Midland Railway (Kansas)

The Midland Railway was a heritage railroad operating 16 miles of line in Franklin County and Douglas County in Kansas between Ottawa, Kansas and Baldwin City, Kansas.

It was chartered in 1982 to find an abandoned railroad line to operate. Midland purchased the line from Baldwin City to Ottawa from the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway ("AT&SF") in 1987, and began running excursion trains on part of the line later that year. Total length of the line is 16 miles (17.7 km).

Midland operated a demonstration historic railroad, and its mission was to "educate the public about the role railroading played, and continues to play, in the commercial, social, and cultural life of America's Heartland." Midland's base of operations was the depot built in 1906 by the AT&SF at 1515 High Street in Baldwin City. This building was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings in Douglas County, Kansas in 1983. Midland had received two matching federal grants to rebuild track. Private grants were used to rebuild railroad equipment. Starting in 2004, excursion trains were run all the way from Baldwin City to Ottawa.

The regular operating season ran from Memorial Day (last Monday of May) to October 31 (Halloween). Special events and fairs were held at various times through the year. Weekend Boy Scout camps were held in the spring and fall. Midland's Scout program was one of the few in the country to offer the Railroading merit badge.

Surface Transportation Board
A May 31, 2019 decision by the Surface Transportation Board stated:

"On May 3, 2019, Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston Railroad d/b/a Baldwin City & Southern Railroad Company (Leavenworth), a noncarrier, filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 C.F.R. § 1150.31 to permit it to enter into an agreement to operate a rail line (the Line) owned by its corporate parent, Midland Railway Historical Association (Midland). The Line extends between milepost 14.95 at Baldwin, Kan., and milepost 26.04 at Ottawa, Kan., a total distance of 11.09 miles. Leavenworth states that Midland is a historic, nonprofit operator of a passenger excursion railroad.  (Verified Notice 3.)  According to Leavenworth, Midland purchased the Line in 1988 from Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad (ATSF),[1] after ATSF obtained authority from the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), the Board’s predecessor agency, to abandon it."

Baldwin City & Southern Railroad
In 2019, the Midland Railway created a wholly-owned, for-profit subsidiary called the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston Railroad, but doing business as the Baldwin City & Southern Railroad (BC&SR). The original plan was for the BC&SR to take over all active railroad operations, while Midland would focus on public education and historic preservation. In November of 2019 the BC&SR was awarded a $750,000 Kansas Department of Commerce grant to help with operational costs to transition from the all-volunteer model under which Midland operated, to an employee-based model, with a grant requirement to have at least 22 employees. However, the BC&SR service was discontinued in March of 2020 following a rent dispute with the operator of Baldwin City’s historic train depot.

Midland Railroad
An entity called Midland Railroad LLC. filed notice with the Surface Transportation Board on September 15, 2022 that it was acquiring this rail line, and intended to replace the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston Railroad d/b/a the Baldwin City & Southern Railroad as the common carrier service provider over said line. However, this transaction was never completed.

Ottawa Northern Railroad
On March 9, 2023, the Ottawa Northern Railroad, a subsidiary of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, filed notice with the Surface Transportation Board that it was acquiring the line, and replacing the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston Railroad d/b/a the Baldwin City & Southern Railroad Company as the common carrier service provider on it. The notice indicated in part that there were currently no customers on the line, and accordingly, no shippers to notify. As of April, 2024, the Ottawa Northern Railroad indicates on its website that it completed the acquisition, and that plans are in the works to bring back the excursion trains.

Kansas Belle Dinner Train
The Kansas Belle Dinner Train, which also operated out of the Baldwin City depot, utilized Midland Railway’s track and locomotives but was separately owned. That train on March 14, 2020 also suspended services, and had not resumed them by April 2024.

Stops

 * Baldwin City, Kansas
 * Nowhere, Kansas (ghost town)
 * Norwood, Kansas (ghost town)
 * Ottawa, Kansas