Bob Barnett has been a member of the NMRA and LSR since 1981 and served seven years as LSR Vice President. Bob has been a member of the Missouri Pacific and Katy Railroad Historical Societies since the mid 80’s and currently serves on the board of both societies. Bob was awarded MMR No. 602 in 2018. He is currently rebuilding his River City Union Terminal (RCUT) which models the MoPac main from St. Louis to Texas, in a much larger location that allows more towns and working terminals. The old layout in Houston required four operators. The expanded layout in Navasota will need ten operators when completed. Many of the trains discussed in the clinics run during RCUT ops sessions.
CLINIC #1 of 2 - Passenger Trains to The Southwest
A PowerPoint presentation discusses the four competing routes from St. Louis to Houston in 1900. By the mid-20th Century the competitive routes had diminished to two: 1) the combined Katy-Frisco route featuring the Texas Special and the Bluebonnet, and 2) The Mopac/T&P route featuring the Sunshine Special and Texas Eagles. The Cotton Belt, a distant third, featured some interesting trains to Dallas and Tyler.
CLINIC #2 of 2 - MoPac Mail Trains
The Missouri Pacific held the major mail contracts to Texas out of St. Louis. The MoPac ran several trains that were primarily head end traffic including No 7 and No 8 overnight mail trains to Texas that also carried coaches and a couple of Pullmans on the rear. MoPac also operated Train 37, a dedicated mail and express train, that left St. Louis in advance of No. 7 and carried no passengers. The presentation shows photos of the engines and cars that were used on these trains including the eastern trunk carriers that transferred storage mail cars at St. Louis, including the Pennsy, NYC and B&O.
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