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Transcribed
by
Ann Selvig, from:
Allerton, Iowa Centennial, BUILT
1870
In 1870 the Chicago and Southwestern
Construction Company built a railroad through Wayne
County, and what is now Allerton. It entered
from the east and runs nearly west until east of
Clio it turns and runs nearly southwest.
Lineville was the only point on this road
that existed before the building of the line.
It was built without any local aid, except
the donation of depot grounds. There are
28 miles of this road in Wayne Co., which was
assessed at $5,000 a mile, and the county received
$3,000 a year tax from it. Soon after
construction, the line was bought by the Chicago,
Rock Island and Pacific Company, and became the main
line from Chicago to Kansas City. The county
is within 6 hours from Kansas City and 14 hours from
Chicago.
The principal parties in the construction
party were Judges Love and Johnson of Keokuk, George
Gillespie of Ottumwa, and Judge Aller of
Leavenworth, Kansas.
The latter for whom Allerton was named.
In 1870 the first depot was built here on the
north side of the tracks facing south. March 29,
1871, Engine No. 150 “old dollar and a half” as the
boys called it, brought the first passenger train to
Wayne county. It
crossed the county line at 10:49 a.m.
The construction of a “Shortline” became
necessary between Allerton and Des Moines. Prior to
the building of this line, all passengers and
freight routed over the Rock Island had to make a
V-shaped detour to southeastern Iowa, thence
southwest to Kansas City. Such a
routing was costly, inconvenient and time consuming. To
eliminate the roundabout passage, a short cut
through Des Moines was begun in 1901 and completed
in 1913. It
was the last significant railroad extension in Iowa.
The segment north of Des Moines was built by
two companies.
The Des Moines, Iowa Falls and Northern
Railway constructed the 70 mile line from the
capital to Iowa Falls in 1903. Another
company called the St. Paul and Des Moines Railroad
completed the line from Iowa Falls to Clear Lake
Junction in 1909.
The remainder of the route to Manly was
secured by trackage rights over the Great Western.
South of Des Moines, the track from Carlisle
to Allerton was largely built by the Rock Island’s
own construction crews. Work was
started in 1911 and completed two years later. All of the
above-mentioned lines were acquired by the St. Paul
and Kansas City Short Line Railroad, incorporated in
Iowa on February 18, 1911. Also
included in the purchase was the pioneer Des Moines
Western Railways Line from Des Moines to West Des
Moines, then called Valley Junction.
Although operated as an integral part of the
Rock Island, the “Short Line”, as it was called, was
not formally purchased by the Rock Island until
1922. The
name was perpetuated by the Short Line Express,
which ran between the Twin Cities and Kansas City
until March, 1958.
In 1912 Beulah Duncan, Mildred Smith and her
father were the first ones to ride the “Puddle
Jumper” – as we called it – to Melcher. At that
time it consisted of engine and caboose only, no
passenger cars, “Smiley” Simpson was the engineer;
Art Herrings, fireman and Comstock, the Brakeman.
In 1913 when the shortline was completed and
regular passenger trains came through, Blanche
Noble, Edith Ferrel, Dwight Merritt and Ray Whiteley
were the first passengers from Allerton to Des
Moines. Albert
L. Wiggert was the timekeeper for the shortline to
Des Moines.
In 1909, sparks from a train set the depot on
fire and it burned down. Fred Poe
was station agent at the time. The
present depot was then built on the south side of
the tracks facing north.
The depot grounds, which was donated to the
railway company at the time of construction, was 300
ft. wide, running from Chicago St. to Buffalo St. A depot,
water tower, flag-man’s station, coal chutes,
loading dock and a stock yards were on this ground.
Since Allerton was a leading railroad town
for marketing, it was necessary to have the
stockyards. A
flag-man was needed to stop traffic while trains
were on the tracks.
In 1939, the flag-man was replaced by
electric signal lights and bells.
The railroad owned the Allerton Reservoir. At that
time the engines were small steam engines and
required water and coal to operate. While
these engines were taking on water and coal, it was
necessary to break the train at each crossing,
taking considerable time for each freight that
stopped. Youngsters
living close to the tracks soon became friends with
the trainmen while doing this and knew each one by
name.
The Conductors of the passenger trains
changed trains at Allerton. Many
stayed at the hotel and some roomed in homes close
to the depot. They
became familiar faces at the cafes and on the
streets.
In 1929, the first famous “5000” class steam
locomotives came to the Rock Island and soon
replaced the small steam engines.
The first diesel and the first “Rocket”
passenger train ran through Allerton on Sept. 29,
1937, on the maiden trip of the Kansas City Rocket,
Minneapolis to Kansas City.
The last Rock Island passenger train to
operate through Allerton was the “Plainsman,”
Minneapolis-Kansas City. Its last
run was Oct. 31, 1967.
No. 150 and other small steam engines, the
“5000” steam locomotives, passenger and mail trains,
and the streamline “Rock Island Rocket” are all a
thing of the past.
Today – long freights of 100 to 200 cars,
pulled by 1 to 6 diesel engines, are all that use
the railroad tracks.
Depot agent is R. D. Rector and L. J. Haase
is Roadmaster.
Max McClarnen and Howard Saner are Track
Superintendents.
George Hemenway is Signal Maintenance and the
Section Crew are: Mervin Patterson, Glen Roberts,
Gary Jones and Dewey Arnold. Supt. is
John A. Bubenyak.
Many years ago there were 50 to 75 on the
section crew working out of Allerton. Between
1935 to 1940 the two section houses were torn down.
The water tower and coal chutes were torn
down during the 1950’s.
Charlie Beam was the last flagman, 1949.
When the shortline was built, the cafes
boarded 150 railroad workmen.
About thirty years ago, there was talk of
moving the railroad tracks to the southern part of
Allerton and building a roundhouse here. This never
did materialize. |