Memories from the Homestead: Mike Sypult gives railroad presentation for Stone County

A near full house attended last Saturday's meeting in Crane hosted by the Stone County Historical/Genealogical Society. Held across the street from their museum at the New Hope Church, guest speaker Mike Sypult gave everyone a look at the arrival of the White River Line in Stone County and the 1902-05 construction. 

Showing dozens of rare photos, many by photographer George Hall from the years 1908 through 1915, Sypult went into deep discussion showing rare photography of the railway in Branson and took everyone on a photographic look of the thirty miles between Branson and Crane. The towns of Branson, Gretna, Garber, Marvel Cave Switch, Reeds Spring (Ruth), Carico, Galena, Elsey and Crane were all showcased.

Sypult, who currently lives in Rogers, Arkansas, serves as president of the Arkansas Boston Mountains Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, based in Springdale.

Above, left: A rare George Hall picture postcard of the depot at Crane in 1910. Hall photo 574. (Photo courtesy of the Stone County Historical/Genealogical Society) Above, right: Missouri Pacific locomotive 6607 with four passenger cars attempts to come into Branson during the May 1945 flood. The photographer looking west is on the present day Business 65 Roark Creek bridge below Cox Hospital.  (Photo courtesy of the Branson Centennial Museum)

Everyone was amazed with the amount of facts and figures he shared, especially during the 1904 and 1905 era when the tracks were laid across Stone County by Harris Track Layer.

I was fascinated by several details. For instance, there are nearly 3,000 railroad ties laid in just one mile of track. So, the entire 239-mile line from Carthage to Diaz, Arkansas, used over 800,000 ties just to bring it to completion.

Another interesting tidbit, Sypult explained how the steam powered trains were still able to handle flooded tracks, as long as the water over the tracks was no more than three feet deep. Diesel locomotives could not do this as water over the tracks would cut off the air supply and cause all sorts of electrical malfunctions. Sypult showed a photo of floodwaters in 1945, a train coming into Branson.

Going into greater detail in Stone County, Sypult covered a number of photo descriptions from the tunnel at Reeds Spring, rare photography of their depot when it had the Ruth name on it, all the way to discussion about a 1911 washout along Railey Creek near Reeds Spring. Yes, a southbound train on its way to Branson ended up with the locomotive in the creek because the bridge was gone. Photographer George Hall was at the scene after the wreck with his camera and documented the clean-up efforts. The line was impassible for several weeks. Similar circumstances would occur with bridge fires as well, the 1910 fire to bridge 105 west of Garber was also discussed by Sypult. 

An interesting look at the railroad crossing the James River at Galena was discussed with various photos of the bridge into recent years.

Crane, Missouri, played a major role in the Missouri Pacific Railway operation. Crane served as a division terminal with a roundhouse and offices, and later a branch line was completed to Springfield.  It was an impressive time in our community history.

And one more "did you know." Sypult explained that back in that era, the rails were only 39 feet in length. This was because the gondola cars that shipped them were only 40 feet long. Approximately 270 segments of rail at 39 feet in length are in a mile of track.

The Stone County Historical/Genealogical Society at Crane is located at 103 South Main, and they are open on Thursdays and Saturdays. Visit their website at stonecountymuseum.org or call 417-230-0800.