Frederick, KS, MP 589.2 - Depots (Frisco And Missouri Pacific) - Before 1910 Found this undated photo of Frederick, KS showing two depots. I was under the impression one may be the Frisco and the other belonging to ATSF? Picture was found here: http://specialcollections.wichita.edu/kw/images.asp?xfile_name=kw_frederick_rice_ks1.jpg
OK, I believe that in this particular situation that the other depot is a MOP depot for two reasons. The Frisco north of Lyons crossed the then MOP east/west main at Fredrick and there was a large grain elevator complex that sat to the West of the crossing. When I was traveling that area in the 80's there was still some trackage that went to the elevator from the Frisco, but it looked like it hadn't been used for several years. Also, the depot with the fancy roof trim is not a Santa Fe depot but is characteristic of MOP depots. Robert Hoover, Jr. FriscoFriend
Fredrick was an interesting situation railroad wise. The MOP main ran thru it east west and was a busy road. The depot you see on the left in that picture is the early MOP depot. The depot on the right was the early Kansas Midland depot. There was a great rivalry in Frederick between the two roads. The MOPs right of way was 100 feet wide and when the Midland came into town from the east with the spur it tried to negotiate for use of some of their right of way. The MOP declined so the Midland ran its tracks right down the edge of the right of way, 50 feet to the north. The Midland moved the Depot into town from Dacey which was on the diamond where the two lines crossed, having been a small town created by the Midland in 1887 when they arrived. The elevators you see in the picture were built by financing from the individual roads to spur the competition. In later years after the Frisco took control of the Midland cooperation was better and the relations were normalized. Both roads built new Depots that replaced the ones in the picture in 1910.
When I first started to research the Kansas Midland line I came to the conclusion that it was the redheaded stepchild to the Frisco Railway (my apologies to any redheaded stepchildren reading this). I have this same floor plan without the notations of the retirement date and AFE number. What I have found in this particular instance is the information given at the top is correct for the original Midland depot that was moved from Dacey and the one shown in the reference picture. However, the drawing of the depot and the dimensions are from the Depot that was built in 1910. The original depots' dimensions were 24' x 56' with the gable roof as seen in the picture. The replacement depot had the dimensions shown on this 1919 floor plan, but it had a concrete foundation and a hip roof. I have the complete blueprints for the 1910 version and have seen a 1920s photograph of the second depot and it does have a hip roof. Several locations on the Midland line have similar discrepencies in some of the later information the Frisco redid. In Rice County where Fredrick is located, there was a company that did insurance company maps, similar to the Sanborn Fire insurance maps, if any of you are familiar with them. They were in business from 1890 to 1930 and they had maps of the cities in Rice county. The depot that was located in Dacey was shown on several of their maps and the 24' x 56' was the dimensions they had for it and the Kansas Midland B&B record for Dacey was the same. This may be more information than anyone wanted to know but there it is. Here are a couple of Rice County Plat maps showing Frederick in 1902 and Dacey a mile east on the diamond. Rice county at that time called Dacey; Frederick Station but the railroad founded Dacey and named it, but towns name changes in the area is another long story.
