Guys:
All of this is helping a lot. What would have been the motive power used by the Q on branches like the St. Frances? What would the single deck and double deck (hog) stock cars look like? What was the difference between a standard caboose and a stockman's caboose?
My interest in this comes from being a fan of Ralph Moody's books, especially " The Dry Divide" and "A Horse Of A Different Color". Both books are set around Cedar Bluffs, KS and the area between Oberlin, KS and McCook, NB. The books are a combination of factual and fact based fiction. They provide a great look at life in Northwest Kansas in the period immediately after WW I. Some of what Moody wrote about had to be fictionalized because the people involved were still alive. The old saw about the names have been changed to protect the innocent (or guilty) applied.
In the second book part of the story is about a flash flood that wipes out part of the branch line and it has to be rebuilt (1920-21-22-23?).
Kirby:
Finally located an image I knew I had and attaching it. It shows the Q facilities -- depot, water tank, enginehouse and gallows turntable -- at St. Francis, Kan., around 1912, plus two of the town's grain elevators. Hope this is helpful. Incidentally, the turntable now does duty at the Colorado Railroad Museum at Golden.
Hol
From:
CBQ@yahoogroups.comTo:
CBQ@yahoogroups.comDate: Fri, 13 Feb 2015 10:00:53 -0800
Subject: [CBQ] Rural Branches
Does anyone have any pictures that would show a typical WW I era CB&Q branch line station. My interest is in the old St. Francis branch that ran across the NW corner of Decatur county Kansas. The line still exists but is now part of the Nebraska, Kansas & Colorado short line. It runs through what little is left of the community of Cedar Bluffs, Kansas.
What would the grain elevators, stock handeling facilities, freight and passenger facilities (depot) look like.
I have read a lot about the community of Cedar Bluffs, Kansas (now largely gone), at it's biggest it's population was under 700. Like so many rural communities the advent of cars and trucks took away their reason for existing. With horse and wagon a round trip with shopping to Oberlin, Kansas or McCook, Nebraska would take all day. Even the cars and trucks of 1920 made a trip only a half day event. Now with better roads and modern vehicles it is only a matter of a couple of hours to make the same trip. Sic transit gloria!!
All that is left of the community in central Kansas (Thornburg, north of Smith Center) where my Grandmother was born and grew up is a crossroads and the Church with the local cemetary a mile to the west. My great grandfathers homestead was a mile east of the church. His decendants still farm there.
Kirby