Thanks to Kalmbach there seems to be some interest in the Clinton Sub, and certainly Karl has done a great job on documentation. This was the first piece of trackage I ever tried to follow, back in the late 70's so I feel some attachment. I am finally in position to build a model railroad, but have a few operational questions if someone could help. First, it seems a better bet would to backdate this from the Baldwin switchers to steam. Decapods with sound are available off the shelf and I understand they run well. Two car passenger trains are doable, although coming up with the Pacific would have to be brass. My goal would be to have a layout with enough operational interest to keep a couple of people busy for a couple of hours. With all that, here are my operational questions. 1) Did the north bound and south bound engines switch out at Clinton since their was a roundhouse. 2)
Sorry guys-hit wrong button, here are my remaining questions. 2) What industries were switched in Clinton in the early 1950's. It appears the large elevator was worked by the Katy. 3) Was a switch engine kept at Clinton. 4) It does not appear there was much work south of Harrisonville besides the mining operation at Harvey. So what I am trying to determine is there enough operational interest to make this an interesting layout for a couple of people. I thought the Dolkos trackplan was a little lacking and would not meet my goal. I do have a quite a bit more room than was used for this trackplan.
You may want to check out my N scale track plan of the Clinton Sub on my website at www.blairline.com. Click on the link to KCOS Track Plan. It was designed for 14' x 16' room. Construction has finally begun. I have the backdrop painted and benchwork cut but not assembled. Several of the structures are built and foam, cork roadbed and track (but not all turnouts) are here and ready to lay. I am able to duplicate the yard at Clinton and the tracks at Blairstown faithfully. I also have a fairly accurate track layout for Bolivar, Osceola, Harrisonville and Richards Gebaur AFB. Scenic highlight will be the Osage River crossing and dam at Osceola. I will also be duplicating the large coal mine and strip pits at Harvey. Like every modeler I wish I had more space. I would like to have more space between the towns and would like to model at least one of the large wooden trestles on the south end of the line near Wishart, MO. This layout should be fun to operate with many switching opportunities. I will use a little modeler’s license and run a couple of coal trains from Harvey to KC and Harvey to Springfield and will add a through train each way from KC to Springfield along with the locals. I don't know much about Clinton in the 50's since I was born in 1961. Track plans I have show shared trackage with the MKT to the large grain elevator near the Frisco yard. The MKT tracks came from the west, the SLSF tracks from the east. I have no idea which railroad switched the elevator. Maybe both? Missouri Public Service had a power plant just north of the yard that no longer generated power in the 70's but I have seen photos of 2-bay hoppers of coal on their siding. Maybe they burned coal in the 50's? Coal from the Reliance Mine at Harvey maybe. In the 1970's Clearfield Cheese had a large plant that shipped out in reefer cars and probably received cardboard boxes and maybe cans by boxcar. Another large elevator was built on Frisco northwest of the yard and almost always had a few hoppers and/or boxcars on their siding. Williams Rock was just south of the elevator and seemed to have a few hopper there too. Maybe recieving or shipping crushed limestone. Rival Mfg., maker of Crock Pots, recevied hoppers of plastic pellets and cardboard boxes. Lowe Oil received tank cars of oil products that they off-loaded into trucks and moved to their plant a few blocks away to be repackaged in quart, gallon and five gallon containers. This really doesn't answer your 50's questions though. I have a system map from the early 1950's that shows all switch jobs/shifts systemwide and Clinton is not shown as having a switch crew. So I would imagine the local trains handled all the switching. My bet is coal from Harvey to KC was a major commodity. Harvey had a very large yard with capacity to load out a lot of cars. East Lynne had a grain elevator and stock pens. Latour had stock pens. Blairstown had stock pens, propane dealer and a grain elevator. Other than that there was not much switching between Harrisonville and Harvey. Dale Rush Carthage, MO
