Kansas and Nebraska

Anyone interested in this part of the country?

I've made a number of railfan trips to Nebraska, though mostly to see a lot of trains on the UP main and the BNSF in places. One place I recall with interest wasn't exactly abandoned, but around Hastings was a maze of seemingly unused or little used tracks around what was once a military base. Seems like there are businesses in many of the buildings, but I couldn't tell if any actually use rail or if the cars I saw were just stored there.

I remember when I still lived in northwest Kansas, someone telling me that there used to be a railroad that had run betwee Winona and Scott City Kansas, and for the longest time I almost didnt want to believe him. But sure enough, years later, I got on the Terraserve site and looked around the Russell Springs area, which is almost midway between the two end towns I mentioned. There was a ghost line winding its way along the geography right thru the corner of the townsite. This line had benn known as the Colorado, Kansas & Oklahoma and was abandoned sometime before WW1. It was a pleasant surprise for me to find signs of its existance still around after all these years.

been doing some work in the s/w KS area and had the oppurtunity to drive throught the Russell Springs area. A LOT of the old r-o-w is still visible from just north of the townsite to where it runs along the Smoky Hill River then bending to the southeast to where it eventually goes through Lake Scott State Park. From there you do see signs of a row here and there where it parralelled US-83 down to Scott City, KS