This line, in western Kansas, was originally constructed as the Scott City Northern and reached Winona on July 2, 1911, It was the shortest independent line in Kansas at the time.
The line was in receivership by January, 1913 and in August 1913 Commonwealth Trust and Security Company (St. Louis) bid $175,000 for the line. At some point the name was changed to Colorado Kansas & Oklahoma.
In August 1917 the CKO requested abandonment of the northern section of line between Russell Springs and Winona. The last scheduled train ran on November 1, 1917.
Evidently the southern section was abandoned around that time also. In December 1917, the property was sold to Joseph Hyman (Chicago) for $316,000, with the steel rails to be used for the World War I effort.
Satellite photos on Terraserver show the right of way passing through the northeast corner of Russell Springs. Further south, the entrance road to Lake Scott State Park (near US 83) is near the right-of-way.
The line left a Santa Fe connection in Scott City heading north-northwest, and passed through Kelson, Christy, Keystone, Elkader, Logansport, Bowie, Harwi, Russell Springs, Disney and ended at Winona where it joined the Union Pacific.