Santa Fe's Marceline Subdivision
With just six days remaining before Santa Fe was to be merged with the Burlington Northern, Pentrex set out to do something special to mark the occasion. It was decided to document these last few days of Santa Fe's independence by capturing the action along the Marceline Subdivision. Starting at Fort Madison, Iowa, we began a trek that took us across the isolated Missouri hills and river valleys toward Kansas City. Experiencing all types of weather, we had our share of both sunshine and rain as we relentlessly sought out photo locations along the double-tracked line. Step by step, and day by day, we made our way toward Kansas City, arriving there on the afternoon of Santa Fe's last full day, September 21, 1995.
The Marceline Sub traverses some of the most isolated, backwoods territory imaginable for this part of the country. The tracks climb and twist through the scenic rolling hills of northeastern Missouri. Overhead bridges offer excellent views of Santa Fe's hottest trains. The thirty miles of joint operations with Norfolk Southern are viewed as trains from both railroads race across the tangent speedway. On our final day we view the single-tracked Missouri River bridge and head on to Kansas City to reach the end of the Marceline Sub.
Join us as we say good-bye to an old friend and pay tribute to one of America's favorite railroads. The days clicked off one by one and when the trek was complete we'd reached the end of an era on this Countdown to Merger.