Below is some commentary from James Burke with some further comments from Sandifer. The numbers refer to the notes on the attached chart.

1. In 1945 many people in Climax heated their houses with coal There was a coalhouse alongside the house track about 200 feet south of the depot. Occasionally a gondola car of coal was set out there in the winter much of this coal was shoveled by hand into wagons for delivery to houses and businesses around town. Coal not delivered immediately was stored in the coalhouse. The record shows 4 gondolas being delivered in January - March and only staying in town 2-3 days before returning empty. Photos of a coalhouse on the Howard Branch can be seen at the Hamilton page. Moline also received 4-5 gondolas of coal a year.

2. "Bridge gangs" were moved around to various locations to make repairs to bridges, buildings, stockyards, etc. A work train composed of 2 bunk cars, a foreman's car, flat car, water car and tool car spent 6 days on the house track in February. This crew may have re-shingled and repainted the depot - it was done at about this time.

3. Hopper carloads of ballast were brought north from Moline and set out just north of where the ballast was needed. The southbound train would spread the ballast when the section crew was ready. 13 cars of ballast spent time in Climax with their work spread throughout the year.

4. During the winter, carloads of baled alfalfa and Flint Hills prairie hay were shipped to major stockyards in places like Kansas City, Tulsa, and Fort Worth. Hay does not weigh heavy, so larger auto boxes were frequently used to carry the loads. 7 loads were shipped out during the winter months of 1945.

5. In 1945 the reservoir area for the dam being built on the Fall River was being cleared of all trees. 9 carloads of walnut logs were shipped to furniture factories in May of 1945.

6. As alfalfa cutting began in the spring, the new alfalfa dehydrating plant at Small got busy. Located on a spur track with only a north switch three miles south of Eureka and seven miles north of Climax, its empty boxcars were set out southbound at Climax and returned to the mill by the next northbound train or as space became available at the mill. 73 (30%) of the cars brought to Climax during this 10-month accounting were waybilled to Small. That also makes it the largest single shipper in the area.

7. Wheat harvest - the elevator is screaming for cars. Competition for boxcars with the hay mill is keen. Rumors that boxcars are for sale are squelched. Burke marked 21 cars serving the elevator during the July harvest. They came from 11 railroads.

8. Grain shipments from the elevator in the winter were generally corn hauled in from farm storage when the price was right. The elevator had limited storage. Burke shows 20 boxcars loading that winter corn. The elevator accounted for 49 carloads during this 10-month record, and all left on southbound trains.

The elevator was affiliated with the elevator in Severy, a few miles south. Even though the Climax elevator sold feed supplements and other items, Burke does not remember any of those arriving by rail. They may have been trucked from Severy.

All boxcars brought to the elevator were empty.

9. Large shipments of cattle in the winter were unusual. Sometimes Texas cattle were shipped to Kansas to feed on corn stubble in the fall and then shipped to market as winter turned severe. On the other hand, there were mortgage problems. The 16 cars in January and February were probably the result of a mortgage payment due.

Two cattle trains came through Climax in April 1945. Extra 3109 and Extra 3102 each had 50 cars of cattle. They did not stop in Climax, so they did not show up in the attached records.

10. After wheat harvest and before the fields were plowed, lime from the Moline Quarry was hauled to Climax and off loaded with a clamshell into trucks and spread on the fields to counteract natural acidity. Riley Lamb conducted this business from Moline to Emporia. 17 ATSF gondola loads of lime arrived in the summer of 1945. All but one of these were of the Caswell design.

11. Old Ice bunker reefers were transporting company material - paint or weed spray or some such - for maintenance work along the branch. The 6 reefers listed are actually 2 reefers that made three visits together to Climax. They would be off the roster within 5 years.

12. Stock cars were routinely set out one day - bedded with fresh sand that same day - and loaded with livestock early the next day. The section men who bedded the cars were being paid $.50 per hour, and if they failed, more Mexicans were waiting for the job.

13. July 12 was one of those days when the trains met at Climax. Southbound 96 engine 1828 arrived first and held the main line. 96's brakeman lined the switch and 95 engine 1819 headed in non-stop. After a short pause behind the depot, 95 departed for Eureka. 96 picked up three loads of wheat at the elevator and left two empties at the elevator for wheat loading. 96 also set out two empty box for Small on the house track. 95 and 96 met at Climax 16 times in these 10 months.