There are many FAQ’s, frequently asked questions about the Randolph County Historical Society or asked not so frequently. Some ask, “with whom are you co-president?” And the answer is – my dear wife, Cecy Rice. What fun we have fun with that.
Cecy has also edited our quarterly publication called The Old’n Newsletter for the past 20 years. The 2nd quarter issue is coming out this week. Here are some of the features in this issue. There is a continuation of the series about Revolutionary War soldiers who are buried in Randolph County, two old letters from the pioneer Maxfield family and a partial listing of persons in the 1876 Moberly City Directory who identified themselves as working for the railroad. It turns out that 42% of those listed were railroad employees. So, here comes another FAQ. “How does one get a copy of the newsletter.” Simply bring or send $15.00 to the Society at 223 N Clark, Moberly, MO 65270 and you will become a member for the coming year and get all four issues.
It’s not surprising that railroads were mentioned in this and in each of the past columns. Railroads had a significant role in the development of Randolph County from the Chicago & Alton in the south to the Bevier and Southern in the north. Now this short column will not serve as a history of railroading in Randolph County. It is really being written to help you find out how to find out more about each of the lines. Nowadays that is easily accomplished by (yes, you guessed it) looking on the internet. If you don’t have internet capability at home, you can access the sites mentioned below in the Huntsville or Moberly Public Library.
The first railroad, 1858, was the North Missouri, which became the St Louis, Kansas Ciy & Northern, then the Wabash, St Louis & Pacific, and finally the Wabash. The Wabash was bought by Norfolk and Western, which later merged with the Southern. So, it is now known as the Norfolk Southern. This railroad had lines running through Clark, Renick, Moberly, Cairo, Jacksonville, Huntsville and Clifton Hill until recently.
The Kansas City, St Louis and Chicago Railroad was an east-west rail line started in 1879 that ran through Randolph County from Clark through Higbee and Yates. As the name implies it ran from Chicago to Kansas City. After many mergers and sales including Chicago & Alton and Gulf, Mobile & Ohio mentioned in last week’s column, the railroad is now the called the Gateway Western.
The Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad, also known as the KATY, came through Randolph County at Higbee and on to Moberly on it’s way to Hannibal from Sedalia. Though the track has now been removed, parts of the old roadbed can still be seen between Higbee and Moberly. Missouri’s KATY Trail is on part of the former MKT roadbed.
Coal mines in the northwest part of Randolph County created the need for a rail line to haul the coal to market. This need gave birth to the Bevier and Southern Railroad, which was a connector line that ran from the Burlington Railroad in Macon through Bevier and on into Randolph County. One of their old steam engines sits in the city park in Bevier. Now there is a private rail line running from Macon to the Associated Electric Company in northwest Randolph County, but instead of carrying coal out, it is bringing coal in from Wyoming for the power plant. How times change.
Finally, a rail line was built from Moberly to Randolph Springs, but no train ever used it. In the years before air conditioning and swimming pools, two spas were developed in the county. The first and most developed was Randolph Springs near Clifton Hill and the second was Radium Springs in Huntsville. Randolph Springs became so popular that a narrow gauge passenger line was built from Moberly to the springs. You can see much of the roadbed on the north side of US Highway 24 between Huntsville and Clifton Hill. But, habits change and the business went into decline before the railroad ever carried a passenger. I guess we could call it the Randolph Springs Ghost Railroad Line.
The following are Internet sites for some of the railroad fan clubs.
National Railway Historical Society
Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Historical Society
KATY Railroad Historical Society
Wabash Railroad Historical Society
Nickel Plate Historical & Technical Soc
Norfolk & Western Historical Society
Southern Railway Historical Association
Randolph County Historical Society
And then there are the model railroad clubs——-but not now.