OTTAWA JUNCTION, KANSAS

f6:30 am No. 24 Eastbound The Grand Canyon Limited
8:45am No. 49 Westbound Doodlebug to Cherryvale

Ottawa Junction is actuallly a short distance north from Ottawa proper. The importance of this junction has diminished considerably since the end of the Santa Fe passenger era and even more since the abandonment of what was the Third District. A great article on this junction was written by Martin James in April of 1967 for Trains magazine titled Change at the Junction pages 44-49. There are photographs and track layouts detailing the many changes at the junction including the destruction of the old tower/ depot that protected the junction from 1900 to the 1950's. A color photograph of this tower can be found on the cover of the First Quarter1993 Santa Fe Modeler published by the Santa Fe Modeler's organization.

After the 1950's destruction of the old tower the Santa Fe constructed the depot that you see in this photo. This depot also may have replaced the old two story Southern Kansas Railway depot downtown. Today the depot sits abused as a maintenance of way building shorn of its neon OTTAWA signs that stood on the eave next to the tracks. Sometime after 1987 the eave of this depot was truncated and the switch for the Tulsa line was moved east. The track leading to the curve in this photo now rests on top of what used to be the station platform.

These same tracks that you see curving around the depot once were the beginning of the Third District. This was the line that the Tulsan and Oil Flyer took to Chanute and Tulsa. For more on Ottawa proper see the Third District.