Railroad Timetables

Each of the timetables below shows passenger rail service with stops in Ellinwood. The Santa Fe Main Line went from Topeka to Emporia to Florence to Newton to Hutchinson. It then followed the north side of the Arkansas River to Sterling, Ellinwood, Great Bend, Larned, Kinsley and then west to Dodge City and beyond. In later years, an alternate route was built, beelining from Hutchinson to Kinsley via St. John. More trains followed this route but some service was still provided on the older original route.

The timetables from 1902 through 1956 show trains leaving Ellinwood in a third direction: due east. This line went from Ellinwood through Lyons, Little River***, McPherson, and Marion to Florence where it met the Main Line. For many years, service on this line was self-propelled passenger cars known affectionately as doodlebugs. In the final years of passenger service on this line, the service degraded a “mixed train”, basically a freight train that had one passenger car.

*** At Little River, there was a branch line to Galatia which provided some passenger service.

Ellinwood Chamber of Commerce
110½ North Main Street
Ellinwood, Kansas 67526
(620)566-7353
ellinwoodchamber@hotmail.com

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