A&SV Smoky Hill River Bridge

In 1887, the Chicago, Kansas & Nebraska Railway (CK&N) constructed a 48-mile branch line, extending from Herington, Kansas to Salina, Kansas.  This route was one of several constructed in the mid to late 1880s by the CK&N.  The CK&N was almost exclusively funded by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway (Rock Island).  The Rock Island sought to expand west through Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado, where they saw an entrance to the Denver market as vital for the railroad. This route served as a branch line, mainly serving small towns.  In 1891, the CK&N failed to make a payment to the Rock Island.  As a result, the Rock Island took over ownership and operations entirely.  The Rock Island had constructed and acquired a large railroad network throughout the Midwest.  After World War II, the Rock Island struggled to survive, proposing mergers and deferring maintenance on their routes.  The Rock Island struggled to compete with a stronger and better constructed Union Pacific system.  By 1964, the Rock Island began attempts to merge with Union Pacific, and restructure railroads west of the Mississippi River.  This merger was eventually denied, and Rock Island turned its last profit in 1965.  In the mid-1970s, the railroad was in serious decline.  The railroad received loans to attempt to fix slow orders, received new equipment and turn a profit.  By 1978, the railroad came close to profit, but creditors were lobbying for a complete shutdown of the Rock Island.  During the fall of 1979, a strike crippled the railroad, and by January of 1980, the entire system was ordered to be shut down and liquidated.  Many of the lines and equipment were scrapped.  Profitable sections of railroad were prepared for sale.  A small segment of this line was sold to the Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad, a tourist railroad.  Today, the A&SV operates a segment between Abilene and Woodbine, while the remainder of the line is abandoned.