Hi. Today I spent a brief time looking at the BNSF (nee ATSF) yard in Ark City, trying to figure out where the SLSF and MP connections were. There were a number of interesting remnants in the streets and easements. Can anyone direct me to Frisco info or maps that show where the lines and connections were - like street crossings and so on? And can anyone (or has anyone already) chronicled operations such as schedules, industries served, and interchanges? Thank you in advance for any info! - Bruce PS - Although the Winfield wig-wags on the former MP spur running to Rubbermaid and the former Binney & Smith plant have been replaced by new flashers, the road crossings were being rebuilt by the SKOL today!
Hi again. Following up on my previous post, I found the following station names and mileposts (below). It lists a station called "Tresham." Google Maps shows Tresham as a tree windbreak due East of 5th & 6th Ave. and the runways at Strother Field, and just south of Cowley County Road 20 (212th Rd by the new 9-1-1 naming scheme). Apparently the Frisco did the surveying, listing the elevation at 1,159 feet in the publication "Spirit Leveling in Kansas: 1896-1935." Strother Field is just across US Highway 77 from Hackney, which is on BNSF's Texas mainline (via Arkansas City). Hackney still sees grain traffic at its elevators, and BNSF still services the industrial siding (using ATSF caboose #999808 as a shoving platform!) to deliver covered hoppers of plastic pellets (and maybe still bulkhead flats of lumber?). The switch job crosses 77 from Hackney to reach the industries just across the road at Strother - there are flashers, and I once saw a flagman protecting the move. It's close enough you can shout a conversation from Hackney to Strother if it's not too windy. Does anyone have information on what Frisco business (if any) was conducted in Tresham? Did the tracks enter Strother Field (did Strother even exist then)? Finally, does anyone know a source that would list abandonment dates and when the rails were pulled up? Thanks for any information you can offer, and I'll try to lay off the parentheses in the future! - Bruce 0 Beaumont 12.7 Latham 17.9 Wingate 22.6 Atlanta 33.4 Floral 42.2 Winfield 48.9 Tresham (Strother Field) 56.6 Arkansas City 62.1 Erie, OK 65.7 Middleton 69.3 Clifford 71.7 Peckham 79.7 Blackwell 91.2 Eddy 97.3 Lamont 102.1 Salt Fork 108.7 Hunter 118.8 Breckenridge 127.5 Enid
