Thanks. I was hoping to use some advanced weathering techniques on these but I've started another thread on that topic.
The Frisco High Line
- Thread starter dricketts
- Start date
Thanks. I was hoping to use some advanced weathering techniques on these but I've started another thread on that topic.
You know the High Line is still in use in Belton and Grandview? You can see the track just west of Hwy 71.
Yeah, i have rode the excursion train a couple times before. I would like to work as a volunteer there at the museum
Not to interject...though when has that stopped me before! :hehe: but I've come across something interesting that may be of interest here.
I've been mucking 'round with Google Earth lately, and one of the things I've been doing the past day or two is basically tracking the entire High Line route from Belton to Springfield. It's kinda neat, actually: I'm able to follow the grade for almost the entire way, usually by following the linear break in the trees that stand on both sides of the old roadbed. I actually managed to find Derelict Deane's MFA Grain Elevator! (I was pretty Impressed with myself when that happened...)
It kind of gave me this feeling of being Indiana Jones; I was on the trail of history, and loving every minute of it. In many places I could still see where Yards, diamonds, interchanges, even old bridges were, the latter usually from the old piers and pilings. Beyond that though, it made me really want to get my paws on this route: that or re-lay the track on the real one for a tourist railroad!
BTW, I found a website for the Smoky Hill RR Museum, in case anybody's interested: http://test.orgsites.com/mo/beltonrailroad/_pgg3.php3
Keep up the good work Derreck! And CWeis, do me a favor: light a fire under some of those folks to get their Russian Decapod looking presentable, Ok?
Milwaukeeroad261
STL Railfan
@sawyer, oh sawyer don't burn everyone to a crisp over your Frisco 2-10-0s
Dinorius_Redundicus
kuid 68213
Here are the coordinates of various buildings I've done so far. Just copy/paste the blue text into Google Earth's search box.
See how they look in real life and compare the scenes to Derrick's screenshots. You may need to find a nearby street to open Streetview.
MFA Agri Services, Lowry City, Mo. 38°08'18.67" N 93°43'30.57" W
Marolf's Tyre Center, Clinton, Mo. 38°22'01.50" N 93°46'34.90" W
Salem missionary baptist church and cemetery gate, Cliquot, Mo. 37°41'58.20" N 93°28'39.19" W
Court house, Bolivar, Mo. 37°36'49.61" N 93°24'39.61" W
Water tower, Bolivar, Mo. 37°36'56.82" N 93°24'46.87" W
El Rodeo restaurant, Bolivar, Mo. 37°36'50.01" N 93°24'33.19" W (the Streetview pics seem to be a bit out of date judging by the paint scheme).
MFA grain silos, Bolivar, Mo. 37°36'49.94" N 93°25'11.56" W
MFA workshed, Bolivar, Mo. 37°36'47.25" N 93°25'13.28" W
Coffey's grocery store, Bolivar, Mo. 37°36'39.85" N 93°25'17.88" W
Standard oil depot, Bolivar, Mo. 37°36'56.12" N 93°25'17.82" W
Keith's grain mill, Bolivar, Mo. 37°37'01.33" N 93°25'18.89" W
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I've done that several times and it is a fun exercise.
I've made contact with a Henry County Library employee named Mike Good. He is a wealth of old railroad knowledge and especially the railroads of Henry County Missouri. He has a stack of very large aerial photos from 1952 of much of the area. It was Google Earth before Google Earth.
He believes these are the only surviving photos of the kind. He was grateful enough to scan some of them along the High Line. This was so helpful because much of the line between Clinton and Lowery City is now flooded with water from the Harry S Truman reservoir completed in the mid 1970's. If your ever in Clinton look Mike Good up at the library. I thought it might be interesting to post some of the old photos he scanned.
Here's the North Clinton Frisco yard. The MKT / SLSF crossing is at the left. North is facing left.
Missouri Public Service power plant in Clinton, Mo. This structure is completely gone today.
This is Deepwater, Mo to the left and a large tile factory the SLSF serviced. It to is completely gone today.
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Interesting...love those old photos like that. My grandpa, who y'all can blame for helping me discover my love of trains, and the MKT, has some old, scanned black & white pics from around his boyhood home in Westline, MO. it's pretty neat.
BTW, I thought I'd seen where there might have been a turntable near the MKT diamond on Google Earth...it's very faint, but, well, when you've got no life outside of a history book like me, you learnt he subtle signs to pick up on! :hehe:
(That actually sounds kinda sad now that I say that...)
BTW, I thought I'd seen where there might have been a turntable near the MKT diamond on Google Earth...it's very faint, but, well, when you've got no life outside of a history book like me, you learnt he subtle signs to pick up on! :hehe:
(That actually sounds kinda sad now that I say that...)Deepwater, Mo.
This is one of the last towns on my route I have yet to start working on, Deepwater, Mo. The passenger trains had to head into the station from only one way, the south. Depending on if the train was northbound or southbound on the High Line would determine if it came into town coach first or locomotive first. The depot was located just west of the center of town.
This is one of the last towns on my route I have yet to start working on, Deepwater, Mo. The passenger trains had to head into the station from only one way, the south. Depending on if the train was northbound or southbound on the High Line would determine if it came into town coach first or locomotive first. The depot was located just west of the center of town.
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mthomas935
New member
Where the lake?:hehe::hehe:
I´m so gonna go on an item-pirating rage on this route!
XD
Great work, good sire!
Thanks guys!
Do you mean Truman Lake?
mthomas935
New member
Yes I fish there all the time.
The lake was opened in 1979. This also flooded a good portion of the High Line. The SLSF or BN didn't think it made much sense to build long, expensive bridges for a branch line that wasn't making a lot of revenue at the time which finally led to the abandonment of most of the line. My route is set in the 40's, 50's, and 60's before the Truman Reservoir existed.
mthomas935
New member
If you ever need some pic. around Springfield to Bolivar I can try and get them for you.
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