Maple Hill Railroad Bridge

In 1886, the Chicago, Kansas & Nebraska Railway (CK&N) constructed a 43-mile railroad line, extending from Elwood, Kansas; opposite the Missouri River from St. Joseph, Missouri to Horton, Kansas.  An additional 131 miles would be constructed to Herington, Kansas in 1887, with an additional 269 miles to Liberal, Kansas constructed the following year.  This route was one the principal lines constructed in the mid to late 1880s, as the CK&N vastly expanded in Kansas.  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.  The railroad also sought to acquire or construct additional routes into the southern and western United States.  This route served as a mainline into New Mexico.  In 1888, the Kansas City and Topeka Railway constructed terminals for the Rock Island in Kansas City and Topeka, and trackage rights were obtained between Kansas City and Topeka.  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 line would later be extended west, reaching into New Mexico.  The Rock Island had constructed and acquired a large railroad network throughout the Midwest and southwestern United States.  This route was part of the Golden State Route, a critical Rock Island mainline between Chicago and the southwestern United States.  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.  East of Topeka, the line would be abandoned.  Much of the The line west of Topeka was sold to St. Louis & Southwestern Railway (S&SW) in 1982, and the S&SW was merged into the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) in 1992.  SP became part of the Union Pacific Railroad in 1996.  Today, UP operates the Topeka Subdivision between Topeka and Herington, as well as the Herington Subdivision between Herington and Pratt.  Significant portions of the terminals and tracks in Topeka and Kansas City have also been removed since 1980.