AT&SF and MKT in Oklahoma around 1900

[wanswheel]

Wizlish

http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OS002http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OS002

 

It seems the link to the Osage article goes only to the search page.

“…It originated as a division point on the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway (MK&T). Track completed between 1902 and 1904 linked Osage with Oklahoma City, Muskogee, and Parsons, Kansas. At Osage the MK&T employed roughly two hundred workers, many of whom resided in boxcars, and operated a depot, a roundhouse, and a hotel. Ten passenger trains arrived daily...”

Trackless Osage is on the 1900 map, at about 36º 40' N, 96º 70' W.

http://cdm15020.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16063coll3/id/8

Excerpt from The Hotel Monthly, February 1906

At Osage the railroad operates a small hotel of forty rooms in connection with its eating house. The building is new and comfortably furnished. There are two floors of sleeping rooms, one used altogether for railroad men, the other for commercial men. As the train passengers entered the dining room they were greeted with music from a string band, which accompanied this menu: Soup - Green Onions - Celery - Fish - Hot Roast Beef - Turkey - Cranberry Sauce Potatoes - Green Beans - Nut Salad - Lettuce and Tomatoes - Apple or Gooseberry Pie - Ice Cream - Assorted Cakes - Fruit - Coffee

[rjemery]

Wizlish

http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OS002http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OS002

 

Wizlish,

 

I quoted Ferber exactly. Her fictional Osage and other placenames excepting major cities bear no resemblance to actual placenames in Oklahoma.

 

Standard disclaimer applies:

 

"This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental."

 

My original post was simply to see if there were any actual towns or cities served both by the Santa Fe and the Katy around 1900, with service to Wichita or other major cities.  Other posters have answered that question.  To my knowledge, the real Osage never had any rail service.

[Wizlish]

rjemery

In her Preface, Edna Ferber wrote: "There is no city of Osage, Oklahoma. It is a composite of, perhaps, five existent Oklahoma cities."

http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OS002http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OS002

[Electroliner 1935]

Bartlesville is 50 miles North of Tulsa on a SF line Tulsa to KC which in 1955 carried the Tulsan to KC & Chicago, plus the nightly Oil Flyer which carried a sleeper to Chicago; and on a MKT line that carried the Katy Flyer coach section between Oklahoma City, Parsons & St Louis. This could be the auther's station but neither route went to Wichita. Also, there is a real town of Osage that was on the MKT about 40 miles NW of tulsa on the Oklahona City-Parsons Line.

[rjemery]

Electroliner 1935

Hope this helps. What initiated this query?

I just finished reading Edna Ferber's Cimarron, a historical novel about Oklahoma starting with the Land Rush of 1889.  Her history is more or less accurate.  In the fictional town of Osage, she has it served by both the Santa Fe and the Katy.  At one point, the main character of Sabra Cravat, boards the Katy train to Wichita.  The destination, however, could have been Kansas City. I looked but could not relocate the relevant sentences in the novel.

In her Preface, Edna Ferber wrote: "There is no city of Osage, Oklahoma. It is a composite of, perhaps, five existent Oklahoma cities."

[diningcar]

Bartlesville - they had a joint depot that was owned by ATSF but shared.

[Electroliner 1935]

Checking my copy of SPV'S Railroad Atlas, I find that the Santa Fe & the MKT both served Cushing OK but the MKT did not serve Wichita.

Wichita Union Terminal was owned by SF, RI, & SLSF(Frisco). No MKT. 

MKT line North out of Oklahoma City went NE through Cushing, crossed Frisco at Hallett, then continued to Osage where it split, one leg going to Tulsa, and another leg going to Parsens and then to Ft. Scott, KS

Hope this helps. What initiated this query?

[rjemery]

Circa 1900, in the northern half of Oklahoma, and outside Tulsa and Oklahoma City, did the AT&SF and the MKT ever serve the same town?  The line(s) would have gone to Wichita, KS.  I don't have access to accurate historical maps to check myself.  Thank you.