Don Shorock's
Santa Fe Train Page

The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad

Since coming to Kansas, I always lived somewhere near the Santa Fe: Ottawa, Hamilton, Wakarusa, Cunningham, and Great Bend. Until recently, that is...

Ottawa

Coming from New Jersey, I got to ride on many of the famous Santa Fe Chiefs. Generally, you'd be on a Chief from Chicago to Kansas City, but you'd then switch to a Tulsa-bound train, the Tulsan or the Oil Flyer for the last leg into Ottawa. The Chief itself would come through Ottawa, but wouldn't stop!

Occasionally, if I had a day off, I'd take the train to Kansas City for the day. Depending on the schedule, we in Ottawa had a choice of two railroads to K.C., the Santa Fe and the Missouri Pacific.

Sometimes, when I didn't have much to do, I'd walk the two miles from my dorm up to the Santa Fe station at the north end of town and watch those trains go by. It was neatest when a Chief came by at 89 miles an hour! It was also fun to watch the engineer catch his orders off the pole:
Catching the orders or just watching the train arrive from Tulsa:
Train from Tulsa

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Hamilton

In Hamilton, there was a line from Emporia to Moline right downtown, about 3 blocks from my house (which was at the west edge of town). Going downtown meant crossing the tracks. You had to be careful. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, you'd check the tracks to the north to see whether the train was coming. On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, you'd check the tracks to the south. On Sunday, there wasn't a train.

The trip to Abilene

My fondest memory on the Santa Fe was as the last passenger ever (as far as I can tell) on the line from Strong City to Abilene. I did it during the Spring Break at Hamilton High School. It was listed as a mixed train, so I went to Emporia and bought a ticket from Strong City. When I got to Strong City, I wasn't positive the train hadn't already left, so I drove up to Hymer and flagged down the train. The conductor was shocked! He hadn't had a passenger for years. He said the passenger car was uninhabitable, so he invited me to ride in the way car (Santa Fe for caboose). On the return trip, I got to ride in the engine.		Ticket to Abilene
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Wakarusa

While teaching at Overbrook, I lived near Wakarusa. The line from Topeka to Emporia ran right through the backyard. Just beyond the tracks was the Jayhawk drop zone where the military practiced delivering jeeps and tanks. On nice evenings, we'd go out to watch the drops, but I also enjoyed watching the trains, too.
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Cunningham

When I lived in Cunningham, the Santa Fe line from Wichita to Pratt ran right through my backyard. Granted, there was only about one train a day, but I enjoyed the view.
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Great Bend

My house in Great Bend was about five blocks from the nearest Santa Fe tracks... until a few years ago. One line through Great Bend was on the original main line. The other was the Scott City branch which started here. Then, a couple of years ago, the unthinkable happened: the Santa Fe listed these lines for abandonment. They were too useful to be abandoned, but weren't part of the plan at Santa Fe headquarters (which weren't anywhere near a railroad track). They were bought by a short-line company and named the Central Kansas Railway, thus ending my 30 year love affair with the Santa Fe.

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If you share my interest in the Santa Fe, e-mail me at: don@shorock.com

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