The Missouri Division of the Santa Fe Railway

By James A. Brown

The Missouri Division of the Santa Fe Railway provides an informative and lively account of the story of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway on the Missouri Division, an entity that existed within the organizational hierarchy of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (ATSF) from 1903 to 1956. Historical coverage begins with the planning and building of the line across Missouri and Iowa that occurred from 1883-1888, and extends beyond the consolidation of the N Missouri Division with the Illinois Division in 1956, to the merger of the ATSF with the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1995. Geographic coverage in this book extends from Fort Madison, Iowa, to Sheffield, Missouri, on the east side of Kansas City. Argentine, the Santa Fe’s major yard at Kansas City, and the environs of Kansas City were within the territory of the Kansas City Terminal Division. The history and operations of the Santa Fe in Kansas City were covered in a previous book in the SFRH&MS regional series, Santa Fe’s Eastern Division: Where It All Began, by Robert D. Walz (2021). This book on the Missouri Division also covers the St. Joseph District, a branch line that extended from the Santa Fe mainline at Henrietta, Missouri, northwest to St. Joseph, Missouri. Interviews of several employees from the division, plus author Brown’s meticulous research, provide information on the Santa Fe that is simply unavailable elsewhere. Included in this volume is a comprehensive list of water, fuel, turntable and wye facilities, plus roster of steam locomotives assigned to the division January 1, 1949 and their subsequent fate. The Missouri Division of the Santa Fe Railway is also lavishly illustrated with hundreds of photographs dating from the 1880s through the end of the 20th century.

Softbound.  208 pages, over 270 images and maps, notes, bibliography, appendices, and index.