The Howard Branch

[W. Gray]

These two photos were also taken by James Burke formerly of Climax.

The top photo is somewhere on the Howard Branch. It shows the typical passenger service offered—at least in the years prior to April 1950.

A combination half passenger, half baggage car is coupled to the rear end of the freight train. The baggage car held Railway Express shipments and passenger luggage. A typical passenger capacity of a combine might only be 18 people.

Train speed was limited to 30 mph.

If one were traveling from the end of the 84-mile branch at Moline to the beginning of the branch at Emporia, it would take five hours to get to Emporia. At each stop along the way, any freight cars destined for that town had to uncoupled and spotted on a spur. Any loaded freight cars had to be coupled, passengers dropped or picked up, etc.

Trains were daily except Sunday.

From Moline, a train would stop at Howard, Fiat, Severy, Climax, Small, Eureka, Utopia, Hamilton, Madison, Olpe, and Emporia. Hilltop and Virgil were included on a spur from Madison until sometime in the 1960s. That spur was not originally included in the Howard Branch, but was part of another Santa Fe branch line from Madison to Benedict abandoned in 1943 or so.

According to my late uncle, Johnnie Miller, the train would clear a switch at Madison and then back into the several mile long spur and make stops at Hilltop and Virgil. Virgil being the end of the spur. In one case, the only pickup was a filled milk can.

Fare from Climax to Eureka in the 1940s was 35 cents.

Passenger service stopped in April 1950.

April 1950 also saw the first diesel service on the branch.

April 1975 was the last freight train run. By that time, the run from Moline to Emporia was down to three hours apparently because so little shipments on the branch were going by freight train.

The reason the line was called the Howard Branch was that Howard was the terminus for a number of years before the line was extended to Moline.

[frawin]

Waldo, Iremember that Station very well, I took Boxed Pony Carts down there regularly to ship all over the Country. The Station Operator, Telegrapher was John Aldridge,later it was  John Layton, I think John Layton shut it down for good. Thanks Waldo this brings backlots of fond memories, a big thanks Waldo.

[W. Gray]

According to my late uncle, Johnnie Miller, the train would clear a switch at Madison and then back into the several mile long spur and make stops at Hilltop and Virgil. Virgil being the end of the spur. In one case, the only pickup was a filled milk can.

This may or may not be the milk can my uncle was talking about. This is another James Burke photo and the location is somewhere on the Howard Branch.