AT&SF – Franklin County Historical Society

Goppert Foundation gift funds paint restoration on historic caboose

October 12, 2022 Diana Staresinic-Deane

Brightly painted caboose. A "Wet Paint" sign hangs from a barrier in front of it.

If you’re driving down K-68 or pedaling your bike on the Prairie Spirit Trail, you won’t be able to miss the brilliant new paint job on the Old Depot Museum’s 1940s caboose. Thanks to a generous gift from the Goppert Foundation, the Franklin County Historical Society is restoring the exterior paint on the historic 1940s caboose parked on the rails at the Old Depot Museum. Work began this past weekend and will be completed this week, weather permitting. A long and interesting life on the rails Built at the Atchison,…

NEW DATE February 6, 2022: Santa Fe depot architecture subject of virtual annual meeting

March 29, 2022March 29, 2022 Diana Staresinic-Deane

“Santa Fe Depots: Form and Function,” presented by Bob Walz 85th Annual Meeting of the Members of the Franklin County Historical Society Recording Available Update: In deference to our Chiefs fans, we are moving our program to February 6, 2022, 2 p.m. What exactly is a depot and what is it for? Using images of depots along the Eastern and Western Lines of the AT&SF Railroad, Bob Walz will examine the history of the development of Santa Fe depots, from repurposed boxcars to large, ornate depots and everything in…

Historic sign lights up Old Depot Museum

September 28, 2018 Diana Staresinic-Deane

Rick Hamman of Coffelt Sign Company puts the final touches on the newly restored 1962 Ottawa sign in the Model Railroad Room at the Old Depot Museum in Ottwa, Kansas. The sign is one of a pair that once served as a beacon for trains arriving at Ottawa’s fifth and final Santa Fe depot, which opened in 1962. Passenger service ended in 1971. Restoration and installation was completed by Coffelt Sign Company of Emporia, Kansas, and funded in part by a grant from the Caroline E. Hewitt Trust.