The Story

The story of the Neosho Valley Lines does not actually begin with me. It begins with the Cherry Valley Model Railroad Club in Cherryvale, KS. The Neosho Valley Lines was originally their concept, created around the time the club was founded almost 50 years ago. Later, they decided to turn to a prototypical modeling focus, so I chose to take the NVL concept and build it out into a powerhouse Class-I railroad with a North-South transcontinental line before CPKC made it popular.

The Premise

The Neosho Valley Lines was created in the late-1930s by a Kansas entrepreneur who wanted to “get a foothold” in the railroad industry at the time. He accomplished this by going to the Missouri Pacific Railroad, as he had contacts there, and bought a portion of their Central and Eastern Kansas lines in order to give them a much-needed cash infusion; ones considered secondary or branch line properties. By the early 1970s, those had become remarkably lucrative and remained so even after the relative collapse of the Southeast Kansas coal market, and Sexton-Weigel Holdings was looking to grow. Fortunately, the Rock Island was in somewhat dire straits, and became a very tempting target. Just prior to filing bankruptcy, Sexton-Weigel approached the owners of the railroad as well as the ICC and proposed a bailout. Meanwhile, and somewhat coincidentally, the Milwaukee Road was also in a bit of (self-inflicted) trouble, and there were indications the line from Minneapolis West to Washington state would be on the chopping block. Now, to be clear, Sexton-Weigel Holdings was not MADE of money, but given the fact several of their real-estate properties had significant amounts of oil and mineral content they were able to come to agreements for those acquisitions without any borrowed funds, which the ICC found most pleasing. And thus, by 1977 the NVL had grown exponentially. Capital improvement processes were implemented, branch lines that saw little or no revenue and/or were beat to hell and back were trimmed, and new lanes of traffic from the West Coast AND from Canada started to move.

In the early days, the NVL would beg, steal, or borrow steam power from just about anyone it could, and the resulting roster, while small, was a hodgepodge of different styles and configurations, including Consolidations, Mikados, Ten-Wheelers, a couple of Northerns, a few Santa Fe’s, and even three Y6b-class Mallets from the N&W. They also picked up a couple of Pacifics in the event any dedicated passenger service was required, but they were not needed and were subsequently sold, save one which was used for the business train. Of course, from a modeler’s perspective this is ABSOLUTELY cheating or taking the “easy” way out, because I can buy any steam engine model and not need to make any changes at all to the details. Though I do try to avoid any with high-mounted headlights. Not a fan of that look.

When dieselization began, the NVL immediately developed an affinity for Alco locomotives. They avoided the 539-series prime mover with the exception of the S-series switchers, obtaining several S2 and S4 models as well as a couple of the S3 examples. When the 244-series prime movers were introduced, the NVL was all-in, obtaining several models of the RS2, RS3, and RSD5, then fully committed when the 251-series was offered. They began with the RS11 and RSD12, but quickly adopted at least a few each of the RS27 and the RS32. One RSD15 came from the Atlantic & Southern, and remained the only example of that model on the roster. When the Century-series arrived, the NVL was 100% all-in on Alco power, and obtained several models each of the C420, C424, and C425 from the 4-axle catalog, along with C628s and C630s. They also obtained a couple of C430s but were not impressed, preferring the more reliable C424/425 over the higher horsepower. Sexton-Weigel’s owner and CEO had joked on multiple occasions that if he could have, he would have kept Alco in business for his own needs. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and by the time the former Rock Island an Milwaukee Road properties came into the fold, they had to turn to the second-hand market to fill out the roster, picking up units from Conrail as quickly as they could retire them. They also reached out to Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) to supplant their used power with some new units. Additionally, their MLW partnership also allowed the NVL to begin an extensive capital rebuild program for the 244-powered fleet as well as the second-hand Century models. The quick purchase of the RI/MILW trackage did require some temporary roster-filling from leasers and from the Rock Island’s extensive EMD roster, though, which did not make the maintenance forces for the NVL too terribly pleased.

Despite their adherence to Alco’s stable of power, the NVL did procure some models from Baldwin as well, including S12 switchers, as well as AS16 and AS616 units. Crews were especially impressed by the tractive effort put out by the AS616s, so they were quickly assigned to heavy freight moves usually associated with the coal and zinc mining industry, with some of them still in-service to this day.

Which brings us to the “present-day era” for the NVL of 1989-1993. No, it’s not a coincidence that’s my start-to-finish High School period. This is where my awareness of railfanning and model railroading truly took flight, so that’s what I chose to model.

The coal and mineral moves in Southeast Kansas dried up, and by the early-80s Sexton-Weigel and the NVL were actually starting to show a few cracks in their armor. Despite that, they remained resilient and focused, while not making any additional major purchases of property or motive power during that time. The original NVL was split into two separate sister companies, with the line from Wichita-East to Ft. Scott and Nevada along with the White River sub becoming the Denver, Memphis & Atlantic and the line south from Ft. Scott to Pittsburg and west through Sedan to Conway Springs and Larned becoming the Verdigris Valley, Independence & Western. Both of those roads, much to the chagrin of the NVL shop forces, became primarily EMD or GE, and the Alcos were shifted to the ex-Rock Island and Milwaukee trackage.

The NVL and its sibling properties struggled in the 80s despite seeing some benefit from passage of the Staggers Rail Act, but eventually they were able to work with the Port of Seattle to bring in fairly significant amounts of intermodal traffic as well as import/export grain going to Seattle and south to Texas. A partnership with the Chicago & Northwestern combined NVL’s intermodal service with CNW’s “Falcon” service, giving visibility and branding to the NVL’s offering. Additionally, the NVL, VVIW, and DMA all worked with grain, aggregate, and bulk commodity shippers to provide the fastest and most efficient service possible. Good business practices, a patient and steady hand, and the ability to weather the storm thanks to incredibly talented and knowledgeable railroaders positioned Sexton-Weigel Holdings and their stable of railroads for sustained success for decades to come.