Yesterday, I was in Cameron, Mo. and discovered that the old C.B.&Q. depot had
been very attractively restored. The sides that were white-slate shingle (ugly
as sin) are now long horizontal, beveled boards painted a rich mineral red. As
many of you will know, the Burlington tracks passed through Cameron on an
east-west line, being the successor to the Hannibal & St. Joseph. Before the
completion of the Kansas City cutoff in the early '50s the Q also had a line to
Kansas City that diverged there. That's all straightforward enough. What I need
to learn is why, just a few blocks west and about one block north of the
C.B.&Q. depot, there is another depot (brick) which apparently served a line
running north and south through Cameron. I do not believe this is the old Q.O.
& KC. The right-of-way of that line passed some miles west of Cameron, and the
remnants of it can still be discerned in some locations. Query, what line was
served by the brick depot? Was it the Rock Island before one of their many line
relocations? If so, did the Rock Island have trackage rights over the
Burlington from Cameron into Kansas City. If they did then it had to be that at
one time the Golden State Ltd. traversed the Q for a portion of its
transcontinental run, which is very, very interesting. Or, perhaps, it was the
Burlington's line that was relocated. Will anyone shed any light on this?
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
|