Originally
written by John Bower, as a two-part article on the L.T. & SW Railroad,
this article was published in the Jefferson County Historical Society Newsletters
of August and September 1982.
- - - - - - -
Principal
source for the early history is The
Oskaloosa Independent, published for 100 years in Oskaloosa by the Roberts
family (to be cited as IND, or simply by the date of issue where the source is
indicated by the text). [John Wesley Roberts was the Independent editor at the time of the L.T. & SW Railroad bond
issues and construction. His son F.H. Roberts took over as editor in July
1882.]
PART
2: HALF A
CENTURY OF SERVICE AND STRUGGLE, 1882 -1931
 |
Map
from "People's Railroad: The Leavenworth and Topeka, 1879-1931"
by
I.E. Quastler
Ninth
Draft, October 18, 2000
Manuscript
held in the Historical Research Division of the Kansas Historical Society |
It was probably
appropriate that the first train from Leavenworth to Topeka over the new line
was only a locomotive and one car. (The
Oskaloosa Independent, “IND” Oct. 14, 1882) Thirty-nine years later,
writing for The Topeka Daily Capital
(TDC Sep. 25, 1921), F.H. Roberts related how the independent line had been
“taken over” by the Santa Fe and Union Pacific companies, which then “owned”
the territory invaded by the little stranger.
“As the years
went by, with one engine and three or four freight cars and an accommodation
compartment coach dragging their slow way one round trip per day over the line,
the annual reports showed ...deficits ...running from $20,000 to $40,000 a
year.” After being turned over by the construction company in May 1883, the
road was operated by the Santa Fe until January 1889, then by the Union Pacific
until March 1894. It was in receivership until reorganized as the Leavenworth
and Topeka Railroad (L&T) January 31, 1900. Stock in the new company, as
before, was held by the UP and the Santa Fe. (ICC Docket 601)
Operations
continued as before. The L&T spent a dollar and thirty cents for every dollar
taken in. Losses were absorbed by the parent companies. (ICC Docket 601) Though
the charter called for separate freight and passenger service, they ran one mixed
train per day. (Kansas City Star,
Aug. 1, 1916)
According to the
Star, matters came to a head in March
when the Kansas Public Utilities Commission (PUC) ordered the L&T into
receivership, protesting they were already losing $25,000 a year. U.S. District
Judge John Pollock tossed the ball back to the PUC by asking it to select the
receiver. He was not to be paid a large management fee, and he must pay
expenses from revenues.
W.A. Austin,
retired businessman, formerly with the Burlington Railroad, was appointed receiver
at $100 a month. He immediately put on a passenger train, giving the area better
service than it had had in years. An attempt by the Santa Fe to prevent use of
its tracks into Topeka by the new passenger train was blocked by Judge Pollock.
The Star painted a rosy picture. Austin was making
improvements on the track and giving better service, while making a little money
every month. The Star had a simple explanation:
The U.P. and the Santa Fe had been “milking” the orphan road.
Though it was
the shortest route between Topeka and Leavenworth, not one through ticket had
been sold over the L&T in five years. No joint rate existed with any other road;
an L&T agent could not sell a ticket to any place not on the line. Now,
Austin was even talking of putting on an overnight sleeping car for Chicago and
the east.
Another
midsummer night’s dream appeared in 1916. According to The Topeka State Journal (TSJ) on July 29, 1916, the Willard E.
Winner interests of Kansas City had purchased the L&T and would convert it
to electric inter-urban service. Local freight and produce would be handled,
but the big thing would be hourly trolley car service between Topeka and Kansas
City, seven days a week.
Track would be
laid on the 34-year-old unused grade between Meriden and Topeka. Cars would
enter Topeka near Garfield Park and run up Kansas Avenue on the street car tracks.
Recreational
use was to be featured. “Some of the most attractive fishing, outing and camping
resorts and locations in the midwest are on the line between this city and Leavenworth,”
the Journal enthused, 40 years before
Lake Perry was formed. There was talk of a branch line from Oskaloosa through
Valley Falls to Holton.
While this
proved to be only a pipe dream, it is interesting to ponder the effect of
hourly inter-urban service to Kansas City and Topeka on Oskaloosa and other
Jefferson County towns in that still largely horse and buggy era.
Things
returned to normal early in 1917 when the passenger train was taken off, by order
of Judge Pollock at the request of receiver Austin, and to the embarrassment of
Governor Arthur Capper. (TSJ Feb. 6, 1917) According to The Journal, The Topeka Capital, Capper’s newspaper had been touting
the success of the L&T under Austin in support of the governor’s public
utility bill in the legislature.
Needling Governor
Capper for the report, the Capital
printed the notarized document bearing Austin’s signature from official court
records, and, gleefully added Morgan Albaugh, clerk of the United States court,
expressed regret that Governor Capper had not proven himself big enough and
fair enough to specifically correct the misstatement in Monday’s Capital editorial.”
Pollock gave
the Union Pacific and the Santa Fe ten days to end the receivership and operate
the road or to foreclose the mortgage and put the line up for sale. (TDC Feb.
11, 1917) He revived the hope of making it an electric line.
It took all
summer to find a buyer. In September, the L&T was sold to a group headed by
Chicago capitalist F.L. Wells. (TSJ Sep. 17, 1917) The new owners talked about
improved service, including use of motor coaches for carrying passengers.
Their real
intention, however, appears to have been much simpler. Wartime demand for scrap
iron had raised prices enough that the new owners could junk the line at a
profit. Like the Rock Island 60 years later, the L&T was worth more for
scrap than as an operating line.
Now the life
of the L&T hung by a thread. By December, patrons along the line and businessmen
from Leavenworth and Topeka were protesting an attempt to scrap the rails from
Ozawkie to Meriden. (TDC Dec. 24, 1917) Citizens argued this was just the preliminary
to junking the whole line. (TDC Dec. 31, 1917)
A.O. Kendall,
cashier of the Ozawkie State Bank [original article refers to “A.O. Kandall,”
other references say “Kendall”], in a letter to Congressman Daniel R. Anthony,
said that sale of the L&T to private interests at a price less than its
junk value was a move by the Santa Fe and Union Pacific to eliminate
competition, while speculators made money junking the line. (TSJ Jan. 2, 1918)
When Topeka wholesale business concerns tried to help the road by diverting
eastern shipments over it, the letter related, the L&T bridge-men condemned
the bridge over the Delaware at Ozawkie. An engineer for the Public Utilities
Commission said it could be fixed for $600.
“Our
conclusions are,” Kendall asserted, “that Mr. Wells bought this road with the object
of junking it ... his operation has been with this object in view and managed
so it would unprofitable.”
An attempt was
made to use wartime control of the nation’s railroads to prevent scrapping the
line. At a conference with the government railroad administration in Washington
(TSJ Jan. 24, 1918), counsel for the Kansas PUC presented information to show
that the L&T had been purposely operated at a loss for years to destroy it
as a competitor. Congressman [Daniel Read] Anthony argued that congestion in
the Kansas City terminal could be relieved by diverting traffic from the north
to the southwest over the line, while junking it would leave several towns and
grain elevators without service when grain was needed in the war effort.
The attempt to
use federal war controls to save the L&T failed when the government decided
not to take control of small railroad lines. (TDC, Feb. 2, 1918) Notices were
sent to customers along the line that service would end on Wednesday, Feb. 6.
Trustees of
townships which had voted bonds to build the line, and Topeka shippers, immediately
lodged vigorous protests with the federal court against destruction of the road.
A protest meeting was called at Oskaloosa Monday, Feb. 4.
At a hearing
before Judge Pollock in Kansas City February 19, Wells claimed the railroad was
losing $1,000 a month, while he could sell it as scrap for from$160,000 to
$200,000. (TDC Feb. 20, 1918) Patrons of the line protested strongly.
After a long
day, Pollock said he would sell it to the people along the line as an operating
road for $80,000, less taxes due. He gave them thirty days to raise the money.
This scaled-down price probably allowed Wells some profit.
F.H. Roberts,
editor of The Oskaloosa Independent,
served as chairman of the committee to raise the money. (TDC, May 11, 1918)
Walter Johnson, managing editor of The
Topeka Daily Capital, took a prominent part. (Chicago Tribune, Current Opinion, April 1919, Page 268) More than $100,000
was subscribed by some 800 farmers and businessmen along the line, in amounts
$10 to $1,500. (TDC, April 4, 1918)
The Capital reporter painted with vivid strokes
the scene in the “dingy” offices of the L&T as the committee made its offer
to buy. Mingling with the farmers and merchants, “some of whom saw possible ruin
staring them in the face in property was wrecked,” were “commercial vultures,
or junk dealers, eager to hop upon the carrion… Little did they care…”
When some
Topeka businessmen threatened to withdraw their support because Judge Pollock
retained control of the road until the new owners proved they could run it, the
Capital ran a blistering editorial
(May 27), declaring, “Topeka can afford to put up $15,000 for this purpose if
it never sees a cent of the money again. To refuse to do this is to give Topeka
a black eye with the people of this territory from which this community will
never recover…” If a tornado hit Jefferson County, they would be quick to give
aid, he said, and loss of the railroad would be far worse.
“L&T
RAILROAD IS PURCHASED BY PATRONS OF LINE” ran the headline in the May 11 Capital. The good guys in this “long and
bitter fight” were the members of the citizens’ committee and Capital editor Johnson. The bad guys
were capitalist Wells and his attorney, James W. Orr of Atchison, and “The State Journal, of Topeka, which misrepresented
the activities of the committee at every turn, and did not hesitate to resort
to plain and fancy lying in its effort to deprive the people of this needed
railroad service and to deal Topeka a deadly blow in this rich territory…”
Said editor
Johnson, “It has been a hard fight, but it has been demonstrated that a determined
people and a just court can circumvent even the most wily lawyer and the most
avaricious speculator if there is a will to do it.” Johnson believed that community
ownership could solve the problems of many branch lines.
The new
Leavenworth and Topeka Railroad Company was chartered May 16, 1918. Among the
incorporators were Sam Hill, Ackerland; Walter Pennington and G.M. Casebier,
McLouth; F.H. Roberts and Horace Phinney, Oskaloosa; and O.A. Kendall and Ira
Puderbaugh, Ozawkie. (TSJ, May 16, 1918) J.E. Wadill, Kansas City lumberman,
who had three yards along the line and was the largest stockholder, was elected
president. (TDC, May 18)
The people had
bought themselves a railroad. Now all they had to do was run it. If they
failed, it would go back to Wells.
Service was
restored once (TDC, June 8), but troubles were not over. Within a year, Topeka
stockholders were asking townships served by the road to issue bonds to retire
the capital stock and make needed improvements. (TDC, May 17, 1919) Valley Falls,
which had daily train service, was reported ready to make a fight for the
county seat. “At times Oskaloosa does not see a train for several days, said
W.H. Stanley, editor of the Meriden
Ledger,” the Capital reported.
High water
damaged the bridges at Ozawkie in the spring of 1919. To repair the washouts
and make improvements in equipment, the directors asked stockholders to raise a
fund equal to about ten percent of the face value of their stock. (IND, April
4, 1919) Certificates would be issued to cover the additional contributions.
Soon after
acquiring the L&T, directors had put on a gasoline powered motor car — a converted
Reo automobile — for passenger service. The motor had had a number of accidents,
all the way from derailment at crossings to knocking a farmer’s wagon off the
track, but “it remained for a mangy old shepherd dog to put the gas wagon completely
out of business.” (IND, May 16, 1919)
The dog had
often run ahead of the car, barking furiously, while the motorman chased him.
One day they caught him. The bus derailed and was demolished. One of the
passengers, Lew Wiley of Oskaloosa, said the car ran on the ties several rods,
then turned over three or four times as it fell down the embankment.
Miraculously, [only] one of the eight people aboard was seriously injured.
It was some
time before motor service was restored. People were complaining about lack of
the service. A new motor was promised by September. (IND, June 13, 1919) While
the service had been popular, our limited research did not confirm of a new motor
until the summer of 1921.
A new motor
coach was put in service in July. (TSJ, July 23, 1921) Housed at McLouth, it
went to Meriden twice and to Leavenworth once every day, allowing Jefferson
County passengers to spend several hours in either Topeka or Leavenworth and return
home the same day.
The new
service was an immediate success. (TDC, Sept. 27, 1921) Built to order by the White
Motor Company of Kansas City, the new bus was longer and heavier than the old Reo.
Seating about 25, it had carried as many as 64 persons. It cleared about $1,000
the first month.
Known
affectionately as “The Galloping Goose,” it was a familiar sight and sound on the
L&T during the twenties. I can still hear the hum of its wheels and the
trill of its exhaust whistle, and remember the thrill of riding it to Leavenworth.
In July 1919,
the directors proposed a bond issue to pay off the line’s debts and buy equipment,
(IND, July 25, 1919) They had secured legislation setting up a benefit district
four miles wide on each side of the line. (TDC, Sept. 27, 1921)
After
employees struck the Kansas Northwestern Railroad, which also served McLouth
and Oskaloosa (IND, Aug. 8, 1919), the Independent
cited the uncertain future of the KCNW to encourage support of the railroad
bonds. (Aug. 22, 1919)
The McLouth Times (IND Aug. 29, 1919), called attention to
the bad fix the country and towns would have been in during the strike but for
the “little old L&T.” The Jefferson County part of the district approved
$50,000 for the railroad; Leavenworth County $25,000. (TFC, Sept. 27, 1921)
Officers and
directors served without pay as a community service. Among those serving in
1921 were A.O. Kendall and Ira Puderbaugh, Ozawkie; A.H. Leech, Oskaloosa; E.D.
Bradford, George Casebier and H.H. Kimmel, McLouth; and Sam Hill, Ackerland.
F.H. Roberts was Assistant General Manager. (TDC Sept. 27, 1921)
By 1923,
Roberts was managing the line himself. (TDC, Aug. 9, 1925) He had effected
further economy by running the train on alternate days, substituting a second motor
coach on days the train did not run. Train crewmen manned the extra motor. Deficiencies
in operating revenue were made up by an annual tax levy on the benefit district.
In 1925, the levy was two mills and raised about $14,000.
But times were
changing. By 1919 the good roads movement was in full swing. The first federal
aid paved road in the county, running from Nortonville to Williamstown, was
approved in early summer. (IND July 4, 1919) (From Oskaloosa south the road is little
changed today.) Development of highway transportation doomed shortline railroads.
The tax
subsidy no longer seemed a good investment and was dropped in 1929. (TDC Apr.
21, 1931) As the Depression deepened, the directors gave up. The last train ran
April 30, 1931.
Contract for
scrapping the line went to Sonken Galamba of Kansas City at the depression
price of $6,500. (TDC Apr. 22, 1931) We had a sawmill in those days, and made
lumber of many of the timbers from L&T trestles. Some of it went into the
large, metal covered barn which has been a landmark for half a century on the
first hill north of McLouth.
Terminal
tracks in Leavenworth belonging to the L&T had already been sold to the Burlington
for $165,000 and the bonds paid off. (TDC Apr. 22, 1931) Some land would revert
to the original landowners; some could be sold. With the debts paid, about
$40,000 remained to be distributed to stockholders — about 25 percent of par
value.
So ended half
a century of struggle and service.
Crossing a
rough terrain, and having to fight for business with two giant competitors who controlled
it much of its life, there were few easy times. Indeed, “Old Jerky” was something
of a joke as a railroad.
They tell of
one conductor who signaled departures with “let ’er go, Newt — one load and two
empties.” With little business and heavy grades, trains were seldom very long.
Even so, they sometimes stalled. Dad told of waiting west of McLouth while they
took half of the train to the siding at McIntosh and came back for the rest.
They used to
say the train went so slow west of Oskaloosa that you could get off and pick blackberries
along the track. Sometimes they broke down, or stopped while the crew went for
a drink at a nearby farmhouse.
There were
many cuts in the hills near McLouth. In winter they drifted full of snow, and
the train got stuck. The heaviest snowfall I can remember came in 1926 — 26 inches
in about 24 hours. Roads were blocked. School was out. The train was stuck two
or three days about two miles east of McLouth.
My grandmother
Kimmel was on that train. With snow already falling, the trainmen wanted her to
stay in Leavenworth. But Grandma was the wife of a director. She had a pass. Dad
had a sled and a big team of horses. They brought Grandma and the mail across
the fields, cutting fences as they went.
Fifty years
later, few remember the call of the whistle or the chirp of the “Galloping Goose.”
Many of the newcomers who have flocked to Jefferson County do not know that trains
once ran almost through Oskaloosa, though much of the grade is still visible if
you look for it.
As I said,
there were few easy times. But after making this study, I believe the effort to
bring a railroad across the middle of Jefferson County was worthwhile and I
take off my hat in admiration to the men who carried it out.
— John D. Bower
Editors’
notes: On April 10, 1931, The Oskaloosa Independent carried this article: “Jess
Davies, manager of the L.&T. railroad, has posted notices in the depots and
elsewhere, along the line notifying the public that operation of the road will
case on April 30th. This gives the patronizing
public twenty days in which to ship in or out the ‘heavy’ after which it will
be up to the trucks.”
Further Reading:
Quastler
also wrote a complete study of the railroad, “People’s Railroad: The Leavenworth
& Topeka, 1879-1931.” The manuscript is in the Historical Research
Division, Library and Archives, Kansas State Historical Society. A copy is
available at the JCGS Research Library.
This article appeared in “Yesteryears” in April 2015.
