Long ago on independence square (school, rail, farm)

[WCHS'59]

Originally Posted by Mad Anthonie

I do hope you have toured the C&A Depot on one of your visits here!

Yes I did sometime ago. Even went over to go into the Amtrak depot, but no cigar.

[Mad Anthonie]

Originally Posted by WCHS'59

Yes I did sometime ago. Even went over to go into the Amtrak depot, but no cigar.

The Amtrak aka Mopac aka Truman Station is currently occupied by the Jackson County Genealogy Society, and usually open a few hours on Tuesday and Thursday. They are in the west portion. The east portion has been cleaned and furnished with benches to serve as a waiting room for Amtrak. The station is unattended, so the door is on a timed lock allowing entry about 1 hour before a scheduled arrival.

In the near future the Genealogy Society is moving, and their space may become some sort of RR related museum, probably operated like most other sites in town with volunteers. I'll know more about that in the coming months.

[WCHS'59]

Originally Posted by Mad Anthonie

The Amtrak aka Mopac aka Truman Station is currently occupied by the Jackson County Genealogy Society, and usually open a few hours on Tuesday and Thursday. They are in the west portion. The east portion has been cleaned and furnished with benches to serve as a waiting room for Amtrak. The station is unattended, so the door is on a timed lock allowing entry about 1 hour before a scheduled arrival.

In the near future the Genealogy Society is moving, and their space may become some sort of RR related museum, probably operated like most other sites in town with volunteers. I'll know more about that in the coming months.

I went into the station a few years ago when, I think, someone was there during boarding times.

And, 50+ years ago I frequently went in there on Sunday's and bought a ticket to Warrrensburg. On one Sunday there were around 20 students waiting to board. I sometimes got to sit in a dome car. I believe I might have taken the train from Warrensburg to Independence only once as I could usually get a ride with another student.


The first photo is a monument that use to sit along the Denver, Rio Grande & Western right of way but could be seen from Highway 40 in Glenwood Canyon, western Colorado. When I-70 came through in 1992 it was sitting in the I-70 right of way of the new highway so had to be moved. It is now at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden.

The original spot commemorated the birth of the dome car. A railroad exec was on a train at about that spot enjoying the Glenwood Canyon scenery when suddenly an idea came to him about a car with a glass ceiling dome so that the scenery could be viewed much better. This was in 1944 and the idea really caught on with a number of roads but it did not help save the passenger train.

I just read that Amtrak has only one dome left but it is a full length dome and is from the 1950s and not very many were made.

The second photo is a dome diner, of which I do not believe there were very many.

[Mad Anthonie]

Good news!

Anyone with a valid Mid-Continent Library card can now access city directories online via the MCPL website. This is through the library's subscription to Heritage Quest online, so those of you outside our area can check for the same with your local library. Heritage Quest has undergone a recent enhancement, the city directories being one of my favorite additions. For Independence they have copies from 1911 through 1960, but not every year. You can browse them, and they are also searchable.

[WCHS'59]

Here is what the narrow gauge Kansas City, Wyandotte, and Northwestern crossing the standard gauge Missouri Pacific in 1877 in southwest Independence might have looked like.

The "double tracks" are to keep either train from derailing while going across the crossing.

[WCHS'59]

When the Missouri Pacific took over the narrow gauge line through Independence, they eventually widened the narrow gauge to standard gauge.

Had the company wanted to, they could have ran both narrow gauge and wide gauge trains over the same track right of way as shown in this dual track setup.

[WCHS'59]

If a railroad was operating on dual gauge track, it was not possible for a standard gauge locomotive to directly pull a narrow gauge train because the size of the cars were narrower and smaller preventing the couplers from exact positioning with each other.

A narrow gauge locomotive could not directly pull a standard gauge train for the same reason.

However, an idler car of either gauge could be used as a go between to solve this problem. The idler car had a standard gauge coupler in the proper position on one end and a narrow gauge coupler in proper position on the other end.

A narrow gauge locomotive could couple with the narrow gauge coupler end of the idler car and then back the idler car to connect to the standard gauge string of cars.

A standard gauge train could do the same by coupling with the standard gauge end of the idler car and backing it to connect with a narrow gauge string of cars.

A train of one gauge could even pull a freight train of mixed gauge strings of cars by having another idler car positioned between the two strings.

[WCHS'59]

What railroad company is it that is headquartered in Independence, Mo?

[Mad Anthonie]

Originally Posted by WCHS'59

What railroad company is it that is headquartered in Independence, Mo?

I have viewed a short video Ernie Griffin made of this line in action, but at the moment I can't recall the name. However, I do know the location.

[MRG Dallas]

Originally Posted by Mad Anthonie

Good news!

Anyone with a valid Mid-Continent Library card can now access city directories online via the MCPL website. This is through the library's subscription to Heritage Quest online, so those of you outside our area can check for the same with your local library. Heritage Quest has undergone a recent enhancement, the city directories being one of my favorite additions. For Independence they have copies from 1911 through 1960, but not every year. You can browse them, and they are also searchable.

I'm curious why both Heritage and Ancestry have Independence Polk's only thru 1960.