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Chase County Kansas Historical Sketches
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The Consolidated Street Railway Company By:David W Beaver
Formation of the Twin
Cities
After the Civil War and before the 1900's, railroad companies were racing to lay the most track and
receive as many land grants as possible. In Kansas,
the infant Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad
was trying to reach the Arkansas River as quickly as
possible in order to get the full benefit of the expanding cattle business, which was, up until that time,
going to their rival, the Kansas Pacific.
When the Santa Fe reached Emporia immediate
speculation developed as to whether the line would
be built on the south side of the Cottonwood River,
or on the north side, the latter being a shorter route.
If going on the south side, the line would inevitably
pass through Cottonwood Falls, a small town twenty
miles west of Emporia. If the company decided on
the northern route, then Cottonwood Falls would be
left out, and the town would lose the badly wanted railroad trade.
If time would not have been so short and money
not as scarce, the south side town might have won
out. Speculation soon ended, however, when the rail
road decided that time, money, and land were more
important than Cottonwood Falls.
As the Santa Fe built on the north side, they
established Cottonwood Station, a depot one and one-
half miles directly north of Cottonwood Falls. After
the station was built; a small town soon grew up
around it. As the town grew, rivalry did also. The
northern town resented south side dominance, and
the southern one was jealous of the other's railroad.
Adding fire to the to the feud, the new, elaborate
courthouse in Cottonwood Falls, which was built with
taxpayers' money in 1872 , was greatly resented by
the northern town.
THE NEED FOR A TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM
As Strong City (formerly Cottonwood Station)
developed, so did the railroad that founded it. The
town soon became an important junction for passengers, mail, freight; and baggage. At first, there were
four trains a day each way, two express and two mail.
When the line reached its peak, there were twenty
trains passing by the Strong City station daily.
A problem soon developed when incoming and
outgoing passengers had no transportation between
the two towns other than their own two feet. As time
passed on and more business developed, it seemed
logical that some means of public transportation
should be utilized to alleviate the problem.
THE FORMATION OF THE INTERURBAN
As the need for a transportation system mushroomed, some responsible citizens of the two towns
finally decided to do something about it. On December 16, 1886, a charter was secured for the operation of a horsecar interurban rail line to be known as
the Consolidated Street Railway Company. The main
purpose of the line was simply to connect the two
cities which had founded it.
One of the more ironic characteristics of the
formation of the railway was that it formed a temporary bond of cooperation between the two towns that
had been arch rivals. Even the name, Consolidated
Street Railway Company, came from the fact that it
took a consolidation of Strong City and Cottonwood
Falls capital to finance it.
The first board of directors for the new company
had for its members: W. McWilliams, W. H. Holsinger
J. M. Tuttle, and W. P. Martin of Cottonwood Falls:
and C. J. Lantry, E. A. Hildebrand, and Wit Adair of
Strong City. The line was then capitalized for
$10,000 at $10 a share for stock. The company then
announced that work would begin on the line as soon
as the stock had been subscribed.
About the only natural barrier that stood in the
way of the construction was the Cottonwood River,
and the county commissioners gave immediate
permission for the company to use the steel span
bridge over the river as well as to secure a right of
way. So it seemed that the line was well on its way
to a successful start. The following is a schedule of
the construction of the line:
February - Bylaws were adopted and a preliminary
survey of the right of way had been completed.
April - 4,500 Arkansas white oak ties had been ordered for the road. The ties were costing $27
per hundred delivered to the site and were four
and a half by six by four inches in size. Grading for the line had also been started and the
tracks would be laid as soon as the rails arrived.
June - The rails had arrived and the track was completed from the railway depot in Strong to the
river bridge.
July - The track was now finished from the depot
in Strong to the Courthouse in Cottonwood
Falls, in total distance of approximately one
and one-half miles. The Leader announced that
the mules had been purchased and that the
drivers had been hired.
August - The long awaited street cars arrived and
on Monday, August 22, the street cars began
their daily schedule.
A LOOK AT THE RAILWAY
The Consolidated used horsepower in its most
meaningful way. A single horse (double horses were
never used) wore a bridle, neck yoke, and abbreviated harness. This was attached to a single-tree
by means of a pair of one-inch rope traces. The
single-tree in turn was hooked onto the front of the
interurban car at two points. The leather lines went
from the bridle to the edge of an overhead canopy
at the front of the car, where the driver sat.
At the end of the two-mile run the mule or
horse (very seldom were mules used) was unhitched from one end of the vehicle and rehitched at the
opposite end. There was no turntable, only a thirty yard passing area between the two towns that consisted of two pieces of curved track along the road (the only variation from the single track route).
People sometimes voiced their opinions concerning the inhumane treatment of the horses in pulling the heavy cars, but the driver did not fare
much better. He was required to stay on the outside
of the car propped on the platform, sometimes standing and sometimes sitting upon a high stool. The
drivers, out of necessity, were forced to dress heavily in the winter, for seldom did they have a chance to go inside next to the stove. The driver's chief duty proved to be the continuing adjustment of the brakes. Although most of the line was flat, there was one steep grade in front of the theater, where the brake kept the car from rolling wild and injuring
passengers. Some of the drivers on the railway were
John Mailern, Billy Reifsnyder, Ed Gauvey, and
Charley Fish.
The fourteen foot long cars were of the all
metal streetcar variety with simple open platforms
at either end with a canopy and a three-foot buckboard at both ends. Single stirrup-like steel steps
were at all four corners to aid passengers in departing and arriving on the platforms. Weighing several tons, the secret of single-horse propulsion was
copied from railroad equipment (well oiled journals
on each of the four iron spoke wheels). Even still,
the practice of a single horse: pulling the cars was
considered inhumane by many and the horses themselves usually lived a shorter life than their ordinary counterpart.
Large signs on the cars read "Consolidated
Strf-et Railway Co." and a later one bore "Main
Street and Union Depot." The later is believed to
have shower passengers what the chief job of the
raiiway was.
Five square windows on each side let in light.
In the roof were vents for a monkey stove (or stov-
es) which kept the cars fairly comfortable during
the winter months. The chairs or benches were arranged along the side of the cars and had no padding.
The route of the interurban was never expanded
very much, and it kept mainly to its original form.
The tracks ran from the courthouse in Cottonwood
Falls, down the center of main street (Broadway)
to the steelspan bridge which crossed the river.
From here it veered diagonally to the right for about
one and a half blocks to two blocks before straightening out to head due north to Strong City.
Upon
entering Strong City it ran down the center of the
street (then a dirt street called Cottonwood Street).
By December 8, 1887, the. line went pass, the Santa
Fe station, going two blocks through the business
district of Strong Citv, up a steep short hill, and
on two blocks to the Catholic Church.
The schedule began at seven in the morning;
and went until dark. The company maintained a
half-hour schedule between towns by use of two cars, but this meant that the horses were required
to pull the cars at five to six miles per hour to stay
on schedule.
Most of the revenue came from the standard
fare of five cents (later ten) that prevailed for both
adult and child, regardless of distance traveled.
However, high school students could obtain passes
which were cheaper in cost than the combined dailv
fares. At times the cars would bill signs advertising the Chautaqua Shows (which mere very popular
at that time and were held in a large tent set up on
the north side of the river, local. theaters, and
some other businesses. Adding some to the interurban's income, a contract was let with the U.S.
Government to haul mail from Strong City to Cottonwood Falls. Mail pouches were carried inside the
car, but sometrrnes it was necessary for them to he
carried on the platforms. (Only personal baggage of
the passengers could be squeezed into the car and
there was no charge.)
The interurban did not mean very much to the,
county in terms of employment. In horsedrawn day,
a maximum of ten men were hired. There were always two drivers on duty during daylight hours.
plus the attendants and helpers for span horses in
the barn.
RIDING THE INTERURBAN
According to Mrs. Essie Johnson, from twenty-
five to thirty youngsters would ride the interurban
from Strong City to the county high school in Cottonwood Falls. The car would be packed, and, said
Mrs. Johnson, "Sometimes it was hard for the horse
to start the car moving and some of the boys would
get. off and push.. It was not a great effort for the
horse to pull it once it got started."
Citing certain incidents with the car, Mrs. Johnson said that everv once in a while boys; on the
back and front, would get the car to teetering and
cause it to run off the track. Then they would have
to get out and pry the car back on its track. This
caused a delay in arrival in the high school, and the
whole carload would be late. According to her, a very good time was enjoyed by most of the students
riding the car, and it is easy to believe.
Being the basis for another prank, the wheels
of the interurban were set close to the center of the
car, making it unstable for passengers to group at
one end of the car. The boys of the towns, fully
realizing this fact, would board the car and wait
for the car to begin to move. When it was in motion,
they would suddenly move to the rear of the car.
This would then tilt the car and make the front
wheels leave the rails. Thus the people of the two
towns were sometimes treated to the spectacle of
the horsecar being pulled down the street by a surprised horse in front of a swearing driver.
After hearing such stories as these, it is hard
to believe that there were no major mishaps in the
entire life of the interurban. There were no major
wrecks with either wagons or cars, or trains. The
latter is probably more significant, because the interurban crossed the track fifteen to twenty times a
day, and the Santa Fe ran twenty trains past the
depot a day. Only later were bars installed to stop
the horsecars and other traffic from crossing.
THE MOTORCAR
As the automobile progressed, people began to
want faster and more efficient transportation, not
the five or six mile an hour pace of the horsecar.
So, on January 29, 1918, the company put on their
new motorcar. The last horsecar run was driven by
John Mailen.
The new car was larger and heavier and had a
headlight for night use. It required repairing and
widening of the tracks for its use. It was powered
by a gasoline motor which turned out to be very
loud and irritating. It kept the same schedule, by
running twice as fast, but a raise in fare from five
cents to ten cents occurred.
As the new motorcar was being put into service, a regular meeting for the new motorized company was held in Strong City. The new directors
were W.C. Harvey, George W. Crum, and Walter
Hassen, all of Strong City; and George McNee and
W.W. Austin of Cottonwood Falls, and H.L. Baker
of LaCrosse. The new directors were looking forward to a new and prosperous year, yet only one
year and a half later, the company would go out of
business. Why?
THE DEATH OF THE INTERURBAN
A number of things contributed to the interurban's death, but many blame it on the automobile
and the interurban's own lack of efficiency. One
problem, the lightness of the rails, was not realized until it was too late. The light horse-car rails, suitable for the slow-moving nag-pulled interurban cars, would not stand-the speeded schedule of the motorcar. With irritating frequency, the car jumped the track.
Another bad situation developed when the Consolidated developed a parcel delivery system. Patrons of the new system would take advantage of the good nature of the motormen. They would make
them wait for money, or give them cumbersome delivery instructions, which not only wasted time and
money, but threw the car off schedule.
So, on February 21, 1919, C.K. Cummings of
Hutchinson visited Cottonwood Falls to confer with
businessmen in Cottonwood Falls in regard to improvement of the railway. The question seemed to
be: "Will it pay to go to further expense?" This
expense meant refitting the entire line with heavier
rails.
The first hint of discontinuation came when the
county decided to gravel the road and railbed in
between the two towns. They asked the railway company for financial aid, but they received no reply.
Impatient, they went ahead without the railway's
help and this in turn aroused the citizens' suspicions over the future of the railway.
On June 30, 1919, The Leader reported that
the Street Railway Company made application to
the Public Commission for permission to discontinue operation, because they could no longer operate
without a loss. Then, on July 14, 1919, it said
(The Leader) that permission to junk the street
railway had been granted. The last run on the line
was the five-thirty car, Friday evening, June 27,
1919. And so, the railway died a formal death.
Many people claim that the Chase County line
was the last horsecar line in the United States when
it changed over to a motorcar. Even if it was not,
it will still remain in the hearts of many Chase
Countians for a long time.
Sponsored By:
Peach Oil Company -
Service isn't short at Shortys' !
and By:
The Living Heirs of Caroline and Jacob Schimpff
Chase County Centennial, 1872 - 1972
by Lorna Marvin
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