pro-slavery, at least I hope not. K
The Butler County Railroad number BCRR 15, a McKeen motor car, was acquired during 1914. The car was originally purchased by the Jamestown, Westfield, and Northwestern (JW&NW) Railroad. It was repossessed by McKeen, and sold to the Butler County Railroad. The car began service on the BCRR on April 26, 1914. After the arrival of a new steam locomotive from Baldwin, and two new passenger cars, the McKeen was withdrawn from service August 4, 1916. It was ultimately retired circa 1923, and it never appeared on the Frisco roster. Locals gave the car the moniker of “Missouri Mule”. The McKeen cars were notable for their porthole windows, knife-edged front prow, and their boat-tail rear. The cars use a mechanical drive from a gasoline engine, which was mounted on the lead truck. The prime mover pivoted as the truck did when moving through curves. Since only one axle was powered, the cars had adhesion problems, and their prime movers suffered from reliability issues. The BCRR also bought a McKeen trailer, number 33, which did survive until the Frisco’s acquisition of the BCRR during 1927. Number BCRR 33 underwent several changes on the Frisco which requires a thread of its own. The BCRR also operated an unusual steam-powered “motor car", which was built by the Unit Railway Car Company and which had a Laconia Car Company car-body. When one hears the Unit Railway Car Company, one thinks Stanley Steamer.
I regret to this day that I did not try and get a couple of those coonskin light brackets when they tore down Tower Grove depot.
Don, Do you think somebody else might have gotten them, or were they likely thrown into the junk pile with the rest of the rubble? K
