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Burlington Route: The Wymore Story by Richard C Kistler Revised Ed Soft Cover
Burlington Route: The Wymore Story by Richard C Kistler REVISED Edition
Soft Cover
104 pages
Copyright 1970, 2001 Fourth printing 2001
CONTENTS
Introduction
Chapter One - Subdivisions of the Wymore Division7
Chapter Two - Officers, Facilities and Motive Power31
Chapter Three - The Wonderful Days of the Wymore Division51
Chapter Four - Burlington Northern 1970-199567
Chapter Five - Branch Line Finale79
Chapter Six - Burlington Northern Santa Fe83
Epilogue89
Wymore Division Statistics92
Wymore Division Timetable 194893
INTRODUCTION
At about the time the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad in Nebraska was incorporated in 1869, efforts were under way in the southeast corner of the state to establish rail lines. Brownville, Nebraska City and Rulo were the first communities to witness railroad construction in the region. The Missouri River, forming Nebraska's eastern border, not only provided transportation to and from these communities, but was also a means of reaching Nebraska from railheads on the east bank belonging to the Burlington & Missouri River in Iowa and allied companies.
Nebraska City's first ferry was established circa 1848, with the first steam-driven ferry reaching that city in June 1854. Subsequent years brought numerous ferry companies and owners. The most notable of these was the transfer boat James E Joy, built in 1872 and named for the president of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad.
The spring of 1858 saw the freighting firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell select Nebraska City as a starting point for its route to Utah and the Western forts. By 1859, a vast migration was also under way to Colorado in search of gold. Some 1,100 men, 700 wagons and nearly 6,000 yoke of oxen were used from April to October 1859 to transport 2,782,258 pounds of merchandise westward from Nebraska City.
On March 28, 1878, the Republican Valley Railroad was incorporated to build from Hastings, on the B&MR's Plattsmouth-Kearney line, south to Red Cloud and west to the western boundary of Franklin County. Stock in the new company was sold to B&MR shareholders. The B&MR took a long-term lease on the property and agreed to operate it. The railroad had extensive land grants throughout the Republican Valley and the region was ripe for colonization.
By November of that year the road had been completed to Red Cloud via Blue Hill and Amboy. This was the original main line to Denver and functioned as such until 1884 when a cutoff was completed between Kenesaw and Oxford, via the new town of Holdrege.
Tracklayers continued westward, reaching Indianola by the spring of 1880. By the fall of 1881 the Burlington had launched an all-out drive to Denver, with E. P. Reynolds (later a prominent Wymore resident) being awarded a contract to build 150 miles of track. This road extended to Fairview, Nebraska, a frontier outpost and trading center for settlers. The community, later renamed McCook, soon became headquarters for the Republican Valley Railroad and later a division point for the B&MR's Western Division.
Track construction reached Brush, Colorado, in April 1882. Meanwhile, work began in Denver to meet tracklayers advancing from the east. On May 24, 1882, George W. Holdrege, newly appointed general superintendent of Burlington lines west of the Missouri River, drove the last spike 11 miles east of Denver, completing 247 miles in 229 working days. Regular service began on May 29th.
By an agreement of merger and sale dated March 1, 1882, and by deed dated June 1, 1888, the Republican Valley Railroad conveyed its property and franchises to the Burlington & Missouri River in Nebraska. The latter road had been officially taken over by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy in July 1880, but continued to use its own name and locomotive numbering system until 1904. At that time, B&MR passenger ticket forms were called in and the B&MR, along with six other roads, was merged with the CB&Q under a common name and motive power numbering system.
The scene was now set for what would become the historic era of the Wymore Division of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. The action would play out for more than five decades across the southeast Nebraska region.
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