kgstakes
Active Member
One of you asked about my story I made up of my railroad and how it came to be. I'm not really sure where I'm suppose to post this but since it's not really railroad but kinda is so here we go.
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Back in 1911, Barnesville Junction came about when two brothers Otis and Sawyer were exploring a valley in Pennsylvania. What they were looking for was a gold deposit that they heard about from an ole’ timer. What they found was something completely different but just as valuable, coal. They quickly set out to purchase the land that they found the deposit of coal in and began building a coal business.
In 1927, more and more people came into the valley. One man seen the valley as an opportunity to build a town and have it named after him; his name was G.G. Barnes. No one really knew his first name he just went by Barnes and most people just called him Mr. B. The brothers didn’t really care what Barnes had in mind, if it didn’t bother with their coal mine. So, in 1935, Barnes started laying out a town site and people started moving in. First it was just a “tent camp” but as time went on people started building wood homes, shops, and stores. As the brothers began getting more and more coal out the ground, the railroad started to look for a way to get a branch line into the valley. The only railroad that was close enough to that area was the little-known railroad called the KG & B Railway.
Months went by and the little railroad laid track into the valley, and soon the Otis Coal Company had a way to ship more and more coal to more customers. After a while though, the two brothers had a falling out, and Sawyer decided he had, had enough and was going into business for himself. Sawyer knew that the coal business was taken up by his brother Otis, so he began looking for options. He looked up and down the valley and thought to himself, timber, there is lots and lots of timber in this valley. So, at the other end of the town he built himself a sawmill. He called the business Sawyer’s Sawmill. He started cutting lumber for the town folks and he could ship lumber by rail to other places as well.
The KG & B Railway took notice of what Sawyer was doing and asked him if he would supply railroad ties for their expanding line. Sawyer jumped at the idea and began cutting ties for the railroad as well. Sawyer also seen the need for all kinds of lumber related goods, so he built a lumber company next door to his sawmill. It would supply hardware, doors, nails, etc., all the things a lumber company could carry it did.
One day, in 1939, a gentleman was in the lumber company and asked to see the owner. He introduced himself to Sawyer and his name was Lloyd. Well, Lloyd and Sawyer talked for a while and struck a deal. Lloyd bought the lumber company from Sawyer on one condition. That Sawyer would sell his milled lumber to Lloyd at a reasonable price so both could make a profit. The deal was done and now Barnesville has a new business called Lloyd’s lumber company.
Everything was going great in the small town of Barnesville when two things happened that would change the town forever. One, was a fire that took about half the town and the other was that the town as it grew more and more was changed from just Barnesville to Barnesville Junction (even though there was never a station at Barnesville) and so in 1943, the town was officially named Barnesville Junction.
People were so worried about another fire coming through town most of the towns people instead of rebuilding with wood, they decided to rebuild the town that burned with brick and stone. That is why when you drive down the main street and look to both sides of the road you will see that on one side, all the structures are of wood and the other side is all or mostly all brick and stone, where the fire had taken some of the buildings.
Moving forward in time, it is 1953 and the KG & B railway is moving away from steam and into the diesel era. The railway needed a place to fuel the switcher engine (which at present is a Rio Grande switch engine) without going all the way down the branch line to the main line to refuel and maintain the locomotive. So, they struck a deal with a man in town, his name is Francis M. Prucha. He built a small Gas station, but he had some land for the railroad for a refueling station with the condition that he would also serve the town as well with fuel, oil, and gasoline. The company FMP oil company was up and running by the end of 1954.
Which brings us to present day 1960. The town is doing well, businesses are growing every year, and the little railroad continues to make a profit hauling goods and services to and from the little town of Barnesville Junction.
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Picture below is before I put the layout in a shadow box.
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BARNESVILLE JUNCTION
Back in 1911, Barnesville Junction came about when two brothers Otis and Sawyer were exploring a valley in Pennsylvania. What they were looking for was a gold deposit that they heard about from an ole’ timer. What they found was something completely different but just as valuable, coal. They quickly set out to purchase the land that they found the deposit of coal in and began building a coal business.
In 1927, more and more people came into the valley. One man seen the valley as an opportunity to build a town and have it named after him; his name was G.G. Barnes. No one really knew his first name he just went by Barnes and most people just called him Mr. B. The brothers didn’t really care what Barnes had in mind, if it didn’t bother with their coal mine. So, in 1935, Barnes started laying out a town site and people started moving in. First it was just a “tent camp” but as time went on people started building wood homes, shops, and stores. As the brothers began getting more and more coal out the ground, the railroad started to look for a way to get a branch line into the valley. The only railroad that was close enough to that area was the little-known railroad called the KG & B Railway.
Months went by and the little railroad laid track into the valley, and soon the Otis Coal Company had a way to ship more and more coal to more customers. After a while though, the two brothers had a falling out, and Sawyer decided he had, had enough and was going into business for himself. Sawyer knew that the coal business was taken up by his brother Otis, so he began looking for options. He looked up and down the valley and thought to himself, timber, there is lots and lots of timber in this valley. So, at the other end of the town he built himself a sawmill. He called the business Sawyer’s Sawmill. He started cutting lumber for the town folks and he could ship lumber by rail to other places as well.
The KG & B Railway took notice of what Sawyer was doing and asked him if he would supply railroad ties for their expanding line. Sawyer jumped at the idea and began cutting ties for the railroad as well. Sawyer also seen the need for all kinds of lumber related goods, so he built a lumber company next door to his sawmill. It would supply hardware, doors, nails, etc., all the things a lumber company could carry it did.
One day, in 1939, a gentleman was in the lumber company and asked to see the owner. He introduced himself to Sawyer and his name was Lloyd. Well, Lloyd and Sawyer talked for a while and struck a deal. Lloyd bought the lumber company from Sawyer on one condition. That Sawyer would sell his milled lumber to Lloyd at a reasonable price so both could make a profit. The deal was done and now Barnesville has a new business called Lloyd’s lumber company.
Everything was going great in the small town of Barnesville when two things happened that would change the town forever. One, was a fire that took about half the town and the other was that the town as it grew more and more was changed from just Barnesville to Barnesville Junction (even though there was never a station at Barnesville) and so in 1943, the town was officially named Barnesville Junction.
People were so worried about another fire coming through town most of the towns people instead of rebuilding with wood, they decided to rebuild the town that burned with brick and stone. That is why when you drive down the main street and look to both sides of the road you will see that on one side, all the structures are of wood and the other side is all or mostly all brick and stone, where the fire had taken some of the buildings.
Moving forward in time, it is 1953 and the KG & B railway is moving away from steam and into the diesel era. The railway needed a place to fuel the switcher engine (which at present is a Rio Grande switch engine) without going all the way down the branch line to the main line to refuel and maintain the locomotive. So, they struck a deal with a man in town, his name is Francis M. Prucha. He built a small Gas station, but he had some land for the railroad for a refueling station with the condition that he would also serve the town as well with fuel, oil, and gasoline. The company FMP oil company was up and running by the end of 1954.
Which brings us to present day 1960. The town is doing well, businesses are growing every year, and the little railroad continues to make a profit hauling goods and services to and from the little town of Barnesville Junction.
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Picture below is before I put the layout in a shadow box.
. And the name of the railroad, that’s my initials KG&B. By the way there was a real railroad with the same initials in the upper peninsula of Michigan.
