RE: The Taylor City Belt Line : Mike adds more wonderful theory

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

I am very impressed with Mike's marvelous theory, stage 2:  the FORD.
But, how in the world can this be verified or disproven?  I'm a nut on
hard evidence!  Take a look at Mike's addition.


From: Mike Hefele <mhefele@paulo.com>

Bob,

The small apartment buildings on Oakland, just east and west of  Sanford at
Oakland, were not built until about 1960. Why not in what should be prime
real estate on Oakland Ave? I was told the reason is because the lot on the
south-east corner of Sanford and Oakland has a habit of sinking into an old
mine. 

However my map of the old mines does not indicate there were ever any mines
at that location.

Could the sinking be soil settling into the old ditch or ravine from the
rail road? 

 Finally, where does the name "Sanford" come from? It is common for railroad
tracks to follow rivers or even large creeks.

Did it refer to a "ford" or creek crossing somewhere along its length?

North of Clayton, between Louisville and Childress, the lowest elevation is
the alley east of Sanford.

South of Clayton, between Louisvile and Childlress the lowest elevation is
the alley that starts at Wade and turns into Sanford.  The creek that had to
be there before the sewers were installed perhaps had a low water crossing
or "ford". 

Yours truly,

Mike Hefele

	-----Original Message-----
	From:	Robert Corbett [SMTP:bcorbett@netcom.com]
	Sent:	Wednesday, January 12, 2000 7:14 PM
	To:	Bob Corbett
	Subject:	RE: The Taylor City Belt Line: more already : Mike
Hefele works out a very reasonable theory.


	From: Mike Hefele <mhefele@paulo.com>

	After talking to you several months ago about the path of the
railroad, I
	drove around on Louisville, Childress, Wise, Dale, West Park, Wade,
Sanford,
	Nashville, Clayton and Oakland. If I were a railroad engineer trying
to put
	a railroad from Manchester through to Forest Park I would do the
following:
	1.	Start just west of Dale at Manchester, heading north by
north-west
	and generally follow the present path of Dale to Lloyd. 
	2.	The ridge we call now call Clayton would be a problem,
because
	trains just do not like hills. The elevation difference between
Manchester
	and Clayton is over 50 FT.  It also creates serious safety issues
for
	passengers, freight and equipment.
	3.	I would excavate a ravine for the tracks running north and
south
	between Oakland and Wade. 
	4.	At Lloyd I would head my tracks north to Oakland and I would
stay to
	the west side of the low area between Louisville and Childress. 
	5.	Childress is higher that Louisville, so that is the side
that would
	have the fastest water runoff and the most likely to have a creek at
the
	bottom of the hill.
	6.	That would allow the water drainage to flow to the east of
my tracks
	and reduce the risk of the tracks from washing out in a heavy rail.
	7.	In order for the local traffic to cross over this ravine, I
would
	build a bridge over the ravine running East and West at Clayton Ave
about
	where Sanford intersects with Clayton.
	8.	I would put my track sidings in the relatively flat area
along
	Oakland between Tamm and Sanford.


	Contour lines on the map we reviewed also make this look like the
most
	likely path.

	How does the above information "Mike Hefele" theory fit with what
you have
	learned from Charles Duckworth?
	 
	Is Nina (Kassing) Bryant related to Sharon Kassing (class of 1957)?

	[Bob comments:  NIna is Sharon's sister.]

	[Corbett comments on the Hefele theory]  Mike, this sounds like a
real
	winner to me.  You seem to explain two things that had me puzzled:

		1.  The grade itself.  I could see the route that your
	proposed from Manchester to West Park without any trouble.  However,
	my puzzle came on the part from West Park "over the hump" at
Clayton.
	Now, if you were right, then a ditch could have been dug there,
continuing
	on beyond Clayton and leveling out near Berthold, thus not only
	dramatically reducing the grade from Lloyd to Clayton, but also,
	solving the second problem....

		2.  Why in the world a bridge over Clayton?  The stories of
	the bridge keep surfacing, so I would guess there was a bridge.
But,
	there couldn't be THAT many trains, so why bother?  Down on
Manchester
	people live with two sets of major tracks (MO Pac and Pacific) and
	crossed them regularly.

		However, if there were a deep ditch running from West Park
to
	near Berthold, so the train could run more level, then it would be
	absolutely necessary to have a bridge at Clayton.  One wouldn't need
	one at Wise since there were no homes in that area of Wise until
	much later.

	Mike, your theory offers a great deal!!!!!

	Now, how in the world could it be verified?

	Best,  Bob