Nichols, MO depot. FM Edit 3/26/2024: Nichols is on the northwest side of Springfield, MO. It was originally the crossing of the St. Louis San Francisco (Frisco) Railroad and The Kansas City, Ft. Scott and Memphis (KCFS&M) Railroad. After the merger of the Frisco and the Memphis Road in 1903, the location was the junction and diamond crossing of the Ash Grove Subdivision and the Springfield Subdivision. The track in the foreground is the Ash Grove Subdivision passenger train route to the Springfield depot. The freight train route is behind the depot and connects with the Springfield Subdivision at the crossovers in the distance to the right of the buildings. The Springfield Subdivision is the track on the right. Both subdivision's freight trains ran to Springfield / Kansas Avenue / West yard in the distance to the right. Springfield Subdivision passenger trains to and from the Springfield depot connected to the passenger main from a curved connecting track to the right and behind the photographer. View looking northeast. MKD
From Richard Crabtree on Frisco Rails Across Missouri. Here we are in Nichols, Missouri or Nichols Junction as it was known on the Frisco Lines. Originally called Junction City it was later known as Nichols Junction. It is situated at the crossing of the Frisco line to Tulsa and Oklahoma points and the Kansas City-Birmingham road. It is four miles west from Springfield in Campbell Township. It was originally laid out by the later Doctor James Evans, in 1882, and was called Junction City. Later it took the name of Nichols in honor of Danton R. Nichols, an early superintendent of the Frisco with headquarters in Springfield. The station at Nichols was erected in 1912. The area has changed a lot in 100 plus years. See the overhead view in the link below. https://www.google.com/maps/@37.2151662,-93.3641419,469a,35y,39.19t/data=!3m1!1e3 Photo 1) Frisco depot at Nichols Junction - 1912 depot. Photo 2) Frisco Lines at Nichols Junction 1936 - Missouri State University (MSU) Digital Collection. Photo 3) Frisco depot at Nichols Junction in 1955. Photo 4) Frisco SD45 SLSF 925 at Nichols Junction in March of 1980. Photograph by Ken McElreath. Edit 3/26/2024: The SD45 SLSF 925 is westbound on the Springfield Subdivision. The three head signal governs eastbound movements through the junction across the diamond. The top signal head governs movements on the south main to ultimately the south long tracks at Springfield Yard. The middle signal head head governs movements through the crossovers in the distance onto the north main to ultimately the north long tracks at Springfield yard. The bottom signal head governs movements onto the passenger main to the Springfield depot. After the Missouri Pacific abandoned their Battlefield Branch between Crane, MO and Springfield, they used trackage rights over the Frisco from Aurora, MO. The lower signal head also governed their train movements onto the passenger main. At South Yard, they then used the interchange connecting track to regain access to their tracks and customers in Springfield. MKD
