Miss Katy in the Lone Star State Vol 1 The Good Old Days 1942-1960 by Steve Alle

Description: RailroadTreasures offers the following item: Miss Katy in the Lone Star State Vol 1 The Good Old Days 1942-1960 by Steve Alle Miss Katy in the Lone Star State Vol 1 The Good Old Days 1942-1960 by Steve Allen Goen Hard Cover 128 pages Copyright 2205? CONTENTS Acknowledgements 4 Historic Dates of Katy Passenger Service in Texas 1940-1965 6 Katy Diesels Acquired Prior to 1957 8 Katy Abandonments in Texas after 1940 9 Miss Katy in the Lone Star State 1942-1960 10 Texas Special Passenger Equipment 16 Katy Passenger Equipment 106 MKT Stations 112 Map Featuring the Katy in Texas Back End Sheets ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Even though I had the honor of authoring the following historical essay, this effort would not have been completed without the photographic contributions of others who, like myself, shared a common affection for the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad. Even though individual photographers and/or collections are credited with each photograph, a special thanks must be included here to the many railfans who allowed use of their own personal collections so that this book could be possible. My sincerest appreciation goes out to: Dr. Theron Baber, Bruce Blalock, Robert Liljestrand-Bob's Photo, John B. Charles, R.D. Christal, Steele Craver, James Eastwood, R.D. Evans, E.P. Hamilton, Earl Holloway, Tom Hughes, Richard Kindig, Dick Kuelbs, Johnnie Myers, M.D. Monaghan, Kenneth W. Moore, Joe Dale Morris, Rodney H. Peterson, Larry Reed, Ed Seay, Jr., Fred Springer, Harry Stegmaier, Ed Stoll, Joe Thompson and George Werner. Special thanks goes out once again to Charles and Mary Woodward for proofreading this, my eighth volume featuring the railroads of Texas and to John Winfield who created the beautiful artwork used on the cover. I would also like to thank Edward J. and John E. Obergfell for sharing with us the extremely rare Ben Hill EMD litho on page 55, and to Harry Brown who contributed much of the technical information on Katy's heavyweight passenger cars. Last, but not least, I would like to express my appreciation to my publisher, Joe Shine, for his continued support in my Texas railroad series, including the following work which documented the Katy's vital role that it once played in Texas. The Katy Railroad and Texas... if there ever was a railroad that forever tied its heritage and operations to the history of the Lone Star State, it was the Katy. Although the line's earliest construction began at Junction City, Kansas, its goal from the outset was to one day reach the Red River and to tap the then undeveloped wealth of Texas. When the rails of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas finally reached the newly founded town site of Denison, Texas on December 25, 1872, the Katy forever established itself in Texas history as being the first railroad to enter the state from the north. During the decades to follow, the MK&T would extend itself deep inside the state, eventually linking almost every major city in Central Texas. Few states can claim a more interesting history than Texas, and Katy management chose early on to link its passenger operations to state's well known struggle for independence. Two of the Katy's three principle trains reflected these ties, with the BLUEBONNET and TEXAS SPECIAL soon overshadowing its long standing KATY FLYER in advertising alone. During the state's 1936 Texas Centennial, the Katy would produce and give away one million hand held fans which were ingeniously shaped and printed to resemble a bouquet of Texas bluebonnets. The line named its heavyweight dining cars ALAMO, GOLIAD and SAN JACINTO after the three key battles fought during the Texas Revolution and later named its entire fleet of TEXAS SPECIAL streamlined cars after Texas heroes including James Bowie, David Crockett and Sam Houston. The line even went so far as to feature the Alamo on their dining car's service plates. Not only did the Katy serve my hometown of Wichita Falls, Texas, their old "North Yard" office on Jefferson Street wasn't much more than a stone's throw from my back yard. Although my earliest encounter with the line was a December 1956 ride aboard Train No. 2 from Austin to Dallas (at four months old), my first real "hands-on" memory was on June 15, 1967 when Katy President John Barriger entertained Texas Governor Preston Smith aboard a special passenger train operated between Wichita Falls and Burkburnett. Although the special train was reserved for various local and state dignitaries, that fact didn't deter me from gaining entrance aboard business car No. 400 moments after it had reached the depot in Burk. Mr. Barriger could have simply had me removed, but instead he instructed an extremely nice porter to give me a bottle of Coke and let me look around. To this day I will never forget seeing Governor Smith and John Barriger sitting on one of the plush couches in the rear of the car, eating cashews and small blocks of cheese. Growing up with Miss Katy in Wichita Falls was something special for a kid during the 1960's and how lucky I was to have made friends with the local switch crew at such an early age. Not only was I allowed free run of North Yard, I was invited to tag along on numerous cab rides out on the old Northwestern District between Wichita Falls and Altus. The friendships that I forged would last a lifetime and would come in handy later on when I approached Reginald Whitman and Harold Gastler and successfully talked them into donating NW-2 No. 10 (ex-1029) to the Wichita Falls Railroad Museum in September 1987. Although several books have already been written about the Katy, none have ever been directed solely at their operations in Texas. For this reason, and due to the Katy's presence in Texas, I was quickly faced with the reality that several volumes would be necessary in order to properly document the line's final four decades of operation. In this first installment we will see the line emerge from World War II, streamline the TEXAS SPECIAL, complete dieselization, and then suffer through the harsh times of the Deramus years. This was an interesting time for those who were enchanted by Miss Katy. She had emerged from World War II as one of the strongest railroads in the southwest only to almost succumb due to incompetent management during the late 1950's. Unfortunately, by 1960 things had only gotten worse. Passenger operations were in a tailspin, derailments had become a common occurrence, and several of the Katy's lengthy branch lines were seeing their final years of service. Although other parts of the Katy were affected by this same turn of events, nowhere did her struggle to survive play out better than down in Texas. As such, it is the author's most sincere wish that Volume One will answer many questions regarding Miss Katy's "colorful" operations in Texas from 1942 to 1960. All Aboard! All pictures are of the actual item. There may be reflection from the lights in some photos. We try to take photos of any damage. If this is a railroad item, this material is obsolete and no longer in use by the railroad. Please email with questions. 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Price: 300 USD

Location: Talbott, Tennessee

End Time: 2025-01-25T17:32:00.000Z

Shipping Cost: 15 USD