The Greenfield & Northern: A Southwest Missouri Shortline Railroad has accumulated memories, maps, photographs, and official documents about the bold capitalist effort to encourage the development of an interesting but somewhat somnambulant section of Missouri. This geographic region transitions from the hilly, rocky Ozarks to the plains that extend to the eastern slope of the Rockies. It has more agricultural promise than the true Ozarks. In the late 19th century diligent efforts were made to grow small trading communities into real town. Such town-growing activities required a railroad. The author, Larry Murphy, assisted by his son, R. King Murphy, has written an intriguing saga of the phenomenal energies expended connecting these little towns with the outside world.
Back cover, The Greenfield & Northern. The couple in the center are Thomas A. Miller and his wife, Clara Belle (Jopes). Miller was known for many things besides the railroad – his lumber businesses, the town named for him, construction of the courthouse and Aurora’s Franklin school, and his public service in Aurora.
Photo from Aurora Centennial. “Wedding day picture of Mr. and Mrs. Tom Miller.”
The saga of the iron horse is dramatic, and too often filled with miscalculations of need. There were rail projects that were never completed even after financing had been secured. Bonds for such projects were left to be paid by unhappy investors. Eventually trucks and automobiles cut into the services once supplied by railroads. Missouri rail lines peaked in 1920 at 8,117 miles. By 2017, there were only 3,862 miles—103 miles less than in 1880. Some short lines became integrated into major lines. Many had their rails pulled and were abandoned to many years later be occasionally repurposed as hiking trails—“Rails to Trails” program.
South Greenfield depots on right; Sanborn Insurance maps of S. Greenfield in 1892 and 1920
The senior Murphy has a poignant recollection: “One of my favorite memories of growing up in Greenfield, MO (population 1,353) was going to see the Frisco local come into Greenfield from the Kansas City-Springfield-Memphis main line at south Greenfield. This would have been about 1941. I would hear the train whistle for the U. S. 160 crossing south of town near the “Southern Club” and immediately would call Grandad, Porter Murphy, to come get me so we could go see the train. “
Murphy goes on to report that even at 4 years old, he knew the track was “in deplorable condition.” Trains didn’t turn out to be the agents of development town leaders and developers imagined but they certainly were a spectacle in the context of the limited entertainments available in these villages.
Railroad tracks in Dade County, south of Greenfield. On the left is the site of an engine derailment about 1940. On the right, a 3.6% grade was too much for an overloaded G&N train. Fortunately, no derailment, just a slow slide back to the depot.
Larry Murphy’s memories of his father and grandfather are woven into his recollection of the railroad: “All of this, my granddad’s interest in taking me to the train, his stories of the old Greenfield& Northern, his interest in my interest in trains, railroads and mining all made for some wonderful memories and the basis for some additional stories.”
Long after these ultimately uneconomic ventures fail, locals remember not only the spectacle of these monster moving pieces of iron, but they recall the individuals who crewed them and manned the depots. Probably Larry Murphy is not the only citizen who has passed on an affection for railroads long gone. Larry’s son R. King Murphy wrote a short story called “The Ritual” printed in the June 16, 1994, Vedette. Wrote the son: “I have often wished I could have been there with them as the steam-powered mechanical marvels of a bygone era plied the high iron.”
Two pictures of BNSF switching a number of hoppers at Pennington Seed in Greenfield.
A number of first-hand accounts exist of the effect of rail transportation and of course the inevitable and memorable train wrecks. An amazing number of photographs were taken of the old-time trains and Murphy has numerous maps that explain the towns the line connected. The Greenfield & Northern has vanished but is not forgotten as this book shows.
The book is available for $20 postage paid from Larry Murphy (larrymurf37@gmail.com), 2895 Claflin RD., Suite 200, Manhattan, KS 66502. (785-477-0517)
The Murphys are at work on another book on the Kansas City, Clinton, and Springfield railroad.
These intimate local histories are valuable because they preserve not only the raw facts—dates, places, economic implications, but the mythos of our romance with technology. Generously, the Murphys have donated copies to regional libraries.
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