Route of the
This is boxcar 42157 (previous numberings may have ended in -77) that has been located in Scott City, Kansas, since at least 1994. At one time there were two such boxcars located near the depot, but at present only this one remains. By the door, notice the grabrail and wooden steps indicating that this car is used as a company stores car. Data indicates this 40'6" car was BLT. 11-24, DES. 8-56, and classified XM.
This riveted steel water tank sits near the mainline east of the community of Modoc, Kansas. It is located about 35 to 50' south of the present right of way (to the left in the lower photo) and I saw no evidence of a water stand nearby. Yet, that doesn't necessarily prove or disprove anything given the amount of time that has passed since the tower's last use. The tower has no markings whatsoever and may not even be a railroad structure. It may have served cattle pens at one time. I find it difficult to believe such a structure "in the middle of nowhere" had any purpose other than quenching the thirsts of MoPac's iron horses.
This is a 1970's-era Ford F-series pickup sitting in a junk yard in Leoti, Kansas. Although painted over, the buzzsaw on the door harkens back to MoPac heritage. The truck has an A-frame hoist mounted in the box and is numbered 5374 on the cowl by the spotlight.
These are a couple matchbooks that I have acquired. The one on the left promotes pre-Eagle passenger travel and reminds us of the MoPac's efficient freight service. I picked this one up in an antique shop in north central Oklahoma. The book on the right advertises Missouri Pacific's TOFC/COFC services. I purchased this one at a train show from a Wichita dealer. He said it dated back to the early 1960's.
Not MP, but certainly interesting, is this photograph of flatcar loads on a Santa Fe container hotshot headed west out of Emporia, Kansas in late 1989 or early 1990. The locomotive consist was headed by Kodachrome SD40-2 5821, itself a rarity at that late date, another SD40, and a cowl unit before it received the red and silver warbonnet. I believe these steam engines were headed for a tourist line at the Grand Canyon.
