The Orient: Kansas City, Mexican & Orient Railway

By Robert E. Pounds and John B. McCall.

The dream of promoter Arthur Edward Stilwell, the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railway never made it to Kansas City and never made connections with the Oriental trade. Financed without the aide of Wall Street “money trusts,” the railroad was constructed in many disconnected sections in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas and the states of Sinaloa and Chihuahua in Mexico. Attempts to link the already-built line from the Mexican seaport of Topolobampo, Sinaloa, and the rest of the system were halted by the formidable Sierra Madre range and revolutionary activities in Mexico. And in the United States, progress was slow, due to lack of funds. In fact, Stilwell lost control of the railway in 1912 and it was in the hands of receivers more than once. Were it not for the discovery of oil in west Texas in the ‘twenties, the KCM&O might not have survived to the Depression. As it was, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway bought it in 1928, completed some of the lines in Texas, and waited for improving business conditions that never came.  Richly illustrated. 344 pages, 11 x8 1/2 library bound, 313 black and white and 39 color photos, 36 maps and diagrams, Index.