Early KCS Construction

Chronology of Construction: The Original KCS: From 1888 to 1897

• 1888
  • Joplin to Neosho, Missouri (Kansas City, Ft. Smith and Southern)
  • Index, Arkansas {MP 478} to Texarkana, Texas (Texarkana & Northern Railway)
    
    
• 1889
  • Neosho, Missouri to Sulphur Springs, Arkansas (Kansas City, Ft. Smith and Southern)
  • Ashdown, Arkansas to Index, Arkansas (Texarkana & Ft. Smith Railway)
    
    
• 1890
  • Grandview to Hume, Missouri (Kansas City, Nevada & Ft. Smith)
    
    
• 1891
  • Air Line Junction to Belt Junction, Kansas City (Kansas City Suburban Belt Railway)
  • Wilton to Ashdown, Arkansas (Texarkana & Ft. Smith Railway)
    
    
• 1892
  • Kansas City to Independence "Air Line" (Kansas City Suburban Belt Railway)
  • Hume, Missouri to Pittsburg, Kansas (Kansas City, Nevada & Ft. Smith)
    
    
• 1893
  • Pittsburg, Kansas to Joplin, Missouri (Kansas City, Ft. Smith and Southern)
  • Sulphur Springs to Siloam Springs, Arkansas (Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad)
    
    
• 1894
  • Horatio, Arkansas to Winthrop, Arkansas (Texarkana & Ft. Smith Railway)
    
    
• 1895
  • Siloam Springs, Arkansas, to Poteau, Oklahoma (Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad)
  • Texarkana, Texas to Shreveport, Louisiana (Texarkana & Ft. Smith Railway)
  • eaumont to Port Arthur, Texas (Texarkana & Ft. Smith Railway)
    
    
• 1896
  • Poteau, Oklahoma to Mena, Arkansas (Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad)
  • Winthrop to Wilton, Arkansas (Texarkana & Ft. Smith Railway)
  • Shreveport to Hornbeck, Louisiana (Kansas City, Shreveport & Gulf Railway)
  • DeQuincy to West Lake, Louisiana, Branch (Kansas City, Shreveport & Gulf Railway)
    
    
• 1897
  • Mena to Horatio, Arkansas (Texarkana & Ft. Smith Railway)
  • Hornbeck, Louisiana to Beaumont, Texas (Kansas City, Shreveport & Gulf Railway)
    
    
• 1898
  • Spiro, Oklahoma to Fort Smith, Arkansas ("Fort Smith Branch") (Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad)
  • West Lake to Lake Charles, Louisiana (Kansas City, Shreveport & Gulf Railway)
    
    
• Through service between Kansas City, Missouri, and Port Arthur, Texas, began after the last spike was driven about 12 miles north of Beaumont, Texas, on September 11, 1897.