While the Urban Renewal Project undoubtedly wins the Sorest Subject Award in Dodge City, the demise of the DCF&B easily makes the Top Ten. People are still bitter.

After the Rock Island Railroad failed in the 1970s, a subsidiary of Southern Pacific bought the spur from Dodge City to Bucklin. There wasn’t enough freight moving along that line to justify maintaining the rails so service was discontinued.

The Ford County Historic Railroad Preservation Foundation was formed on December 21, 1982 with plans to start an excursion railroad on the abandoned spur. Understanding this was an extremely expensive endeavor, the group intended to accommodate overnight grain traffic for additional revenue.

Dick and Peg Ranney of the Dodge City CVB were the public faces of the project, which was originally to be called the Boot Hill Express. Fundraising and publicity campaigns began immediately.

The railroad’s name was changed to the Dodge City, Ford, and Bucklin Railroad in early 1985.

The group was able to obtain the 26.5 miles of right-of-way for $1 (or $2 depending on which newspaper you believe) later that year.

The excursion was meant to be a three-hour round-trip ride with music and other entertainment.

The Ranneys hoped to include staged train robberies and other Wild West themed events for tourists’ amusement.

Locomotives and passenger cars began arriving in 1986 and the group worked on a color scheme, which ended up being navy blue and white with yellow pinstripes.

In September of 1986, the DCF&B received a federal grant of $86,000 to repair the tracks.

Senator Bob Dole also helped direct a ton of money toward restoration through the omnibus spending bill that October.

A Baldwin steam locomotive was purchased for $50,000 in 1988 but it had to be moved all the way from Hill City, South Dakota. That cost another $14,000. This article says it was built in 1914 but a later article said it was the No. 14 locomotive which was built in 1913. Either way, it was old.

The Ranneys both lost their jobs at CVB in the Fall of 1988 due to *gestures vaguely* reasons and they bought the railroad the following year. That was when they formed the Dodge City Ford & Bucklin Railroad Company.

The railroad had all kinds of creative promotions. Passengers boarded at the old Water Sports Campground and were usually fed and entertained.

The blue and white color scheme with subtle yellow pinstriping was very striking, as shown in this photo from 1991.

The DCF&B also acquired a couple depots. I believe the Old Depot Gift Shop in Ford was previously a Santa Fe depot in Moscow, Kansas.

The depot they purchased for Bucklin came from Holcomb and it doesn’t seem like that one was ever completely finished. Most of the time the DCF&B operated, it either turned around at Wilroads or Ford. By 1995, the Ranneys still hoped to do the full ride to Bucklin.

By 1998, the DCF&B was running For Sale ads in Trains Magazine. The last annual report was filed for 1999 and operations ceased the following year.

Boot Hill & Western Railway Co., owned by the Right Cooperative Association, was formed on September 1, 2000. Later that month, a four-day DCF&B sale was held at the Ford depot.

BH&W ended up operating the line for agriculture and most of the rolling stock landed in Guthrie, Oklahoma. But again, the traffic wasn’t there so the rails were pulled from just past the Wilroads elevator to Bucklin around 2005.

A new entity called Boot Hill & Western Railway Holding Co., Inc. was formed on April 7, 2015. This company is owned by MidWest Pacific Rail Net & Logistics of Missouri which still operates the BH&W. The old Rock Island branch between Dodge City and Wilroads is mainly used for railcar storage. Every once in a while, you’ll see WTLR91 moving cars across South Second. I believe the BH&W still has active interchanges with the BNSF and Cimarron Valley Railroad in Dodge.

These are current photos of the 1941 Alco S1 which was pictured pulling the caboose in 1991.

Here is the 1950s EMD GP7 which is used to move stored cars.

And this is how the old Rock Island line appears from the old Watersports Campground looking toward Wilroads Gardens.

One can’t help but think the DCF&B was a terrific concept about a decade ahead of its time. I’ve gone many hours out of my way for murder mystery train rides, Oktoberfest train rides, scenic train rides…you get the idea. There’s no going back now but I have nothing but respect for the people who tried to make it work. It wasn’t for nothing.

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309 Third Avenue

In the 1880s, Dodge City dreamt big. People were moving here from modern cities and they knew the survival of a community depended on rail access. The Santa Fe line was a vital link but it wasn’t enough to establish this area as a commercial hub. Dodge also needed modern amenities to attract more newcomers. A streetcar service was planned but never materialized. I won’t bore you with all of the railroad companies which formed and fizzled. There were many.

The Chicago, Kansas & Nebraska Railroad was formed at the end of 1885 and received its charter in January of 1886. It was financed by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, which would operate the line in Kansas.

Mayor A. B. Webster traveled to Chicago in July of 1886 to meet with Rock Island officials regarding the extension of the line to Dodge City. There was a lot of back and forth over whether to sell bonds to help finance its construction.

The Rock Island, Dodge City & Denver Railway was formed in April of 1887 in anticipation of the main line’s arrival. Directors were George Hoover, Chalk Beeson, J. H. Crawford, James Langton, Robert Wright, James Arment, R. W. Evans, D. M. Frost, W. C. Shinn, George Cox, C. A. Milton, R. Small, and A. Russell.

That company was absorbed by the Arkansas, Kansas & Colorado Railway Co. the following month. A special bond election was announced for June 22, 1887 to aid this new company in building the line. It was said this could be accomplished by December 31, 1887. Voters approved $120,000 in bonds to make it happen.

The planned route was along Fourth Street in Crawford’s Addition with a depot just to the west of Bridge Street.

That requires a bit of translation for you to understand where the heck they were talking about. Bridge Street is now Second Avenue and Fourth Street is now Sycamore Street.

So yes, South Dodge had a depot which cost around $4,000 and it was nearly enclosed by mid-December of 1887 when the track reached town.

For the first time in the history of the world, a project was completed ahead of schedule. The first passenger train arrived on December 29, 1887 and P. G. Reynolds established a bus service between the Rock Island and Santa Fe depots.

The weird little spur from the main line to Dodge City was the subject of great controversy. When those bonds were sold, people thought they were getting main line service rather than a trip to Bucklin where they would then connect to the main line. Such is life.

The need for a link between the Rock Island and Santa Fe lines was immediately apparent. By the end of 1889, plans for a bridge across the Arkansas River were underway.

The 1892 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map shows the Rock Island connection to the Santa Fe line at Third Avenue and South Front Street with a small wood frame railroad tool house. Land was purchased at this spot in 1897 and the buildings were removed that November to make room for the depot. One of the homes was moved to Military Avenue by J. F. O’Neal, later of the O’Neal Hotel. The 90-foot depot was loaded onto a couple flat cars and moved in December of 1897.

A wooden platform was constructed along the siding and plans were made for a sidewalk which would connect to the nearby Santa Fe depot.

Flooding along Third Avenue was a constant problem so a culvert system was installed and the tracks were raised.

The depot was enlarged in 1914 to increase the size of the waiting room at the east end of the building.

Rock Island traffic peaked in the mid-1950s. Aging infrastructure and non-rail competition contributed to its decline.

The company lost $16.6 million in 1970 and spiraled into its third bankruptcy in 1975.

The depot was no longer needed and was sold to Wayne and Suzanne Gilbert, who had the building moved to its current location on Avenue A for use as a residence.

The unfinished home was included in the AAUW holiday home tour lineup in 1976.

The former Rock Island Depot location is currently a parking lot.

If I remember correctly, the depot was sided with cedar shingles for several years but it now resembles a log cabin. You can view a couple photos by clicking here and here or check out the Google Street View images here.

I’ll leave the drama surrounding the end of the Rock Island line into Dodge City for another day. It’s nice to occasionally see rolling stock moving along the tracks on Sycamore and the former depot being converted to a residence really was the best possible outcome.

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