The Ballast Pit

   During the early days of construction of the railroad, a large ballast pit was dug between Elliott and Griswold, within close proximity to the railroad track. The Davy Burnt Clay Ballast Co. ceased their operation south of Griswold in 1905, having built up a large a large supply of ballast, which was used to build the railroad beds. Railroad men of experience stated the soil in that area was well adapted to the processing of this excellent  artificial gravel. Few people have any idea of the immensity of the ballast pits and their output, unless they have seen it at close range. Bur we get an idea of it when we learn that during the time the company was operational, 200,000 cubic yards of marketable ballast was hauled to other areas for railroad construction. The ballast work provided employment for many from Elliott and Griswold. The smoking ballast was an annoyance to persons living nearby. Just what was to be done with the ballast pit after the ballast was removed, was a subject of conjecture. It appeared then as though it would be of use only for the raising of ducks and rice.

A Memory Of Our Puddle Jumper

   Our train serviced the north branch line of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad out of Red Oak, Iowa. When the train would signal the main street crossing, it would create enough excitement to cause us children to pause in our play to wave at the engineer. Though it was a commonplace part of our lives, we never grew tired of the sound.

    My best friend Ila Mae and I had daydreams of a ride on "our" train, but scarcely dared to hope we might actually manage such a trip. All trains had lost favor as a method of travel by the time Ila Mae and I finally managed a financial bonanza simultaneously in 1942. This affluence was due to each of us having a big brother in the Armed Forces who both happened to have a spell of generosity towards little sisters at nearly the same time.

    We were the only passengers on the five mile ride to Griswold the day we chose to make the trip. We sampled all the delights offered in the passenger car. While we were enthusiastic about all of these, we were, by far, most impressed with the way in which they rid the lavatory facilities of waste.

    Though the train paused in Griswold for only as long as it might take to attach the filled boxcars and leave the empty ones, Ila Mae and I had time to run to a nearby grocery store for some penny candies. We returned to Elliott more than pleased with our $0.30 train ride, which had turned one of our many daydreams into a reality.

    Taken in part from "The Train Ride", published in "Good Old Day" -- Spring 1978 Issue