The Marion and McPherson Railroad was a

short-line railroad :''Short Line is also one of the four railroads in the American version of the popular board game Monopoly, named after the Shore Fast Line, an interurban streetcar line.'' A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that oper ...

in central

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

History

As early as 1875, city leaders of

Marion Marion may refer to: People *Marion (given name) *Marion (surname) *Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion" *Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992) Places Antarctica * Mario ...

held a meeting to consider a branch railroad from

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

to Marion. In 1878, the ''Marion and McPherson Railway Company'' was chartered.''Marion County Kansas : Past and Present''; Sondra Van Meter; MB Publishing House;

LCCN The Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) is a serially based system of numbering cataloged records in the Library of Congress, in the United States. It is not related to the contents of any book, and should not be confused with Library of ...

72-92041; 344 pages; 1972. In 1879, a rail line was built from Florence to McPherson. In 1880, it was extended to Lyons, in 1881 it was extended to Ellinwood. In 1901, the line was leased and operated by the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...

, which used the name "Florence & Ellinwood Division" for it. The line from Florence to

was abandoned in 1969.Railway Abandonment 1968
/ref> In 1992, the line from Marion to McPherson was sold to Central Kansas Railway. In 1993, after heavy flood damage, the line from Marion to McPherson was abandoned. In 2001, the railway from Lyons to west of Conway was abandoned. In 2001,

Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad The Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad is a shortline railroad operating in the Midwestern United States. It is primarily located in Kansas and extends into Colorado, but despite its name, not into Oklahoma. Overview The KO is a subsidiary of Watco, ...

(K&O) took over operations of ''Central Kansas Railway''. Currently, the remaining parts of the former ''Marion and McPherson Railroad'' that still exists is:Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad Map
* Ellinwood to Lyons, * west of Conway to east of McPherson.

Stations

At a high-level, the railroad connected the primary cities of Ellinwood (west end), Lyons, McPherson,

(east end). Image:Stouffer's Railroad Map of Kansas 1915-1918 Barton County.png, 1915 Railroad Map of Barton County * Ellinwood (west end) Image:Stouffer's Railroad Map of Kansas 1915-1918 Rice County.png, 1915 Railroad Map of Rice County *

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Chase Chase or CHASE may refer to: Businesses * Chase Bank, a national bank based in New York City, New York * Chase Aircraft (1943–1954), a defunct American aircraft manufacturing company * Chase Coaches, a defunct bus operator in England * Chase Co ...

* Lyons * Mitchell *

Little River Little River may refer to several places: Australia Streams New South Wales *Little River (Dubbo), source in the Dubbo region, a tributary of the Macquarie River * Little River (Oberon), source in the Oberon Shire, a tributary of Coxs River (Haw ...

Image:Stouffer's Railroad Map of Kansas 1915-1918 McPherson County.png, 1915 Railroad Map of McPherson County * Windom * Conway * McPerson *

Galva Galva may refer to: Places ;United States * Galva, Illinois * Galva, Iowa * Galva, Kansas Galva is a city in McPherson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 834. History Early history For ...

* Canton Image:Stouffer's Railroad Map of Kansas 1915-1918 Marion County.png, 1915 Railroad Map of Marion County * Lehigh * Hillsboro *

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

* Oursler *

(east end)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Current Kansas Railroad Map
Defunct Kansas railroads

History

Stations

See also

References

Further reading

External links