The K.C.C.C.& St.J Railroad

[yankee flyer]

Hi folks. 
I ran across something while looking up one of my ancesters. The Kansas City, Clay County and St. Joseph Railway Co. It ran from K.C. to St. Joseph and from K.C. to Excelsior Springs MO.  Total life span was about twenty years. 1913 to 1933
My grandfathers papers said he worked for the K.C. Electric railroad So naturally I got curious and had to look it up. I found pictures and stories in the public library in K.C. that appear to be from a local news paper. Is anyone into interurban electrics?

Have a good Christmas and a merry new year

Lee

[Falcon48]

yankee flyer

Hi folks. 
I ran across something while looking up one of my ancesters. The Kansas City, Clay County and St. Joseph Railway Co. It ran from K.C. to St. Joseph and from K.C. to Excelsior Springs MO.  Total life span was about twenty years. 1913 to 1933
My grandfathers papers said he worked for the K.C. Electric railroad So naturally I got curious and had to look it up. I found pictures and stories in the public library in K.C. that appear to be from a local news paper. Is anyone into interurban electrics?

Have a good Christmas and a merry new year

Lee

  I'm very much into interurban electric railways.  For some strange reason, I've always seemed seem to have an perverse interest all kinds of information that's totally useless (I'm also interested in rigid airships, but you probably don't want to know about that). 

The Kansas City Star published a book in 2002 called "A Splendid Ride,"  It's primarily about the KC MO/KS streetcar system, but it also has information and photos on the interurban railroads in the area, including the KCCC&St.J. If the book is still in print, you should be able to get it from the Star.  I highly recommend it, particuarly since it goes far beyond the typical picture book (although it's got plenty of good pictures), and delves into the business and political dealings of the system. 

Another book worth having if you're into interurbans is "The Electric Interurban Railways in America" by George Hilton and Johm Due.  This is probably the seminal work on interurban railways, and has a wealth of information on their rise, their heyday (such as it was) and their fall, most of which you won't find anywhere else.  It also has a section with short histories of each interurban railroad, including KCCC&St.J.  Be aware. however, that it's definitely not a railfan picture book (it only has a handful of pix) - it's a serious economic and historical treatment of the industry. I'm not sure this book is still in print (it was first published in the early 1960/s), but it should be available in libraries that have transportation collections.

There are also wealth of other books that have been written on individual interurban systems.  The Illinois Railway Museum's Strayhorn Library in Marengo, Illinois has a large collection,  Also, the Central Electric Railfans Association in Chicago puts out an annual "bulletin" (actually, a major book) on electric railways, usually on particular systems, and many of them have been about particular interurban railroads. The bulletin is covered by their annual dues, which are cheaper than what you would pay for the book alone. 

Hope this "sparks" your interest (yes, I know it was a REALLY bad pun, but I couldn't restrain myself). 

[yankee flyer]

Falcon48

Hope this "sparks" your interest (yes, I know it was a REALLY bad pun, but I couldn't restrain myself). 

No the ERR's are not one my  of my intrest, I just thought someone might be intrested. Thanks for the reply though.
Have a good day.

Lee S.

[wanswheel]

Falcon48

The Kansas City Star published a book in 2002 called "A Splendid Ride,"

http://books.google.com/books?id=Ffm4Fi_dC38C&printsec=frontcover&dq=A+SPLENDID+RIDE

Falcon48

Another book worth having if you're into interurbans is "The Electric Interurban Railways in America" by George Hilton and Johm Due.

http://books.google.com/books?id=J2zH-zcuU-MC&pg=PP1&dq=THE+ELECTRIC+INTERURBAN+RAILWAYS+IN+AMERICA