by Carl Graves/photos by the author
More than a quarter-century ago, I ran into Kansas City Southern’s sleek business train while photograph-ing that railroad’s freight action south of Kansas City. Canadian Pacific’s re-cent acquisition of KCS prompted me to recall some favorite moments on this unique, mid-sized railroad, and my chance encounter with the company’s “varnish” is on that list. Although 99 per-cent of my KCS slide-box space is filled with freights in red, white, gray, and the red/yellow/black “Belle” schemes, I am grateful that I managed to record the exterior and interior of this fascinating passenger movement back in 1996.
Wednesday morning, May 29, 1996, when I was headed east from my Lawrence, Kan., home to the KCS north-south Shreveport Subdivision for another day of freight train photography, an unusual communication came over my scanner. A crew member on what he said was “KCS 1” was talking to the Shreveport dispatcher. He said he was going to “the town hall meeting of KCS employees” in the division point/yard town of Pittsburg, Kan. I thought to myself: “Wow! I want to see it!” I knew that KCS 1 was an FP9A locomotive assigned to the business train that new KCS President Michael Haverty had ordered in May 1995 to entertain shippers and guests. Over my scanner, I heard the dispatcher give the KCS 1 crew per-mission to head south from Kansas City’s Knoche Yard.
ABOVE: The KCS business train is southbound on January 7, 2006, at Amsterdam, Mo. Tucked in behind the power is KCS’s Holiday Express, which spent Christmas at Kansas City Union Station.
Luck was with me as I managed to beat the train to the Missouri D Highway overpass located a little over 30 miles south of Knoche Yard. As it came into view, I saw a pair of FP9A locomotives pulling three passenger cars. All were shiny black with smart red and yellow trim. I decided to get another view at a road overpass at MP 63 in Amsterdam, Mo. I beat the train there because I drove much faster on rural roads than the train, which was limited to 45 mph. I decided to pursue the train to Pittsburg, Kan., MP 128, via US Highway 69. Upon arrival in Pittsburg, I managed another photo as the train halted in the yard. I breathed a sigh of relief, then got a snack at a nearby convenience store.
I returned to the yard after the train’s passengers had left for the town meeting with railroad employees. Notes I took that day indicated that, in addition to KCS 1 and KCS 4, there were three cars: 98 (the work car), 56 (named Jackson), and 99 (named New Orleans). A car attendant who noticed me admiring the train invited me to come aboard — that is, after I had slipped protective cloth booties over my shoes…
