The Kansas City Southern Railway, Route Of The Southern Bell

The Kansas City Southern Railway, better known as simply the KCS, may be our country’s smallest Class I railroad in terms of route miles, surrounded by the other four giants Union Pacific, BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, and Norfolk Southern (six including the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific). However, the railroad is the second oldest Class I still in operation, next to the Union Pacific, and its history dates back to the late 19th century. Other than the Union Pacific, the KCS is the only remaining Class I railroad whose name has never changed prior to the diesel era. In recent years the railroad has witnessed substantial growth by acquiring four different railroads, two of which are located in Mexico.

This plan, however, was never successful and after falling into receivership it was reorganized as today’s Kansas City Southern in 1900. Even after the reorganization the railroad struggled to earn income until its savior came in the way of "black gold," oil. With the discovery of oil the railroad’s southern tier, its lines located in Texas and Louisiana, boomed with new oil refineries, many of which can still be found to this day along both states’ coastal regions. This new traffic would account for well over one-quarter of the Kansas City Southern’s profits for much of the railroad’s early years (and continue to provide a substantial amount of its overall earnings).

(Please note that the below map of the KCS depicts the railroad as it historically appeared in 1950, not today.)

While the KCS was never a big player in the passenger rail market like several other roads, it did have a few notable trains such as its Southern Belle streamlined train which operated between Kansas City and New Orleans. Adorned in an eye-catching Brunswick Green (which appears almost black), yellow, and red the train operated between 1940 and 1968 until hard times and a weakening passenger market forced the train’s cancellation. In any event, with plenty of traffic to keep the railroad stable it began to pull out of the mess it was in during the latter half of the 1970s, and by the 1980s it was once again earning healthy profits and running efficient operations (a result of physical plant upgrades and better train blocking and scheduling).

In the last decade the railroad has grown, and quite substantially, for the first time since its early years. In the 1990s it acquired two railroads, the Gateway Western Railway and Mid-South Rail Corporation. The former gave the Kansas City Southern access into St. Louis and Springfield, Illinois and the latter into Mississippi. Also, in recent years the KCS was able to gain complete control of two railroads south of the border, the Texas Mexican Railway and Grupo Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM), putting the Kansas City Southern solidly into Mexico and giving it access to many of the country’s largest markets.

While the KCS itself is only about 3,100 miles in length its acquisition of Tex Mex and TFM (now known as Kansas City Southern de Mexico) added about 2,800 miles to its overall system, giving it a railroad of nearly 6,000 miles. Still, this mileage pales in comparison to the other six North American Class Is which rank as follows:

Union Pacific Railroad - 32,000 miles (5,000 of which are trackage rights.)

BNSF Railway - 32,000 miles (8,000 of which are trackage rights.)

CSX Transportation - 22,000 miles

Norfolk Southern Railway - 21,000 miles

Canadian National Railway - 19,200 route miles

Canadian Pacific Railway - 13,600 route miles

Its logo virtually unchanged throughout its life, with its recent acquisitions the railroad looks poised to continue to remain successful throughout the coming years (perhaps as they sometimes say, change is not always a good thing!). While the railroad has had a number of different paint schemes over the years ranging from whites, reds, blacks, and grays recently the railroad decided to switch its locomotives back into the it’s classic Brunswick Green, yellow, and red (in recent years locomotives have been adorned in a simpler all-gray with red and yellow trim).

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For a current diesel locomotive roster of the Kansas City Southern Railway please click here (please note that the below roster only lists models newly purchased by the KCS). Also, for an excellent listing of EMD-built diesel locomotives, including those owned by the KCS please click here. Lastly, please click here to locate preserved KCS diesel locomotives.

The Electro-Motive Corporation/Electro-Motive Division

General Electric

For a more complete roster of Kansas City Southern Railway steam locomotives please click here. Also, for information regarding surviving KCS steam locomotives please click here.

Notable Kansas City Southern Railway Passenger Trains

Southern Belle

Flying Crow: (Kansas City - New Orleans/Port Arthur)

Shreveporter: (Hope - Shreveport)

(A deep thanks to the Museum of the Rockies at Montana State University for allowing Ron Nixon's historic collection of the Kansas City Southern to be featured here. Please note that the photos featured on this page feature their corresponding image number so that you may quickly and easily find more information about it from their website. To view Ron Nixon's entire collection please click here.)

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