Ot-Many Pics Hauling A Combine Thru The Flint Hills.

On Tuesday I made a 400 mile round trip to Newton,KS to haul a combine home...I got done loading at 11:30 AM and headed 60 miles straight east on 1st Street....I was overwidth and was only going to run 40-45 mph in 4th gear so went the scenic route...Combines pull very hard as they have so much wind drag..

Heres some pictures starting at the Flint Hills..

1-Heres Main Street in Cassoday,KS....The Flint Hills start just west of there..

2-Heading east out of Cassoday....Theres only one house for the next 25 plus miles..It
will just be me and the cows..

3-Theres nothing but bluestem pasture as far as you can see..

4-I didn't take this picture...Its Teeter Rock located 10-12 miles east of Cassoday,,,The former town of Teeterville was also located there..I've never been to Teeter Rock because its in a pasture 1 mile south of the road..The rancher allows access and its a popular place....I didn't want to take my pickup and trailer there..
I'll see it in the car one of these days..

5-Proof that Kansas isn't level..The hill over looking the valley of the east branch of the Fall River that flows south..Its a long ways to the top of the other hill..A utility crew was working at the bottom of the hill..

6-Looking SE at the Fall River valley..

7-Stopped to check the trailer tires-etc..

8-One of the many large watershed lakes to help prevent flooding on the Fall,Verdigris,and Neosho Rivers..

9-Heading on east to Hamilton,KS...In the 35 miles there from Cassoday and I met 2 vehicles..

10-Main Street in Hamilton,KS..There used to be a good cafe there buts its out of business..

11 and 12-The bank and water tower in Hamilton.

13-A couple of old trucks just east of Hamilton..

14-I first went this road east of Hamilton in 2004 and these 4 crosses were there then on a
sharp curve...These 4 young people will be 23,19,16,and 15 forever..How sad..

15-Getting ready to cross the Verdigris River west of Virgil,KS..Almost every bridge for 100
miles was rated at 15 tons..I saw heavier trucks in the area..


16-A picture taken 7-8 years ago of the historic Virgil,KS hotel..Sadly an arsonist burnt it down
6-7 years ago.

17-A picture taken several years ago of the Virgil bank..

18-19,and 20-The old high school,church,and store in Vernon,KS...We are now out of the
Flint Hills.now..

21-A nice clean field of beans in the Verdigris river bottom...They should make 60 plus
bushels per acre..Soybean harvest was only about 20% done..

22-Some old horse drawn machinery south of Neosho Falls,KS.

23-There are lots of oil wells in the Hamilton to Neosho Falls area...Farming
around them wouldn't be too bad..

24-The Neosho River at Neosho Falls,KS..The food of 1951 ruined this town..
Thats a story by itself which I will do in the future..

25-A low water bridge NE of Iola,KS...Recently the water had been over the road
where it goes around the bend..I crossed 2 more low water bridges after this...

26-The clouds are getting heavy and 15 miles from home I hit rain..

27-A country church north of Bronson,KS..In the 100 miles before this only 2 vehicles
came up behind me..

I arrived home at 5:30 PM with no problems...It had been a fun day..

Nice pictures I remember being told there would be a town about every 7 miles . That would be the time it would take a farmer to get a team together and getting to town and back. You can also see why towns fought so hard for the county seat there are usually the only towns left

Great pictures , Thank you for shareing. Glad you made it back safe.

More great history pictures with nariation.

I love the bluestem in the fall. Great job! Wonderful photos. Ron

Not too many places to stop for lunch on a trip like that.

Thanks for taking us on a nice ride.

Thanks for the tour. Very nice country. What kind of combine? Steve

Enjoyed! Thanks for sharing.

Looks like nice country, thanks for the pictures.

WINDY? you ought to bicycle across it someday. You lean to the south at 45 degrees. But thanks, really appreciate it. I can see why the Plains Indians revered the prairie.

Compared to where I am that's flat as a pancake.Sure is different in different parts of the country that little town looks to be about dried up and no fast food joints or Walmarts.

Dirt roads as far as the eye can see. My goodness the majority of us poor little spoiled New Yawkers would have an apoplectic seizure! Might get the car dirty, don't you know. Can't drive 80 mph. Lol!

I'd wager your taxes are a whole lot lower than ours, though.

Its a rare 1954 or 55 model T Gleaner combine...Around 500 were built...The serial # plate is missing on this one..

I brought my lunch with me and ate it while enjoying the view of the Fall River valley..If I had wanted I could have went south 10-15 miles and ate at ElDorado,Eureka,Yates Center,or Iola,KS which have nice places to eat..Several times I've ate at the Hamilton,KS cafe but it went out of business..

Thanks for the ride along.

wisht I could a gone with ya blaine ,,. the pix visit was nice

Really nice pics...enjoyed seeing all of them. Typos can be fun...Pic #24, where "food of 1951 ruined this town" LOL

LOL,I missed that one...This post was cursed from the very start....It took me nearly 2 hours to put the first one together.....I proof read it and hit submit and it never showed up on here..

So I waited an hour and put together the second try taking 1 hour and 30 minutes...Nothing went right and I submitted it after barely looking it over...I see that I made several mistakes...Spell check doesnt help any as it keeps changing words on me..As you know I met the flood of 1951..