I am writting a short story about passenger rail transportation and need some assistance.
I know that Santa Fe would be used from Ash Fork to Trinidad, CO, or beyond.
!. Would the the most expeditious route be through Denver, through Kansas City or through Chicago?
Please provide the names of all RR’s used on the Route you offer.
Any train manes will be apprecieted.
Elapsed time per the schedules would be great but not essenti
Thanks for any and all assistance.!!!
Can your hero travel seven years later? Someone else may be able to find schedules that were in effect in 1886, but 1893 is the earliest I have after the reprints of the early, early Guides. I looked at the maps in the June, 1893 issue, and the following routing may have been possible:
Lv Ash Fork Day 1 at 0400 on AT&SFe Atlantic Express; Ar La Junta Day 2 at 0910. Lv La Junta at 0955 on #1 for Denver, arriving at 1800 (alternative: Ar Trinidad Day 2 at 0630; Lv Trinidad at 0950 on UPD&G #2; Ar Denver at 1815).
In 1893, there were two routes possible from Denver to Butte. One was through Salt Lake City and Ogden; the other was through Cheyenne and Green River.
Lv Denver Day 2 at 1930 on D&RG #3, the Transcontinental Express; Ar Ogden Day 4 at 0100.
Lv Ogden on Utah Northern/OSL #7 at 1125; Ar Butte at 0538 Day 5. Lv Butte at 1210 Day 5 on NP connection to NP #4, the Atlantic Mail, arriving in Logan at 1545 and leaving at 1605. Arrive Fargo at 0215 Day 7.
Or, Lv Denver Day 2 at 2320 on UP #1, the Western Express (through sleeper Denver to Salt Lake City), change to UP #1, the Overland Flyer at Cheyenne (or somewhere between Cheyenne and Granger, since the train goes through Cheyenne about 0300); this involves a change at 0325-0330 in Pocatello to UN #1, which arrives in Butte at 1333 on day 4. Get a good rest
dc - once north of Trinidad in 1886, you can get:
(a) Trinidad to Pueblo via D&RG(narrow gage) or ATSF (C&S = D&NO(DT&G in 1886) still not complete in places) w/ ATSF slightly faster via La Junta. (In 1887 C&S was still DT&G, about to become UPD&G in 1889)…ATSF fastest
(b) Pueblo to Denver via D&RG (dual gauge) , ATSF (brand new, possibly not complete) and C&S(DT&G)…D&RGW probably a slight bit faster with better connections in Denver
(c) Denver to Cheyenne via Colorado Central (later C&S) on the old NG route got into Cheyenne, but was still a wreck and a ward of UP with UP killing off most traffic north of Ft. Collins. Union nPacific’s 1869 Denver Pacific line was clearly fastest
Do you go CB&Q Denver to Julesburg, then UP to Omaha …or all UP and avoid Cheyenne by going Denver-La Salle-Ft. Morgan-Julesburg with La Salle - Ft.Morgan being Central Pacific/D&BV???
Once north of Cheyenne, I assume you go east to get north in 1886. UP to Omaha, then???
(everybody was racing E-W, not N-S)…Fargo had 3 railroads into it in 1886 (NP,GN and Milw(F&S)…I believe there was a complete railroad (CNW/Omaha Road) going up the river valleys north of Omaha north to Minneapolis since about 1884…
I would be curious to know why you could’nt travel Santa Fe to Kansas City, then to St Paul directly from Kansas City and then to Fargo on the NP or GN. ?
(1) In 1886, the rail map looked considerably different than it does now. Expansion was primarilly east-west with little north-south trackage west of the Missouri River. The quality of the rail lines varied wildly from what we would expect today.
(2) Neither GN or NP ever got to Kansas City. (GN eventually got to (Sioux Falls). In 1886, CB&Q had not yet built northward up the Missouri River from Omaha to Sioux City, they had gone KC to Omaha…(Hill eventually assumed control of CB&Q) NP stayed north and west of Minneapolis.
Timing is the big issue here. Going N-S in the western US has always been a challenge.
Does anybody have definite information as to lines existing between St. Paul and KC in 1886?
As well as I can make out, there was only one single road that connected the two in 1893, the CGW–and a change in Oelwein was necessary. It was also possible then to go by way of Council Bluffs, taking the Kansas City, St.Joseph & Council Bluffs to there, and then the Sioux City and Pacific/Chicago, Minneapolis and Omaha to St. Paul.
Ar KC at 0800 on SFe #2 Day 3. Lv KC at 1045 on #1, Ar Council Bluffs at 1717. Lv Coouncil Bluffs at 1740 on #7, the St. Paul Express, Ar St. Paul at 0735 Day 4. Then take what you want to Fargo, arriving that evening.
Again, the MP had service between KC and Omaha in 1893. Lv KC at 0800 on MP #3 and Ar Omaha at 1625. Lv Omaha at 1745 on SC&P, going up west side of the Missouri, and connecting with the Council Bluffs-St. Paul train at California Jct.
But, if there was no rail service between KC and St. Paul in 1886, you could not get there except by a patchwork of connections or via Chicago.
Johnny