Moline and Livestock

"Even after the "Big Mikes" (3194, 4003, et. al.) moved into Moline as helpers, the tradition of running up the Howard Branch whenever business demanded was still honored. They sometimes came with just a caboose to pick up cars previously spotted at loading chutes from Howard to Olpe. Other times they came with long fragrant strings of bawling beef from below the Brazos. They might unload the whole lot at Utopia and come backing back through tender first. They might bend back south at Madison Junction from which rails still remained down the Verdigris to Virgil where abandonment of the line from Benedict was aborted because of the cattle business there. At Madison Junction they would turn on the wye for a front-end forward return to Moline and come clattering back through Eureka with empties to be returned to Texas." James Burke, 1949, Iron Horse and I.

The livestock business of Moline was different from that of Eureka or Climax. The towns further north on the Howard Branch had the Flint Hills grass which was used for fattening cattle for market. That was not the case with Moline. Moline's pens were primarily used for moving local cattle to market. With the opening of local auctions, that traffic ceased.

The first stock pens, shows in the 1908 Sanborn maps, were loated on the south side of the tracks where Peerless Oil would later be built, between Plumb and Main. Later, the pens would be located on the south side of the track at the west side of town, just below the "roundhouse curve."

The Moline Stock Pens had a 22 car capacity, 6 pens, and a 10 ton scale. See Santa Fe System Standards, Vol. 1, by Kachina Press for ATSF Standard stock pen plans. Dick Hisle reports that the stock track was double ended and could hold about 20 cars.

"At Moline south bounds went from the branch to the Eastern 4th District up the West Leg of Wye. On trips to Emporia we backed out of Moline and departed on East Leg of Wye. The wye switch was always left lined for east leg."

"Trains on the branch were based out of Moline. They left Moline MWF at 5:00 p.m. (1970s). They would switch "crusher" (Martin Mariatta Limestone plant), then return to Moline and head up the branch. Running time for the branch was 3 hrs, 20 min. non stop. It was not unusual for a crew to spend more time at crusher than on the branch. It was also not unusual for the train to be an engine and caboose only, as the ATSF tried to keep revenue work off of the branch in its last days. The TTS train left Emporia at 10:00 a.m. to head south (west by the timetable)." Rod Riley.

Oil Dealers

Moline had four oil dealers at various times. The one shown in the Terraserver image above was the Standard Oil dealer, Jim Burnes Oil. He remains today as Murphy Oil Company. They unloaded from a yard track. Click for more photos.

Near the stockyards was Peerless Oil. Peerless had a number of oilwells in the area and used their facilities to ship out crude to refineries. Peerless loaded on the track also known as the "stock track." One report is that Peerless went out of business around 1924.

However, the 1927 Sanford map shows three dealers in a row on the south side of the track between Main and Plumb. These were Continental Oil, Standard Oil, and Peerless Oil. The 1918 map shows the Kansas CoOperative Oil company located directly across the tracks from the elevator. It is gone by 1927.

Grain Elevator

 

Photos courtesy of the Shaffer Museum in Moline. Note the new elevator made circa 1955 from the two ATSF water tanks at the bottom of the picture. Click for enlargement.

A grain elevator was located on the Web spur, off of the house track, north of the depot in Moline. It was a two car spur. The original elevator shown in the aerial view above was owned by Webb & Waalker's Feed Mill, burned down, and was replaced by the more standard design elevator in 1928. In the mid 50s the Santa Fe water tanks were converted into a 21,000 bushel elevator. This wooden elevator was torn down in the late 1990s.

The 1928 elevator was built by Chalmers and Borton Company with 6,000 bushel capacity for Farmer's Mill & Elevator. Jim Wilcoxen of the current company, Borton L. C., of Hutchinson, KS, provided plans of a similar elevator. Mr. Wilcoxen explained that at the time this elevator was built, there were no specific plans made, but generic plans were adapted by craftsmen on the spot. The large horizontal bands shown in the photo were typically 6'6" apart. Measuring the foundations show that the elevator was 25' wide and 19'3" deep plus an additional 12'4" for the unloading hopper. In looking at the two aerial photos, you will an addition to the elevator on the south side which appears in one photo but not the other.

The plans marked "Proposal Frame Elevator" are very similar in looks to the elevator that was built. The Capacity would also be comparable if the three south bins were removed from the plans. On the top floor there was one window on the east side and one window on the west side plus a door on the south side that was a standard 3' door used to bring equipment through. On the floor at the top of the bins there was a window on each the north and the south. The elevator was a wooden structure and was clad with galvanized corrugated iron. Harold Sheel, owner.

In a good harvest, the water tank elevator would load 30 hoppers of wheat a week at it's 3 car track. The elevator also provided fertilizer and feed for the area, bringing in 60-80 car loads a year with a maximum of 3-4 cars a week in season. These were unloaded primarily on the house track. A stone warehouse located just north of the elevator provided storage for these supplies. Harold Sheels reports that in the first half of the 20th Century cattle ruled this area of Kansas and little grain was produced (thus the 6000 bushel elevator). With government subsidies and advances in cattle production, grain production gained a larger share of the local economy.

The elevator was also the provider of coal for the area, primarily for schools. They received about 3 gondolas of coal per year. These had to be unloaded by hand and were usually unloaded into trucks and were delivered immediately.

Click here for more elevator photos.