Last week I thought I would take a little trip and see what was left of the old Frisco/Houck Gulf Line from Cape to Bloomfield Mo. I had been reading old news articles from the early 1930's about the MP and their quest for a line into Cape. They had purchased the Cape Girardeau Northern from Cape north/west and were in negotiations with the Frisco for the Gulf Line south out of Cape at Gulf Junction to connect with the Thebes Bridge line. The Frisco kept delaying as they did not want another competitor into Cape. The MP finally had enough and built their own line mostly parallel to the Frisco line from 1930-1932(?). The Frisco Gulf Line was abandoned 1934(?) so I guess the Frisco got the competitor and zero dollars!There had been another line from the Thebes Bridge to Cape. It was the Cape Girardeau and Thebes Bridge Terminal RR. It went from Cape to Thebes and then to Cairo Ill(Thebes and Cairo RR). The section from Cape to the Thebes Bridge was short lived as this was built by Houck after he sold the Gulf Line to the Frisco and was of VERY poor construction. The other section from Thebes to Cairo was bought by the MP from Houck and lasted into the early 1980's. I can still vaguely remember seeing a train on this line. The grade is still very visible going south out of Thebes to Cairo just across the bridge approach using Google Earth. ANYWAY........ I knew part of the old grade was visible from the new road going to the SemoPort. We are far enough into spring that the foliage made photos hard to get. I'll go back in the fall. This was to be my starting point. Lots of hills and woods here so not a lot to see. I then went to a place known as Old Illmo, North Illmo, Hazel Spur or Brickyard Hill. This is where the newer MP line split apart from the Gulf Line for a mile or more. The MP line is still there and alive and well seeing much traffic as the Semo Port Auth. Railroad. This was also the spot where the Frisco depot had been. Actually there had been two depots on this spot as the original Houck line depot had been intentionally burned down in 1919 by a man who also burned down the Commerce depot in the same night. I went to Illmo seeking any remainder of the old line or depot. As I got closer I could see that a barn and house now occupied the spot and was a little nervous as I was TRESPASSING.(don't do it!) As I was making a quick turnaround in the narrow lane (old roadbed) I thought "Oh-My-Gosh!" That's not just a house, it's the depot! Sure the roof, door and window placement have changed some but the location and bay window are the same. Did anyone else know about this depot? When time permits I will return and get permission for better photos and a few measurements. This made my day but I continued south. From Illmo to Commerce is so close to the river anything the farmers did not plow under was washed away by flooding over the years so I made a quick trip to Commerce. Not much here either as flooding has taken it's toll. From here the line turns away from the river and heads towards Benton (Lambert), Morley and Brooks Jct. This is all prime farm land any roadbed has become such. I did get some poor pics of the old foundation to the Benton depot. Not much at Morley except for a little bit of grade left south of there. On to Brooks JCT. Nothing left except a little roadbed from the BNSF line towards Vanduser. DOES ANYONE ON THIS PLANET HAVE A PHOTO OF THIS PLACE!!! This was such an important place in it's time on the Frisco you would think there would be a pic or two. If you have one PLEASE let me know. At Vanduser one line went west(removed 1934?) and one went south(removed in mid 1970's). I went west towards Aquilla and Bloomfield. Not much here except a little roadbed here and there and one questionable structure (see pic) between Vanduser and Zeta (Lazeta) It appears to have been moved from it's original spot and it might be wishful thinking on my part but looks like a few Frisco structures I've seen. From this point I had to go home as my wife became car sick. I will do more research on this line and post it. BTW I know Roger Taylor is doing this on the Cape/Hunter/Hoxie Line and is doing an awsome job. It would be great to have a section on this board just for such. ALSO~ Big changes coming soon on the railroad side of www.chaffeemissouri.com More later! Tim
Tim, That's great work. The photo of the MoPac depot and freight house in Cairo is very interesting to me as well. I remember playing on the freight house platform as a child when I would accompany my dad on business trips to Cairo. Even at five or six years old, I was hooked on anything prototype railroading. Thanks for sharing. Ken McElreath
