Ash Grove served as a junction point with the KCCS RR, and Ash Grove White Lime Company had a quarry(with it's own internal rr) and a lime kiln located to the west (rr north) of town. The Frisco served a mill, stock pens, and cannery as well. There was enough rolling stock passing through town to justify placing a carman(car repairer) in town. This lasted until 1927. The KCCS also maintained a 3 stall engine house The Frisco also placed a watchman at the Sac River bridge, C181.7, and he had his own house at that location. The bridge over the Sac, as built, was 956' long. It was comprised of three segments. The north approach was a 464 foot long, 4 leg frame bents on mud sill trestle. The center segment, which crossed the river was a 97'-10' x 8'-2" steel, deck plate girder. The south approach was a 494 foot long, 4-leg frame bents on mud sills. The north approach suffered fires on July 15, 1931 and on September 19, 1931. Seventy four bents were replace with a combination of 5-leg, framed bents and 6-pile bents. Fireproofing was applied to the bridge members. Both legs of the KCCS wye survived the abandonedment of that line as industry tracks.
Here's an older view of Ash Grove combined with a modern satellite image. Google Earth has a very slick utility, which allows one to overlay images atop the satellite image which in this case is a circa 1917 KCCS valuation map. The utility has the capability of adjusting the opacity of the overlay, and it is a very useful tool for the forensic railroad fan, who may be trying to located historic alignments with the modern world. The 3-stall KCCS engine house is located inside the wye, the water tank, pump house, and coal house are south (rr) of the depot, and a large stock pen is also noted.
What was the stone "bridge" over the tracks at Ash Grove west (RR north) of the depot? I can't remember the details now or really even how it looked now, except that it looked very old, and I wondered why it wasn't removed (Earlier) or what it's original purpose had been. Was it an overpass? Thanks, Tom PS: Thanks Karl for the enlightenment about where the name "Ash Grove Lime" came from!
I finally made a trip out to see Ash Grove yesterday. Shot a few pictures and generally made myself conspicuous around town. You really have to have a good imagination to see this town being more than just a mile post on a railroad map. Even with the maps and diagrams I've examined on this website, it could be very easy to ignore the impact that the railroad once had on this community. Kinda sad really. But, I'm glad I made the trip. It's nice to get out and walk around in an area you are attempting to model, even if it is going to be a freelanced version of the place.
Re: Ash Grove 1-25-14 Took these photos today. Thanks to Karl's notes I had a good idea where I was standing and what I was looking at. This is looking south towards Springfield. You can see the south end of the KCCS wye just this side of the fire plug. The depot would have been just to the right of where I was standing. Looking NW. The MFA structure to the right. I was quite surprised by this public sign.
Re: Ash Grove 1-25-14 Did you go to Phenix, while you were in Greene Cnty? There is still lots to see there. There is also a Leaky Roof Corridor sign posted there as well. I find the word corridor to be amusing. It conjures images of high-high speed rail travel. Something the Leaky Roof was decidedly not.
Re: Ash Grove 1-25-14 No. It sounds like I should have. I did stop by the by the Nathan Boone Homestead though just a stones through away.
