Barry County Museum acquires train engine for display
Pictured above is the new engine on display at the Barry County Museum.
May 20, 2015
Shania Stumpff
If you have been by the Barry County Museum, then you may have noticed a new addition. The Museum recently acquired a 25-ton Plymouth train engine, similar to the one that ran on the C&E Railroad track.
The C&E Railroad celebrated the first run of the train on July 4, of 1896, and its last voyage was in 1956. It ran from Cassville to Exeter and, when it was finished in July of 1896, the length of it was five miles and 400 feet. It was the shortest standard gage railroad in the United States.
The rolling stock consisted of a box car, two engines, a combination baggage and a passenger coach. The railroad did everything from hauling mules being supplied to the army, hauling fruit, rock, timber, cattle, sheep, hogs, agricultural and commercial products.
Every summer a large number of visitors came to the C&E railroad. The ride over to Exeter and back was always fun for the locals, too. C&E maintained a regular freight and passenger schedule and had a total of seven employees.
The original C&E railroad engine was a 50-ton Plymouth engine made by the Plymouth Locomotive Company in Plymouth, Ohio. The engine was acquired by the Ashley family in the early 1950s, and the engine was taken to Kansas City on a short line railroad. Then in 1970 they donated it to the Railway Museum in Greenbay, Wisc., to be preserved.
Corky Stehlik, of Cassville, has been interested in the C&E Railroad since he moved to Cassville in 1958 as a young boy.
Out of curiosity, Stehlik later called the Railway Museum to see if the C&E Railroad engine was still there. The man he talked to said he thought it had been cut up for scrap years prior, and there was no trace of it that he could find.
Recently, Stehlik was on an auction site called PurpleWave and came across a railroad engine that was very similar to the one that ran on the C&E railroad. The major difference was that this engine is a 25- ton, and the one that ran on the C&E was a 50- ton.
The person selling it was a railroad contractor who had plans of restoring it but never got around to it. Stehlik noticed how well of a teaching tool this could be for the people of Barry County and said, “When I saw it, I just knew we had to have it.”
Stehlik decided to give the Barry County Museum a call, and the museum was able to purchase it. It was brought down from Kansas City, unloaded using two large cranes and is now sitting out front of the museum on display.
Stehlik had previously purchased a wooden railroad car that did travel on the C&E railroad from a lady out of Joplin. The car currently has a good frame but the wood needs to be restructured. Future plans are to bring the car to Cassville, restore it and attach it to the back of the engine so it can be on display, as well.
The Barry County Museum is open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Donations are accepted to help with the upkeep and maintenance.
The C&E went through a number of different names, owners and managers over its 50 years of operation. For a full story, see The First 150 Years in Cassville written by Senator Emory Melton for the sesquicentennial year of 1995 when a celebration was held. Copies of the book are available at Litho Printers.
Shania Stumpff
If you have been by the Barry County Museum, then you may have noticed a new addition. The Museum recently acquired a 25-ton Plymouth train engine, similar to the one that ran on the C&E Railroad track.
The C&E Railroad celebrated the first run of the train on July 4, of 1896, and its last voyage was in 1956. It ran from Cassville to Exeter and, when it was finished in July of 1896, the length of it was five miles and 400 feet. It was the shortest standard gage railroad in the United States.
The rolling stock consisted of a box car, two engines, a combination baggage and a passenger coach. The railroad did everything from hauling mules being supplied to the army, hauling fruit, rock, timber, cattle, sheep, hogs, agricultural and commercial products.
Every summer a large number of visitors came to the C&E railroad. The ride over to Exeter and back was always fun for the locals, too. C&E maintained a regular freight and passenger schedule and had a total of seven employees.
The original C&E railroad engine was a 50-ton Plymouth engine made by the Plymouth Locomotive Company in Plymouth, Ohio. The engine was acquired by the Ashley family in the early 1950s, and the engine was taken to Kansas City on a short line railroad. Then in 1970 they donated it to the Railway Museum in Greenbay, Wisc., to be preserved.
Corky Stehlik, of Cassville, has been interested in the C&E Railroad since he moved to Cassville in 1958 as a young boy.
Out of curiosity, Stehlik later called the Railway Museum to see if the C&E Railroad engine was still there. The man he talked to said he thought it had been cut up for scrap years prior, and there was no trace of it that he could find.
Recently, Stehlik was on an auction site called PurpleWave and came across a railroad engine that was very similar to the one that ran on the C&E railroad. The major difference was that this engine is a 25- ton, and the one that ran on the C&E was a 50- ton.
The person selling it was a railroad contractor who had plans of restoring it but never got around to it. Stehlik noticed how well of a teaching tool this could be for the people of Barry County and said, “When I saw it, I just knew we had to have it.”
Stehlik decided to give the Barry County Museum a call, and the museum was able to purchase it. It was brought down from Kansas City, unloaded using two large cranes and is now sitting out front of the museum on display.
Stehlik had previously purchased a wooden railroad car that did travel on the C&E railroad from a lady out of Joplin. The car currently has a good frame but the wood needs to be restructured. Future plans are to bring the car to Cassville, restore it and attach it to the back of the engine so it can be on display, as well.
The Barry County Museum is open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Donations are accepted to help with the upkeep and maintenance.
The C&E went through a number of different names, owners and managers over its 50 years of operation. For a full story, see The First 150 Years in Cassville written by Senator Emory Melton for the sesquicentennial year of 1995 when a celebration was held. Copies of the book are available at Litho Printers.
