The Town That Loved KATY: Parsons, Kansas, and the M-K-T Railroad

Softcover, 10x8 horizontal format, 168 pages, b/w photos throughout. 2012. "For well over 100 years, there was a close and usually mutually beneficial relationship between the City of Parsons, Kansas, and what became the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Company (M-K-T or "the Katy"). Parsons, located on rolling prairie land near the southeast corner of Kansas, depended largely on the Katy for its basic employment, those jobs which brought money into the community. In fact, during the first half of that period it was almost a textbook example of a railroad town. "Covering the years 1865 to 2012, the authors relate the fascinating story of how Parsons was the site of the Katy's main locomotive repair shop until its merger with the Union Pacific in 1988. The book includes 115 b&w photos and illustrations. "Railroad historian I.E. Quastler has previously authored a number of Midwest railroad history topics, including Rock Island Line In Focus. "Co-author James Reisdorff has authored or co-authored books such as The Man Who Wrecked 146 Locomotives and Union Pacific Centennial Locomotive: How 13 of the World's Largest Diesels Were Preserved."