Columbus, KS: A triple-cross diamond and 8 railroad "spokes" became 4

(Satellite, the former location of the triple crossing)

JC Walker posted five photos with the comment: "Columbus KS. Only 3-way existing. What were they thinking?!?! The location was just north of town."

John W Chamberlain Triple Diamond takes up way less land and is easy control. 1 interlocking instead of 3.
Patrick J Laronde I think there would have been more cross ties when the thing was in service.
Bucky Blankenship Looks like a nightmare for pulling tamper Operator.

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[This display is down by the Columbus Museum.]

I've extracted a closeup and an overview from a topo map. The overview captures the railroad names and the closeup shows where the triple crossing was.

1958 Columbus Quadrangle @ 1:24,000

Before the railroad merger mania in the 1980s, each railroad would have its own tracks through town. There were three railroads with four routes through Columbus. (Frisco had two routes.) The Columbus Wye was the crossing of the Light Purple, Orange and Dark Green.

• Blue: Abandoned/Northeast Oklahoma
• Orange: BNSF/Frisco
• Dark Purple: SKOL/Frisco (SKOL = Southern Kansas & Oklahoma)
• Light Purple: BNSF(o/s)/Frisco (o/s means out-of-service)  Actually, it is now more than o/s. The track has been removed.
• Light Green: BNSF/MKT (MKT = Missouri, Kansas & Texas)
• Dark Green: Abandoned/MKT

Satellite plus Paint

This extract shows why the Northeast Oklahoma went north into Kansas and through Columbus. Specifically, there was a lot of coal mining northwest of Columbus.

1959 Joplin Quadrangle @ 1:250,000

Update: I commented on a post. And another post.

One of four images shared by Richard Crabtree
The famous triple crossing & interlocking plant in Columbus Ks 1910s

Melvin Myers posted
This rail was called a triple crossing it is located in Columbus ks. and used to have a sign telling about it but i guess it is long gone..
[It's a public group so I'm just going to recommend that you peruse the comments.]