page_title: Marion County, Kansas
section_title: Rock Island Railroad
hierarchical_section_title: Marion County, Kansas / History / 19th century / Rock Island Railroad
caption_attribution_description: English: 1875 іllustration of a Russian Mennonite "saraj" or burdei - a type of half-dugout shelter in the village of Gnadenau, Kansas. From Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, March 20, 1875. Українська: "Сарай" — Напівземлянка Менонітів в м. Ґнадену, Канзас, США.
context_page_description: Marion County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat is Marion and its most populous city is Hillsboro. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 12,660. The county was named in honor of Francis Marion, a Brigadier General of the American Revolutionary War, known as the "Swamp Fox".
context_section_description: In 1887, the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway extended its main line from Herington to Pratt.  This main line connected Herington, Ramona, Tampa, Durham, Waldeck, Canton, Galva, McPherson, Groveland, Inman, Medora, Hutchinson, Whiteside, Partridge, Arlington,  Langdon, Turon, Preston, Natrona, Pratt. In 1888, this main line was extended to Liberal. Later, this line was extended to Tucumcari, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas. This line is called the "Golden State Limited".
  In 1887, the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway built a branch line north-south from Herington to Caldwell.  This branch line connected Herington, Lost Springs, Lincolnville, Antelope, Marion, Aulne, Peabody, Elbing, Whitewater, Furley, Kechi, Wichita, Peck, Corbin, Wellington, Caldwell. By 1893, this branch line was incrementally built to Fort Worth, Texas. This line is called the "OKT".
  The "Rock Island" has switches in Peabody and Lost Springs to allow connections to the crossing "Santa Fe" railroad in each city.
  The Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway was foreclosed in 1891 and was taken over by Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway, which shut down in 1980 and reorganized as Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas Railroad, merged in 1988 with Missouri Pacific Railroad, and finally merged in 1997 with Union Pacific Railroad. Most locals still refer to this railroad as the "Rock Island".
caption: Burdei-type housing in Gnadenau 
  (Frank Leslie's Illustrated March 20, 1875)
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