The Frisco in Springfield,MO had two mainlines through town as a result of the mergers that formed the line in the early days of railroading.
The northern mainline connected St. Louis and Tulsa (and points beyond). it avoided the congestion of downtown and was elevated to avoid grade crossings at the many streets it crossed.
The southern mainline connected Kansas City and Memphis (and points beyond) and went through downtown and included segments of street running and many lineside industries. Since the southern main was mostly used by passenger trains, it is frequently refered to as the passenger main.
In the 1950s, the two mainlines were connected in 4 different ways:
- On the west side of town, the two lines crossed at grade at Nichols Junction.
- The West Belt connected the lines on the west side of downtown
- The Middle Belt connected the lines on the east side of downtown
- The East Belt connected the lines on the east side of town
This module focuses on the connection point of the Middle Belt and the Passenger main in Downtown Springfield. The track plan includes Three named junctions:
- Pine Street Junction is the point on the middle belt where the middle belt split to form a wye connection to the passenger main
- Mill Street Junction was the point where the west leg of the wye met the passenger main. This was used by passenger trains going to/from St. Louis.
- MK Junction has 4 components to it.
- The junction between the passenger main and the east leg of the wye.
- An automatic crossing between the Frisco and the MoPac
- The start of a passing siding on the passenger main.
- The start of the Frisco's Ozark Branch
Pine St. Junction and MK Junction were CTC controlled. Many of the switches in the area had electric locks.
The track plan includes an accurate logical layout for MK Junction and the tracks from both Pine St. Junction and Mill St. Junction to MK Junction. On the drawing, everything to the right and below of the streets labeled Chestnut Expressway and Benton Ave are prototypically correct.
Note: Both Chestnut Expressway and Benton Ave cross the tracks on Viaducts. These bridges provide a nice scenic divider between the prototypically correct portion of the plan and the not quite prototypically correct portions.
The plan includes the Missouri Pacific crossing, and a collection of industries jointly served by both the MoPac and the Frisco.
In addition to the joint industries, the trackage next to Phelps St includes frisco served industries and a team track and local yard area. If the plan were continued past Jefferson Ave, the trackage in Phelps Ave becomes street trackage. The street trackage is the prototypical location of my MFA Milling #1 N-trak module, which is on less than 2 full blocks from the team track area.
To the Left and Above Chestnut Expressway and Benton Ave, the plan is representative of the fact that you could turn a train using the passenger main, west belt, northern (freight) main, and the middle belt as a loop through the city.
