The third and present depot was built in 1943.  Station agent, Mr. Beard, carried on the business from a railroad car off the main track near the depot site while the depot was under construction.  As of 1969, the steam locomotives have all been replaced by diesel engines.  The tramps or hobos, who rode the empty railroad cars or walked the tracks, and slept in the depot in the winter and in the stockyards in the summer, have disappeared.

          The following tramp story taken from the Dallas Center Globe of December 26, 1878, may bring back memories of a former day.  Sam G. Sloane was the editor of the Dallas Center Globe at that time.

          Quote:  "A tramp passed through here last Sunday going north who had on neither overcoat, gloves, stockings nor anything to protect his ears.  He stopped long enough to inquire where he could get some "chawin' tobacker" and then walked on apparently happy, and not in the least concerned about the cold nor'wester coming down from Alaska at that time, nor whether Hayes' policy was a success or failure.  Probably he was looking for a job at harvesting, as he looked like the chap who was here in search of a job shoveling snow last summer."

          Another quote from the same paper:  "Now is the time to lay in a supply of locomotives, as a locomotive that used to cost $24,000 can now be bought for $7,000."

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Dallas County Farm Supply                         Steelman Bros. Shows, Adel, Iowa

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