From my father's notes; late 60's The Santa Fe Drive flyover has changed much through Olathe. The Santa Fe connection now carries mainline freight trains and has CTC.
Folks, Eventually I am going to find time to traipse around Olathe myself with camera in hand. Meanwhile, is the original U.S. 56 Highway underpass still in existence, or has the flyover construction obliterated it? I am still trying to track down some better photographs of the Frisco Olathe depot and/or the AT&SF depot too, if anyone can recommend a source. I figure I will have to resort to creative conjecture for any of the rail-served industries for my layout (e.g. Agrico, Wallingford Grain, Landmark Lumber, Champlin Oil). Best Regards,
Someone asked about old railroad maps of Olathe in another thread. I finally found the online Johnson County atlas that I stumbled across earlier. It is through the Johnson County Historical Society's website. http://search.jocohistory.org/cdm4/browse.php Go to the pulldown menu marked "browsing 1050 (or however many) items", and look for maps and atlases among the selections.
Addendum: The main Johnson County History website also has quite a collection of scanned old photographs. Please see the following link. http://www.jocohistory.org/ If you browse by topic there are several on the topic "train stations", including some shots of the Strang Line interurban and the Kansas City, Ft. Scott and Memphis (KCFS&M).
Another photograph from the Barriger Collection that I think might be just north of MP 21 on the south end of Olathe? https://www.flickr.com/photos/barrigerlibrary/12469473645/in/album-72157640650369164/ Supporting Evidence: a) Looks to be "Frisco Lake" to the right. b) The water tank appears to be located in the correct location. c) Bulk oil tank in the distance might be the right location for Champlin Oil, as noted in Karl's father's notes. d) Semaphore would look to be Mile 20.9. I think I am reading this designation correctly. e) Track appears to be curving in the correction direction, considering all other landmarks. Best Regards,
This map depicts the area around MP C21.3 and P0.95 after March 1934. The ROW boundaries imply that the Memphis Road is the senior railroad. The actual crossing at MP C21.4 was likely removed when the KCC&S track between “West” Olathe and De Soto Junction was removed during 1894. During 1921, the Frisco extended its double track from Olathe (C20.5) to Spring Hill(C30.1). Consequently, the west-side wye tracks were retired (Frisco AFE 235, 12/31/1921) after a new wye tracks had been built under a Memphis Road AFE, 677, 9/26/1921. This assumes that the actual work followed the order in which the AFE’s were approved. On October 24, 1924, the ICC gave the Frisco permission to acquire the KCC&S, which had remained an independent company since the Memphis Road merger. On October 1, 1928, the Frisco authorized the retirement of the now Osceola Subdivision between Stanley, KS (P8.9) and the Missouri-Kansas state line with AFE 19640 and between the Missouri-Kansas state line and Belton, MO with AFE 19641. This retirement severed Kansas City to Ash Grove, MO service, and thereafter, Osceola Subdivision trains originated and terminated at Grand View, MO. The Frisco operated the Olathe-Stanley segment as a Kansas City Subdivision branch line. Scheduled KC locals made the turn to Stanley as needed, and section crews handled LCL on the gang's motor cars. The end was at hand, and AFE 20701 3/21/1934 authorized abandonment of the Olathe-Stanley segment. The track remained intact between the Frisco and the Santa Fe. The Frisco still served industries on the Santa Fe ”side”, and on rare occasions the Santa Fe used the former KCC&S track as a detour route. Such a movement upset the locals to no end as it snarled automobile traffic. During 2001, the BNSF rebuilt the connection to handle through traffic between Argentine Yard and the BNSF’s Ft. Scott Subdivision. The segment remains one of two extant segments of the KCC&S; the other being a short segment in Belton, MO.
This valuation sheet is copied from the northern portion of the map, which was used in the previous post of this thread. It provides the configuration of the Olathe yard circa 1935. The stock pens were enlarged during May 1933, AFE 19134. AFE 33791, January 7, 1949, authorized a partial retirement of the facilities, and the remaining pens were retired December 26, 1952. I have also included the 3-stall, KCC&S engine house. The last good date that I have for that structure is 1925. Once the Frisco severed the Osceola Subdivision between Stanley, KS and Belton, MO, the engine house, no doubt, disappeared soon thereafter. The track chart dates to the same period, circa 1935, as the valuation map.
