OSAWATOMIE, Kan. — On Tuesday, residents of Osawatomie, Kansas, took a walk through their town history with the 30-minute stop of Union Pacific's Big Boy No. 4014 steam locomotive.
"Forty years of riding this track to Coffeyville, and to see something this big that you've never seen before come through town, it’s really great," said James Crowl, former brakeman and conductor for Missouri-Pacific.
The first train entered Osawatomie in 1879. It became a division point for Missouri Pacific in 1880, supplying a steady source of water for locomotives.
"It was a roaring frontier town," said Ted Hunter, a local historian and manager of the Osawatomie History Museum and MoPac Railroad Depot Museum. "When the railroad came, it really started to grow."
In 1910, President Theodore Roosevelt traveled to Osawatomie in a private car on a Missouri Pacific train.
Roosevelt's visit brought 30,000 people to hear a speech at the dedication of John Brown Park.
The once quiet farm town grew into a bustling railroad depo. The city played a pivotal role transporting troops during World War II.
But in 1982, the hub of Osawatomie would grow silent.
"It was devastating," James Crowl said.
The longtime operator moved to Osawatomie in the early 1960s. He was a 1967 graduate of Osawatomie High School and a member of its 1966 undefeated championship football team,.
He played high school football alongside former Green Bay Packers Quarterback Lynn Dickey.
Following a stint at Kansas State University, James returned home and worked in a local labor yard.
“I would work all month for $486," he said.
He quickly changed his career path with an apprenticeship at the rail yard.
"In the first 10 days on the railroad, I made $500," Crowl said with a laugh. "I thought, 'Boy, this was a good move."'
He began his career working as a brakeman and finished his career as conductor.
Crowl retired in 2009.
“It made the town," he said about railroad's impact.
What was a five-mile drive to work, soon became 60 miles. In 1982, Missouri Pacific merged with Union Pacific. The company eventually closing the roundhouse in Osawatomie.
“It’s a ghost town compared to what it was," Crowl said. "It was devastating."
For 25 years, Crowl represented employees in the labor union.
"I attended all their meetings through the mergers," he said. "All they could talk about was how great it was going to be to have their base in Kansas City. I told them, 'We have railroad families, five to six generations deep,"' explained Crowl. "That’s what you get in these towns. When you go to these big cities, you’re not going to be able to find them. There will be no identity as a railroad. And I was right."
Osawatomie doesn't have a local grocery store, just one local restaurant and a pair of cafes.
Crowl says during the the peak of his tenure with the railroad, the town had two grocery stores, a J.C. Penney's department store, and restaurants that lined Main Street.
Hunter says another element to the changing landscape of the town came from employment restructuring at the Kansas State Hospital.
"It (Union Pacific merger) was the changing of an era in Osawatomie. That era was gone," said Crowl. "I don’t buy gas in town, because in Kansas City, Missouri, gas was 15 cents a gallon cheaper. The lost a lot of sales by everyone having to go up there. They didn't eat here anymore. They'd take their wives to a place they passed on their way to work, rather than spending it in Osawatomie or Paola."
The doors of the Osawatomie railroad offices were locked for the final time in January 1987.
Since the railroads left, former Missouri Pacific and Union Pacific employees and their descendants remain vital to the communities framework.
MoPac and Union Pacific have made donations to the community's cultural life. MoPac helped establish the town's first library in 1890. Union Pacific recently donated to the expansion of the Osawatomie Public Library.
Despite the challenges endured following the MoPac-Union Pacific merger, thousands gathered Tuesday for the walk down memory lane.
"The first family to come through the museum this morning drove from Tennessee to see our town and the train," said Hunter. "People needed to have lunch and that’s good for the few eating establishments we have here. It was a shot in the arm."
The Osawatomie School District ended classes early so families could enjoy the arrival of Union Pacific's 1.2-million pound World War II era steam engine.
"This is part of the kids past. I bet they didn’t even know they had. It should give them a little bit of pride knowing that this was once a Missouri Pacific Railroad area,” Crowl said.
Hunter agreed with Crowl on the impact of the locomotive's visit.
"I think they’re seeing that things weren’t so bad back in the old days. They’re seeing the marvel of steam. The steam engine is as intricate as a Swiss watch. Everything has to work precisely," explained Hunter. "I see a sense of pride of where we have come and we will go. We are not a dead town. There is a lot of life here and you saw that today."
Union Pacific's Big Boy No. 4014 is traveling across 10 states on its Heartland of America Tour.
"I just think about the thousands and thousands of trains that came through here," Crowl said. "These were some really awesome times."
Hunter is optimistic the town will roar back.
"The spirit of Osawatomie is alive and well," added Hunter. "We’re going through some struggles right now, but we’ll come out on the other side, richer and stronger. Not like we used to be, but richer and stronger, better than we used to be.”
Big Boy No. 4014 concludes its Kansas City metro tour on Thursday, October 17. The train will be available for viewing at Union Station.
More information on how to see the train at Union Station can be found here.
For more information on the Osawatomie History Museum & MoPac Depot Railroad Depot Museum, including hours of operation, click here.
