Mr. Betters, and others, Dissatisfied with Upola's Train Service

[W. Gray]

CITIZENS OF UPOLA, ELK COUNTY, KANSAS, Petitioners,


THE SOUTHERN KANSAS RAILWAY CO., Respondent.

PETITION.
UPOLA, KANSAS, December 29, 1887.

To the Honorable Board of Railroad Commissioners of the State of Kansas, Topeka, Kansas: We, the undersigned citizens of Upola and vicinity, would respectfully petition yon to investigate the following claims:

1. That we have asked Superintendent Barnes to put an agent at this place, which he has refused to do, on the grounds that it would not pay the company. While we claim it will pay them, from the fact that we have shipped from this station this season five cars of stock and eight cars of baled hay to date, besides the passenger travel.

2. We now ask that the said railroad company build a depot at this station, as well as appoint an agent, that the traveling public may have some place to get into while awaiting trains, and not have to stand out doors on a bare platform, as many will testify they have done here in all kinds of weather.

3. That yon also investigate why the company will not furnish coal cars along this line to those dealing in coal.

Signed by C. M. BETTER and 27 others.


DECISION.

This is a petition to the Board by Mr. C. M. Better and 27 others, asking that a depot be built and station agent be appointed at Upola, in Elk county. The petition goes on to state as a reason why a depot should be built and an agent appointed, and as an evidence of the amount of business done there, that there were shipped from that station the past season five cars of stock and eight cars of baled hay, besides the passenger travel.

The petition was referred to the railroad company, and in response thereto the General Manager states that there is certainly not enough business at that point to warrant the expense of a station building, let alone the employment of an agent.

After due notice to the parties, the Board went to Upola on April 18, 1888, to investigate the necessities said to exist for a station building in that locality. There is already a side-track, stock yards for loading stock, and a platform, but no station building. Upola is about five miles from Longton, the next station on the south, and six miles from Buxton, the next station on the north. It is simply a country post-office, there being no town or village in that vicinity, and but one house near by.

The statement made in the petition as to the business done there would indicate that it must be meager, and actual observations in that locality only tend to confirm this impression. The character of shipments from and to that place would be chiefly live stock, hay and coal, and facilities for the handling of these classes of freights are already provided. We have had occasion to pass by Upola over that road several times since we went to investigate this petition, and we have failed on either occasion to see any evidence of business being done there either in passenger or freight. This condition of inactivity, however, is not likely to continue. This locality suffers like the rest of the State from the loss of crops last year, and it is reasonable to expect that a prosperous season will greatly increase the business to be done over the railroad in that locality. At the present time, however, the money derived from the business done there would be insufficient to pay the salary of an agent.

There is no present necessity for one, and, in our judgment, it would, under existing circumstances, be unreasonable to require the company to expend a large amount of money in providing a station building, and maintaining a station agent with comparatively little or nothing to do. We feel justified in adding, however, that the location of Upola is a proper place for a station, and that as business grows there additional station facilities will be atforded.

BY THE BOARD.
Attest: H. C. RIZER. Secretary.
TOPEKA. May 24, 1888.

[W. Gray]

Below post is from 2010 here on the forum

CITIZENS OF UPOLA, ELK COUNTY, KANSAS, Petitioners,


THE SOUTHERN KANSAS RAILWAY CO., Respondent.

PETITION.
UPOLA, KANSAS, December 29, 1887.

To the Honorable Board of Railroad Commissioners of the State of Kansas, Topeka, Kansas: We, the undersigned citizens of Upola and vicinity, would respectfully petition yon to investigate the following claims:

1. That we have asked Superintendent Barnes to put an agent at this place, which he has refused to do, on the grounds that it would not pay the company. While we claim it will pay them, from the fact that we have shipped from this station this season five cars of stock and eight cars of baled hay to date, besides the passenger travel.

2. We now ask that the said railroad company build a depot at this station, as well as appoint an agent, that the traveling public may have some place to get into while awaiting trains, and not have to stand out doors on a bare platform, as many will testify they have done here in all kinds of weather.

3. That yon also investigate why the company will not furnish coal cars along this line to those dealing in coal.

Signed by C. M. BETTER and 27 others.


DECISION.

This is a petition to the Board by Mr. C. M. Better and 27 others, asking that a depot be built and station agent be appointed at Upola, in Elk county. The petition goes on to state as a reason why a depot should be built and an agent appointed, and as an evidence of the amount of business done there, that there were shipped from that station the past season five cars of stock and eight cars of baled hay, besides the passenger travel.

The petition was referred to the railroad company, and in response thereto the General Manager states that there is certainly not enough business at that point to warrant the expense of a station building, let alone the employment of an agent.

After due notice to the parties, the Board went to Upola on April 18, 1888, to investigate the necessities said to exist for a station building in that locality. There is already a side-track, stock yards for loading stock, and a platform, but no station building. Upola is about five miles from Longton, the next station on the south, and six miles from Buxton, the next station on the north. It is simply a country post-office, there being no town or village in that vicinity, and but one house near by.

The statement made in the petition as to the business done there would indicate that it must be meager, and actual observations in that locality only tend to confirm this impression. The character of shipments from and to that place would be chiefly live stock, hay and coal, and facilities for the handling of these classes of freights are already provided. We have had occasion to pass by Upola over that road several times since we went to investigate this petition, and we have failed on either occasion to see any evidence of business being done there either in passenger or freight. This condition of inactivity, however, is not likely to continue. This locality suffers like the rest of the State from the loss of crops last year, and it is reasonable to expect that a prosperous season will greatly increase the business to be done over the railroad in that locality. At the present time, however, the money derived from the business done there would be insufficient to pay the salary of an agent.

There is no present necessity for one, and, in our judgment, it would, under existing circumstances, be unreasonable to require the company to expend a large amount of money in providing a station building, and maintaining a station agent with comparatively little or nothing to do. We feel justified in adding, however, that the location of Upola is a proper place for a station, and that as business grows there additional station facilities will be atforded.

BY THE BOARD.
Attest: H. C. RIZER. Secretary.
TOPEKA. May 24, 1888.