Topeka, Eskridge & Council Grove Railroad

Proposed routes for the Topeka, Eskridge
& Council Grove Railroad. You can view
an interactive map here.

In 1903, it was proposed to create a railroad line from Topeka, following the Mission Creek Valley, through Eskridge, and on to Council Grove. It was to be known as the Topeka, Eskridge & Council Grove Railroad. As with such projects, some people were for it and others against it. Dover and Auburn fought over which city the railroad should go through, Eskridge worried the railroad would harm their businesses, and Council Grove was excited to have a railroad connection to Kansas towns east.

Osage Free Press, Dec. 16, 1903

Ranchers in Wabaunsee County were excited to use the new railroad to haul their cattle to Kansas City and smaller towns, like Halifax, were excited for a possible population boost. Plans were made to expand the railroad to Emporia (as seen above) but also to Burlington, Tonganoxie, and Brown County(!). But that wasn't all. Proposals for the track to be used to bus Washburn University students to and from their nearby hometowns were made. They tried to even hype up the Rock Island and Santa Fe railroads that having a railroad running directly between their lines would help them. The extensions to Burlington and Pierce Junction were specifically to attract attention of the Santa Fe and Missouri Pacific railroads.

Despite being told in 1905 that there was not enough population to warrant a railroad, Topeka and Council Grove continued to push it. In 1906, now renamed the Topeka & Southwestern Railroad, officers were elected to plan a route and secure money for the railroad. The routes they chose, expanding the plan to two lines were selected in late 1906. The estimated locations are in the map above. Work started in November 1907 with a dirt moving ceremony on Washburn university campus. This gesture was apparently just ceremonial.

W.L. Taylor, of Taylor Grain Co. who was the president of
the Topeka & Southwestern. The vice president was Charles King
Holliday, son of Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad founder, Cyrus Holliday.

The right-of-way was extended in 1909 for another year and some grading was done in Morris and Dickinson counties and in Topeka but little work moved beyond that. In 1912, some of the grading in Morris and Dickinson was purchased by another railroad. In 1913, C.A. Magee urged Topeka to commit bonds to building the railroad from Topeka to Dover, hoping to spur development. They refused and finally the Topeka & Southwestern died.

The Arkansas City Daily News of April 18, 1914 reports "Southwest of Topeka there is a railroad grade of the Topeka & Southwestern and near Council Grove there is some more grade for the same line. In several places in Kansas may be found the grades of railroads of great promises but which were never built."

The grand plans for the Topeka & Southwestern Railroad. Though not mentioned in any article, it
was apparently planned to extend the Council Grove line to Marion, Kansas and have a line running
south out of Topeka to Garnett.