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Burlington Northern Santa Fe Last Train to Wymore Story of A Prairie Local Doeri
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Last Train to Wymore the Story of A Prairie Local by David Doering
Soft Cover 8.5 X 11 inches Reflections from the lights on some photos.
56 pages 72 illustrations
Copyright 2008
Contents
Introduction5
The Wymore Local6
Route of the Wymore Local9
Motive Power of the Wymore Local18
Union Pacific Bids Farewell28
Last Train Out39
A New Day46
Motive Power on the Beatrice Subdivision Today52
Beatrice Area Railroad Enthusiasts55
During the 1960s, while compiling material for The Wymore Story, my book on the history of the Wymore Division, I made many trips to both Wymore and Beatrice in order to visit with retired Burlington Railroad employees. My intent was to learn as much as possible about the earlier days of the division. I heard stories then about working the "big" Kansas City-Denver passenger trains, the local passenger and freight trains on the division, plus the heavy movements of stock and freight through the Wymore yards. One of the favorite work routes of the "old rails" seemed to be the Wymore-DeWitt section through Beatrice. This line had been busy with traffic to and from Lincoln and the "High Line," (the latter which had operated from Nebraska City to Beatrice and DeWitt to Holdrege). Stories were also told about the old division headquarters at Wymore, where the two-story depot was surrounded by tracks that put it in the center of activity.
No trip to Wymore was complete without a meal at the "Narrow Gauge Cafe" up on main street, where railroaders were always present.
In the course of this research, I thought back to my own first visit to Wymore in June 1953. At that time, there was still passenger service provided by Lincoln-Kansas City trains via Beatrice and Wymore; and also the Wymore-Oxford motor car train. Freight traffic then consisted of tri-weekly freight service east and west out of Wymore to St. Joseph and Red Cloud, a daily-except-Sunday Wymore-Crete freight, a tri-weekly Fairmont local via DeWitt and also the tri-weekly local to Concordia, Kans. This totaled eight trains each week day. Wymore's roundhouse was then occupied only by G6 class 0-6-0 No. 1687 and a company pickup. An SD7 was at the depot to handle switching chores prior to its departure for Concordia.
Subsequent changes within the rail industry were not kind to Wymore. The shipment of bulk cement by truck during the 1970s reduced the number of loadings from the Superior, Neb., cement plant that were routed to Lincoln via Wymore.
Grain traffic shipped via Wymore, which had originally increased following the 1995 merger between the Burlington Northern and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe systems, later deteriorated. This left only some local traffic for revenue. Hoped-for plans to retain the Wymore-Beatrice segment in order to afford the BNSF a route around Lincoln, by routing traffic from Table Rock via Wymore to Crete, never materialized.
I haven't had the heart to pay a return visit to Wymore since the rails there were removed entirely. Only memories remain. Fortunately, the following text by David Doering helps to supplement my treatise in The Wymore Story. David's photographs otherwise depict how those railroaders who worked the Wymore locals admirably carried out their duties until the very end. This was the twilight era of a railroad town that will be remembered by all who were part of it.
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