Burlington Locomotive.
The Ottawa & Burlington Railroad in Kansas started operations in 1881 and stopped service in 1883.
The Kansas City, Burlington & Santa Fe Railway Company was chartered on February 4, 1870, with a board of incorporators. The charter authorized the construction of a railroad from Kansas City, Missouri, to a point in southwestern Kansas, in the direction of Santa Fe, New Mexico, via the Ottawa, Burlington, and Eureka Railroad. On March 31, 1877, bonds of Coffey County in the amount of $ 100,000 were issued to the company in exchange for stock. This road was completed to Burlington on April 1, 1878, and was celebrated enthusiastically by the city’s citizens. An excursion party from Kansas City, numbering about 100 people, including the Board of Trade of that city, participated in the celebration. A 12-pound Parrott gun burst during a salute honoring the excursionists. On the return of the excursion party to Kansas City the next day, they were accompanied by several hundred people from Burlington and neighboring towns.
On January 17, 1881, the railroad was sold at a Sheriff’s sale, at Ottawa, Kansas, to Alden Speare, Charles S. Tuckerman, and Lucius M. Sargent. On February 19, 1881, these gentlemen, together with George H. Nettleton, J.S. Ford, J.B. Emmert, Ira Harris, M.E. Jones, and John W. De Ford, formed a new corporation for the operation of the road under the name of Ottawa & Burlington Railroad Company. Later, it was operated by the Kansas City, Lawrence & Southern Kansas Railroad Company, which was a part of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad system.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, updated February 2026.
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Source: Cutler, William G; History of Kansas; A. T. Andreas, Chicago, IL, 1883.