The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-01-12

In the sixties Topeka was city with
out a railroad and the prosperity OF
the city began when the first railroad
was built and as the railroads in
creased in number the city's popula-
ton and its prosperity began to grow
with it, and today we are city OF
over $4,000 people and have four OF
the best railroads in the United states,
but they are not enough. Judging the
future by the past, and knowing that
railroads are the foundation of pros
perity, there is no better way to con-
tinue our prosperity than to secure
more railroads.
For the past eight months I have
been collecting statistics pertaining to
the construction, building and operat-
ing of railroads and 1 today find that
there is now one-fifth of Topeka's pop
ulation regularly employed by railroad
companies, and nearly one-half of US
receives our bread and butter directly
or indirectly from railroad money.
While the trunk lines are the big rail-
road companies and employ the peo-
pie in the shops, offices, operating de-
partment, etc, they will not add so
much to the prosperity of the city as
a net work of strictly interurban or To-
cal railways. A few years ago the
members of this Commercial club
started out to secure the building of
an electric tnterurban railroad from
Topeka to Council Grove. A meeting
was called in Topeka of the various
counties interested in the proposition
and considerable enthusiasm was man.
ifested. They Immediately perfected
an organization to promote and secure
financial aid in securing this railroad;
this organization was known as the
Topeka Eskridge & Council Grove In
terurban railroad. At that time the
plans were to build an electric line.
Last May this company turned this
matter over to the writer to secure
financial assistance to build and equip
this line. After presenting it to sew
era1 different financial houses and con-
ferring with several railroad officials
decided that the line could never be
financed as a trolley proposition, but if
1t could be built as a standard steam
railroad we would have no trouble in
getting some financial house to take
hold of it. 1 Immediately prepared
report upon the proposition on the
basis of a steam railroad and pre-
scented 1t to Lamprecht Bros. & Co of
New York, and to be brief they have
now accepted it and proposed to Build
and equip it at once.
At the time when I presented this
proposition to the NJ y York bankers
also presented several other branches
of Interurban lines radiating from To-
pelxa and by the map which I have
prepared showing these lines. it can be
easily seen what 1t would mean to To-
peka If these lines could be built. The
plan that I have mapped out to the
financial people is to build the four
lines, namely one from topeka TO
Marion via Dover, Eskridge and Coun-
Gil Grove, one from Topeka to Pierce
Junction via Denison and Muscotah.
another from Topeka south through
Auburn Scranton or Burlingame,
Usage City or Lyndon to Burlington.
Coffee county. and the fourth line from
Topeka to Tonganoxie. These lines
could be constructed, operated and
managed under one management and
one depot centrally located could ac-
commodate all of them. and in addi-
ton to giving local and interurban
service this line could be rented or
track arrangements could be made
with other lines, and I will add that
both the Missouri Pacific and the NJ.
X. & T. arr now considering very ser
iously of lending their assistance in
this project and I have already been
assured by the officials of the Mis-
souri, Pacific that if we constructed a
line from Topeka to Tonganoxie that
they would be only too glad to operate
their trans-Continental trains over our
line from Council Grove via Topeka
and Tonganoxie to Kansas City. The
North line would probably bring more
passengers to Topeka than any other
lnterurban line entering the city BY
n careful examination of the map, it