Missouri and Kansas Interurban Railway

[4] Using the right-of-way of the old Santa Fe Trail, Strang built the Missouri and Kansas Interurban Railway as a means to attract new people to his community.

[8] As early as 1916, the Strang Line began to struggle to compete with a rising preference for buses and cars as means of shipping and transit.

[10] The railway struggled through the 1930s, and by November 1937, the opening of 50 Highway and K-10 allowed cars to travel the length of the Strang Line in half the time.

On May 17, 1939, a short circuit caused a Strang Line car to notably burst into flames in downtown Kansas City.

The line's closure attracted significant public attention, as passengers went as far as to make off with the streetcar's seat cushions as souvenirs.

Riders had damaged the car so much by the time the line arrived to its southwestern end in Olathe that Thomas Riley canceled the return trip to downtown.

[6] The former Strang Line depot at 80th Street and Santa Fe Drive was purchased by the Overland Park Historical Society in 2019 and still stands today.

South of Rosedale the line followed the Santa Fe Trail, serving Milburn Country Club, Downtown Overland Park, and an airfield also built by William Strang.

Strang created Overland Park as an early Suburban community, free from Kansas City's hustle, noise, crowded and rising population, and frequent flooding.

Overland Park was made to cater to the middle class, with more modest homes as opposed to suburbs developed by Strang's contemporaries like J. C. Nichols for wealthier homeowners.