The Dodge City Montezuma & Trinidad Railway

The Dodge City Montezuma & Trinidad Railway was a short lived railroad operating between Dodge City and Montezuma, KS. (Right of Way)

Looking at a map today, you'll notice Dodge City and Montezuma are still connected by rail. However, the Montezuma that exists today was platted by the Atchison Topkea & Santa Fe Railway in 1912, almost two decades after the original Montezuma, KS would become a ghost town.

Original alignment.

This particular line ran slightly south of the current AT&SF alignment, beginning service around 1890. Its entire existence was the result of three towns vying for county seat of Gray County, KS. Ingalls and Cimarron were both located on another branch of the AT&SF; while Montezuma had no rail connection. In exchange for dropping their fight to become county seat, a railroad promoter promised to build a line to Montezuma.

True to his word, Montezuma got a rail connection, but one that would last less than five years. The line was abandoned in 1894. The Santa Fe briefly owned the right of way and planned to reactivate the line, but chose instead to build their own grade, and settle a new Montezuma along that right of way.

http://old.atsfrr.org/resources/burton/Colmor.htm
http://www.ksdot.org/…/bu…/Rail/publications/ksrailpln06.pdf

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