South Bridge, Blue Springs, Missouri is the title of an old post card that pictures Chicago & Alton railroad tracks with freight cars and overhead, a highly arched wooden bridge for Walnut Street traffic in Blue Springs. The bridge is no longer there. The Chicago & Alton Railway was built in 1878. The line ran from Kansas City to Independence, Glendale (or Selsa) and Blue Springs on the south side of the Missouri River. Continuing east it crossed the river at Glasgow, Mo., and on to St. Louis on the north side of the river. From St. Louis, the route continued to Chicago. There were passenger trains, such as the Red Flyer, daytime train from Kansas City to St. Louis, and the Hummer overnight train from Kansas City to Chicago. These trains had parlor cars, Pullman sleeping cars and dining cars with linen table cloths and the brightest of silver table service and serving dishes. Food was the best obtainable. The Chicago & Alton's route from Kansas City to Blue Springs, through Jackson County, was through a heavily wooded rugged country, with cuts through and around limestone cliffs, sections of which acquired names such as Rocky Cut, Blue Cut and Crackerneck. This section of Jackson County on the railroad became the scene of several big train robberies in the early days of the railroad. One of the better documented was the daylight robbery at Glendale involving the James brothers. Widely publicized at the time, the robberies in Jackson County became a real problem for C. & A. officials. Passengers in the East buying rail tickets west would specify they did not wish to routed through Glendale. Relatives wrote their kin who were prospective visitors, telling them not to wear jewelry or carry much money, and if possible avoid the route through Glendale. C. & A. officials pondered and in desperation decided to change the name of the station at Glendale to Selsa. Today there are no stations at Glendale or Selsa, though once each of them appeared on the timetables of the road. Kansas City Times, June 22, 1979.
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