Loading "The Jersey" |
| This title, bound to capture the interest of our membership, refers to
the train, a local, that traversed the Rock Island tracks twice a day for many years.
It gained the name "The Jersey", bestowed by employees of the C&RI,
because it loaded ten gallon cans of cream, brought to the stations along the Rock Island
line, from Phillipburg, Kansas to Limon, Colorado. According to Arthur Duell, currently residing in Fayetteville, Arkansas, records kept by Arthur's father, Seth, and J. C. Gernhart, the proprietor of the General Store in Ruleton, Kansas, some 39 farmers within a radius of 18 miles, drove to town and sold cream and eggs which eventually arrived at the Beatrice Creamery Co. in Denver, Colorado. In a January, 1999 letter to the past President of the SCHS, Gennifer House, Arthur gave some interesting background regarding the year from September of 1914 to October of 1915. The letter also lists the names of the farmers, the weight and butter fat content of the cream, and the cash amount they were paid. That list will appear at the end of this article. Pearl Gernhart Parrish recalls, "I was just a little girl when I helped in the store, and there are many things I remember, but dates aren't one of them! I remember how much time it took to grade the cream, and how dirty some of the eggs were that people brought in. It was my job to wash the eggs every day and try and get them clean enough to pack. My dad never refused eggs and was always kind to the customers." Pearl also says that the phrase, " It's time to load the Jersey" was heard at least twice a day during the time her father owned the General Store in Ruleton. "General" was indeed the "stock" in Mr. Gernhart's place of business. Besides the cream and eggs, John bought cow hides, sold groceries, coal, lumber, machinery, dry goods, gas, kerosene, oil, block salt, and feed, besides performing his duties as Postmaster for 35 years. Bernice DeFries remembers "The Jersey" and the General Store in Ruleton, and recognized all the names of the farmers that sold cream and eggs that ultimately served breakfast tables in the big city. Art Duell explains that some farmers had large herds of cattle, and some had less that a dozen. Some cows were Holstein, others Hereford, also many mixed breeds. The feed the cows had access to made a difference in the butter fat content of the cream, as is evident in the printed record. The cream brought into town to sell was usually in excess of what the family required for their table butter, but in some cases, the cash received was the only real money to spend in these days prior to World War 1. "The Jersey" was in reality two trains, #361 and #362, put into service in June of 1910, as locals east and west from Phillipsburg to Limon, Colorado. These units rumbled back and forth, on the 'milk run' and what seems to be the 'heyday' of this service continued until 1919. By then, WWI was over and two different units, #33 and #34 were put into service and the runs were longer, from Council Bluffs to Goodland, to Limon. In 1924, the "Jersey" trains were scheduled daily except Sunday, the runs were longer, leaving Belleville at 8:25 a.m and arriving at Goodland at 5:20 p.m. During the 22 years the schedules were changed on a average of once a year, creating longer runs for fewer trains, and finally, on October 30, 1932, "The Jersey" as residents knew it, or Units #33 and #34 were retired for good. (The above information was excerpted from the wonderful book, "Rock Island Westward, Volume 11" by Thomas Lee, with the author's kind permission. This is a beautifully bound, hard cover volume, with many excellent photos of classic trains, and a well researched and interesting text. The book is available from T.Lee Publishing, Box 412, Clay Center, KS 67432. Mr. Lee is currently at work on Volume 111.) Without a doubt there are many more recollections of "The Jersey" from descendents of the listed farm families. The SCHS would welcome written or taped memories and anecdotes related down through the years. Please send information to: |
Sherman County Historical Society |