Trains No 58 And No 59 (Mixed) And No 54 And No 55 (Freight) - Clinton Subdivision - Inquiry

I'm curious about the operation of these scheduled trains insofar as how passengers were handled.

Notations in passenger timetables published in the Official Railway Guide for November 1958 show that:

"Note 1--Trains 58 and 59 will operate daily from February 15 to July 15, and daily, except Sunday, for balance of year."....

What was the reason for this notation?

Did the handling of the 'chicks' have anything to do with this?

Note 1 goes on to add: "Passengers will be carried in caboose between Clinton and Centropolis and intermediate points only."

What was the reason for this?

Was it to avoid passengers being carried on into the freight yard at 19th Street?

Did Nos. 59 & 58 remain mixed trains until the Frisco abandoned all passenger service?

"Note 2--Only baggage cars are handled between Kansas City Union Station and 19th Street yards in switching service".

Did the 'chicks' traffic continue until until the final abandonment of passenger business and when did that occur?

A likely scenario might be that southbound baggage cars and 'chick' cars would be brought from KCUS to 19th Street Yard by a yard engine to be added to that days freight traffic. After departure of No 59 from 19th Street, its first stop was a flag stop at Centropolis where passengers boarded the caboose.

Northbound passengers on No. 58 would detrain at Centropolis after which the train would proceed to 19th St. and then any baggage, including the chicks, would be back hauled to KCUS.

Do either of these scenarios sound reasonable?

On another subject, in Employees Timetables 46, 47 and 48 did Third Class freight No 55, although not a mixed train, wait at Clinton for connecting traffic off of No. 59 or conversely did No 58 haul connecting freight off of No. 54 at Clinton?

And while were at it; how were these 4 trains manned?

That is, were they assigned to regular crews or was there a semblance of a 'pool' arrangement in use?

These are the questions that keep old men up at night.

Charlie

 

1. February 15 - July 15 was prime chick season, and it affected the frequency of train service. Please read this article in The Frisco Employee Magazine, Volume IV, Number 8, May 1927, pages 6-7, 27.

https://thelibrary.org/lochist/frisco/magazines/fem_1927_05/fem_1927_05_06.pdf

https://thelibrary.org/lochist/frisco/magazines/fem_1927_05/fem_1927_05_26.pdf

2. All passengers were carried in the caboose. Coach facilities were unavailable. The mixed trains did not stop at Kansas City Union Station in order to avoid Kansas City Terminal (KCT) Railway costs associated with stopping at KCUS. Even though Nos 58/59 terminated/originated at 19th Street Yard, Centropolis was the the northern-most point at which passenger service existed. Passengers were few and far between.

3. The chicks were handled under the auspices of the Railway Express Agency (REA), so the chicken cars carried a REA messenger. The chick service and mixed service ended during the spring of 1967. Please see the following.

All Aboard, Volume 3, Number 8, January 1989 The Chicken Express article, page 2.

http://thelibrary.org/lochist/frisco/allaboard/Optimized/1989_1_v3_8.pdf

Train No 59 - Railway Express Agency Messenger Murder - South Mullen Road, Belton, MO - 10/10/1959

see http://www.frisco.org/shipit/index.php?threads/murder-on-tr-59.17/#post-114

The last Frisco passenger trains No 101/102, the Southland, made their last departure from KC/Birmingham on Dec 8, 1967. There is an apocryphal story told by one of my KC friends that a couple of railfans appeared at the Grandview depot, and requested a round trip ticket to Clinton.

Supposedly the the passenger tariff had not been taken off the "books" and the agent was compelled to sell them passage. Suffice it to say, the tariff disappeared shortly thereafter. I leave it to you to judge the veracity of the story.

4. My dad's territory as a Roadmaster included the Clinton Sub between KC Belt Junction and Dodson, and he briefly handled the Clinton Sub to Clinton after the regular Roadmaster, E. A. (Ears) Webster, was injured during a motor car accident. My dad was required to ride his territory so, we would drive him to Grandview or Clinton, where he would catch No 58. We would would pick him up at Centropolis, or 19th Street Yard on one occasion.

Dad also arranged for my brother and me to ride No 59 from 19th Street Yard to Clinton. During this time frame of about '64-'67, the train handled the baggage cars between KCUS and 19th Street Yard. It has always been my assumption, that the baggage cars were handled between those points as a "transfer" moves with a switch engine.

 

I have seen a video that shows chicks handled in an RPO car.

I would imagine shipment by USPS would be less expensive than REA. I have a friend who worked as a relief REA messenger between Fort Smith, AR and Springfield, MO on trains No 709/710 in 1963-1965.

He told me that the REA tariff for live animals was double the regular tariff.

 

Thanks Karl!

I'm still a little confused. In your last two sentences you say: ..."the train (meaning 59-58) handled the baggage cars"... then you follow up with ..."the baggage cars were handled between those points as a 'transfer' move with a switch engine".

Maybe I need to get some more caffeine in me or possibly the chicks were handled differently and apart from the regular baggage traffic?

Charlie

 

Within my experience, Trains No 58/59 did not pick-up/deliver baggage cars to KCUS.

A 19th Street Yard switch engine did the honors, and delivered/picked up the cars to/from KCUS