Roadside Kansas: Day 4

From one post to another, we began Day 4 in wonderful Hays, Kansas. With time on our hands (we believed the Ellis Railroad Museum opened at 11 A.M,) we awoke from our Sleep Inn, ate breakfast, and headed for the Fort Hays State Historic Site on the Southwest side of Hays.

While most of the buildings were sold for scrap, a few remaining structures still stand at historic Fort Hays, an important resource base for pioneers and the U.S. military as the United States expanded West.

As the fort would have looked near the end of its service to this country.

In one of the two preserved officer's quarters.

Replica of the Officer's two-holer.

The common man's bed - on this structure, four men would have slept.
Most of what is left at Fort Hays. The main building is being renovated, so this first house serves as the welcome center and gift shop. Pretty neat!

We departed Hays west on Ole' 40, and it was only a few minutes to Ellis, Kansas - a city named after the county that was named after a civil war General (Gen. Ellis, obviously) who never came anywhere near Ellis or Hays. We searched the immediate area where we arrived, yet found no Railroad museum until we asked. We did, however, find the local High School sports stadium. The mascot is the Ellis Railroaders (or Railers). I think I'd fit in quite nicely here.

The museum is staffed by one person who took our money and gave us a tour. She was very knowledgeable about the area's deep railroading history and was easy to listen too. The museum itself consists of four rooms dedicated to the history of Railroads in Ellis and around the area, including great information on several branch lines and how they operated. A model of the old Ellis rail yard is also on display - It used to be home to a roundhouse, shops, a railroad hotel, a depot, and numerous other railroad facilities. Now, the UP Kansas Pacific line plus the grain elevator is all that is left of a once thriving rail industry. The museum also has a large model railroad layout, which our guide started via remote control. She said the exhibit is kept up by some local rail buffs who come in and work a little on it each weekend, which is typical of a small town museum like this one: Lots of volunteer hours, especially at a community-owned attraction like this, which on some days has only one or two visitors.

Its a testament of good community building that such a town can maintain a high standard of museum with so little in terms of resources.

How Ellis looked in its Railroad Heydey. Made important by the railroads as it was roughly halfway between Kansas City and Denver. Now, Ellis sees no more than a few coal trains and the occasional grain train through its yard.

Outside, a Union Pacific caboose is on display, as well as a 1/3 scale, One mile+ miniature train. Run by a volunteer every few hours, the train circles the loop a few times, depending on the attitude of the driver (ours seemed to be in a pretty good mood). However, the next departure was at One, and we were hungry as it was just after noon. Our wonderful museum guide recommended Kevy Lee's, a diner fairly close to the Interstate. So, we drove up there and found the place surrounded by large trucks and other vehicles- generally a good sign of great food.

We were not disappointed. There was hardly a seat in the house, but we grabbed a table and looked at the menu. Dad ordered a Sausage and Cheese Omelet and I, a very good sized double cheeseburger. If you go (which you should,) remember to ask for the "Western" fries, as they are fresh-cut, skin-on potatoes and they are excellent! The burger was good and the prices were reasonable ($5-7 a plate).

One O'clock rolled around and It was time to catch the train, so we drove back downtown to the museum, parked, and saw the train, still sitting there unattended. We went back inside and paid our fare for the train with the museum attendant, and soon enough our volunteer engineer was in the parking lot.

Our tickets were three dollars apiece, and our driver, after waiting for a few minutes to build up some air pressure, took us through the woods and down to the creekside three times. The train, he said, is kept up by two volunteers who are constantly trying to improve it. Years of disrepair and abuse have made the train a challenge to keep maintained.

The train was built in the 50s or 60s by Ottoway Amusements, the same company that does many county fairs (and the rides at the State Fair in Hutchinson). Our Engineer knows of two other trains of this model still operating. He believes seven or eight of this model were built total.

After three revolutions around the track, it was time to head on. Ellis is a great little town, and it will certainly be a stop on my next trans-Kansas roadtrip to Colorado to stop in at the diner or Museum again, just for fun.

However, it was time to get on the road again! We headed West on I-70 to Oakley, then south to Gove County. This 100 mile drive was a great chance for me to fall asleep and let Dad do the driving, which he enjoys. I was pleased to wake up to find ourselves a few miles from the famous geologic formations called the Monument Rocks (Sometimes known as the Chalk Pyramids).

You know the drill. Click the image for a larger version.

These rocks are gigantic! The stark color contrast between the beautiful, wide expanse of Kansas sky and the huge rocks on the wide open Kansas plain... all this needs is a little context!





Could have taken a hundred pictures here, or spent my time wandering in and around the towering structures, but it was over 106 degrees! Too hot, but also too beautiful. This is truly a Kansas must-see, non-touristy attraction.
We departed the beautiful monument rocks, headed south on US-83 towards Garden City. Somewhere along the way, we realized that, in order to swim in the World's Largest Outdoor Concrete Swimming Pool we would need... a towel. Silly unprepared travelers... We stopped in at a Dollar General in Scott City and picked up a pair, then headed south to the pool, with the assistance of "Gabs," the GPS.

We found it! But...

Awww......

Feeling rather depressed about the big pool not being open (Perhaps school begins earlier here), we headed across the street to the Lee Richardson Zoo, which is free for Pedestrians. Those in cars can pay to drive around the extensive zoo. The main pedestrian entrance is this impressive archway.

Look what I found! A train! This locomotive plied a local short line near Garden City, hauling Sugar Beets to a factory, well into the 1950s. Nicknamed Ole' Two Bits, its power was favored over a diesel replacement. Now, the line is one of two short line railroads still operating in Kansas, but unfortunately Ole' Two Bits has been retired.
A map of this very large zoo.
The elephants (background) are known to swim in the big pool when it closes at the end of the summer. The rhino was pretty cool, too.
Sloth bears.
The Zoo had a very cool "Big Cats" exhibit, but this was my favorite. The puma/cougar/mountain lion - what have you - had the sweetest meow and would follow you around like it wished you to pet it. Very cute! The Lion pride was also very interesting and the Lions had great personalities.

A storm soon rolled in, and it was time to go. We refilled our drink cups, headed south past Sublette, Kansas (and numerous feed lots), and headed into Liberal.

We stayed at the Liberal Inn, an older hotel that had a good price and a heart-shaped pool. Dad and I went down and shared it with a group of kids visiting from Amarillo. We ate at the "Branding Iron," the hotel lounge and restaurant. I had a steak and dad the catfish, which we both thought was excellent food. We've yet to come across any bad food so far, with the possible exception of the snack bar at Wednesday's Pioneer Village. We were pretty exhausted after Day four, and I still didn't get much blog updating done.

Similarly, I'm now in Wichita at the airport Hilton. I suppose another two days worth of updating will have to be done tomorrow night!