Omaha and Republican Valley Railway
{{Short description|Railway branch line in Nebraska, US}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2017}}
The Omaha and Republican Valley Railway was a branch line of the Union Pacific that crossed Nebraska. Traversing several counties, including Buffalo County, the Railway was the impetus for several settlements, and upon its demise, several ghost towns. The Railway ran from Boelus to South Ravenna, to Poole and on to Pleasanton, Nebraska.Howell, A.S. (1981) [http://bchs.kearney.net/BTales_198106.htm "Sartoria, a little ghost town"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024163943/http://bchs.kearney.net/BTales_198106.htm |date=October 24, 2007 }}, Buffalo Tales. Buffalo County Historical Society. Retrieved 8/22/07.
About
In 1880, the Omaha and Republican Valley Railway Company was consolidated with the Omaha, Niobrara and Black Hills Railroad Company, and in 1886 was consolidated again with the Blue Valley Railroad.Union Pacific Railroad Company. (1886) The Union Pacific Railway and Auxiliary Companies. Statistics Relating to Annual Meetings. p. 89.
Trains started traveling along the Omaha and Republican Valley Railroad in 1890, with Pleasanton as the terminus. The Pleasanton townsite was surveyed and platted in 1890, and grew quickly. Situated on the South Loup River, Pleasanton was plagued by floods. The flood of 1947 washed away the railroad tracks, and the line was officially abandoned in 1948.Howell, A. (1978) [http://bchs.kearney.net/BTales_197805.htm "Railroads in Buffalo County"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070807084508/http://bchs.kearney.net/BTales_197805.htm |date=August 7, 2007 }}, Buffalo Tales. Buffalo County Historical Society. Retrieved 8/22/07.
One ghost town was called Sartoria, which was built with the expectation of being the terminus of the railroad. The tracks never got that far. It was seven miles beyond Pleasanton. Another ghost town along the tracks was Watertown, where the steam locomotives would load up with water. Watertown had a post office, established in 1890, and a schoolhouse, formed in 1886. By the 1930s Watertown began to decline.[http://www.rootsweb.com/~nesgs/Ancestree/vol21/v21n2p061.htm "Miller resident fighting to clean up cemetery"], Nebraska State Genealogical Society Journals. Retrieved 8/22/07.
References
{{reflist}}
{{Omaha Railroads}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Omaha Republican Valley Railway}}
Category:Defunct Nebraska railroads
Category:Predecessors of the Union Pacific Railroad
Category:Railway companies established in 1887