Midland Railway (Kansas)

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Midland Railway

Ex-MKT #142, an RS3m
Overview
Headquarters	Baldwin City, Kansas
Reporting mark	LLG (Reporting mark for Class III subsidiary Baldwin City & Southern Railroad)
Locale	Douglas / Franklin counties, Kansas, USA
Dates of operation	1987–2023
Successor	Ottawa Northern Railroad
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length	16 miles

The Midland Railway was a heritage railroad operating 16 miles of line in Franklin County and Douglas County in Kansas between Ottawa, Kansas and Baldwin City, Kansas.

It was chartered in 1982 to find an abandoned railroad line to operate. Midland purchased the line from Baldwin City to Ottawa from the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway ("AT&SF") in 1987, and began running excursion trains on part of the line later that year. Total length of the line is 16 miles (17.7 km).

Midland operated a demonstration historic railroad, and its mission was to "educate the public about the role railroading played, and continues to play, in the commercial, social, and cultural life of America's Heartland." Midland's base of operations was the depot built in 1906 by the AT&SF at 1515 High Street in Baldwin City. This building was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings in Douglas County, Kansas in 1983. Midland had received two matching federal grants to rebuild track. Private grants were used to rebuild railroad equipment. Starting in 2004, excursion trains were run all the way from Baldwin City to Ottawa.

The regular operating season ran from Memorial Day (last Monday of May) to October 31 (Halloween). Special events and fairs were held at various times through the year. Weekend Boy Scout camps were held in the spring and fall. Midland's Scout program was one of the few in the country to offer the Railroading merit badge.