Home Away From Home: The Way Car

by Kristine Schmucker, HCHM Curator

For years, the distinctive red train car that almost looked like a house on tracks signaled the end of the train. Today, the caboose is a a memory and the end of a train is marked with a blinking light on the last car.

Santa Fe Caboose, 999591, August 1987.

The Waycar, commonly called the caboose, signaled the end of the train for years. The waycar served a very particular purpose and was used almost exclusively on trains in the U.S.

First used in the 1830s to house trainmen, the caboose was was the “home away from home” for conductors. The earliest way cars were little more than “shanties built onto boxcars.”

Way Car #1951, old style, 1937.

Inside Waycar No 1951 — 1937.

Conductors were assigned a car and many added touches from home including curtains and family photographs.

Interior Way Car #1951, cupola end.

Items included in the above photo: pantry, 50 gallon water barrel, restroom, broom and coat closet.

Photo below shows the ‘bunk end,’ or living and sleeping area.  Water tanks with washing and drinking water, the conductors desk and four bunks a table with seats made of wooden boxes that held additional supplies.

Interior of Way Car #1951, Bunk End

The brakeman and flagman rode in the caboose.  When the engineer whistled that the train was to slow down or stop, one brakeman worked his way toward the front of the train  twisting the brakewheels located on the top of the freight car.  Another brakeman  worked  his way from engine to the back. When the train stopped, the flagman would exit the caboose and place lanterns, flags and other warning devices a safe distance from the train to warn and stop any other approaching trains. As technology improved these jobs changed.  For example in the 1880s, air brakes meant that the brakeman did not need to manually turn the brakewheels.

AT&SF Engine 1012, ca. 1905. Brakeman – A.F. McDowell & E.C. Humphfres; Engineer – H.B. Mell; Conductor- E.G. Pusey; Fireman – R.D. Beach

The Cupola

The cupola served as a lookout for the the trainmen. First used in 1863,  a conductor discovered that he had a better view of the entire train if he sat on boxes and peered through a hole in the roof. This idea led to the improved design for observation of the train.  A conductor was able to sit up in the cupola for a panoramic view.

Waycar #999095 — ca. 1960s

Everything necessary for day to day living of the crew was stored in the caboose.

Way Car 999095, Hurley Collection.

Interior of Way Car #999095, conductor’s desk.

Water Storage Tank.

Waycar #999752 Interior

Way Car Interior, #999752, refrigerator.

Way Car #999752 interior, wash basin in wash room.

Way car interior, Conductor’s Desk

Technology and the Caboose

Eventually, due to  improved technology and a desire for safer work conditions, the way car or caboose became obsolete. As trains became longer and rail cars became higher, it was no longer practical for the conductor to see the entire train from the vantage of the cupola. Improved detectors or “hotboxes” meant that equipment could be checked with more efficiency and reliability by the conductor. With the introduction of computers, the need for a place to store paper and records was eliminated.

Today, the end of the train is monitored using a remote radio, or “End Of Train” (EOT) that fits over the rear coupler and a caboose at the end of a train is rare.

#HarveyCountyTravels

Sources:

  • Hurley, L.M. ‘Mike.’ Newton, Kansas: A Railroad Town – History, Facilities & Operations, 1871-1971. N. Newton, Ks: Mennonite Press, 1985.

 

Fred Harvey, Coca-Cola and Newton,Ks

by Kristine Schmucker, HCHM Curator

Today, the large  building just east of Sand Creek on west  First stands mostly empty, a reminder of a thriving business that revolutionized food service for the traveling public. At one time, the Historic Fred Harvey Building was an important cog in the Fred Harvey System providing fresh food for passengers and diners throughout the western part of the country. From the beginning Fred Harvey was concerned about providing quality food and drink to his customers.He insisted on fresh food and friendly, efficient service at each of his establishments. The Fred Harvey Farm provided the fresh food and drink for many restaurants in the system.

In about 1905, the Fred Harvey Company moved facilities from Kansas City, MO to Newton, KS to a location on west First near Sand Creek establishing the “Fred Harvey Farm.”

Fred Harvey Farm Complex. 525 E. First, March 1938. (lt-rt): Dairy Building, Warehouse Building with refrigeration plant on west ent and cooling tower at back; Produce Building with carbonation and poultry departments.  Foreground "Mexican Section House No. 116.

Fred Harvey Farm Complex. 525 E. First, March 1938. (lt-rt): Dairy Building, Warehouse Building with refrigeration plant on west ent and cooling tower at back; Produce Building with carbonation and poultry departments. Foreground: Mexican Section House No. 116. Mike Hurley Collection.

The Fred Harvey Farm

The large three story structure that housed the produce and carbonating plant was built in 1918. Facilities to process poultry was located on the first floor and the north side of the second floor. The carbonating and bottling plant was located on the south side of the second floor.

 

Fred Harvey Produce. East side of the poultry and carbonating plant.  The men on the dock are hauling wooden cases of bottled pop.  Mike Hurley Collection.

Fred Harvey Produce. East side of the poultry and carbonating plant. The men on the dock are hauling wooden cases of bottled pop. Mike Hurley Collection.

An Outsourcing Pioneer

At about the same time another business pioneer was developing another product.  In 1891, Asa Candler, an Atlanta pharmacist, purchased the formula for a new drink, Coca-Cola.   Candler took advantage of Atlanta’s position as a transportation hub by shipping only the syrup across the South.  By shipping only the syrup, and not the finished product, he was able to keep costs down. The company began selling bottling franchises in 1899 and in doing so, avoided the additional costs of a physical structure that bottled the product.  They also side-stepped the challenge of finding the product’s main ingredient – clean water.

In 1914 the two pioneering companies joined together when Coca-Cola issued a franchise to the Fred Harvey Co. to bottle Coca-Cola at the Newton facility.

 Inside the Carbonating Plant

In Newton, a pipe from the Santa Fe stock yards supplied the water for the carbonating plant.  The plant bottled Fred Harvey brand coca-cola, root beer, club soda, and ginger ale.  Fruit-flavored soft drinks were also bottled using pure fruit juice rather than imitation flavorings.

As was the case in all other aspects of the Fred Harvey system, quality was stressed.  Coca-Cola ran lab tests every six months to make sure that the end product was meeting their standards. A State Health Inspector would often pull a bottle at random from various cases ready to be shipped to test.

Fred Harvey Coca-Cola Bottle

The soft drinks from the Fred Harvey Farm in Newton were sold exclusively in Fred Harvey dining facilities, newsstands and on Santa Fe passenger cars.

Shipping

1918 was a peak year for Fred Harvey operations with fifty-four lunch rooms, thirty-seven dining rooms and twenty-six hotels in an area that included Chicago, California and Texas. During this time, the Fred Harvey Farm in Harvey County covered 500 acres and employed 150 people. In 1921, 60,000 gallons of milk, 20,000 gallons for cream, half a million pounds of poultry, a half a million dozens of eggs and 45,000 cases of soda were shipped.

 

 

The Fred Harvey Farm ceased to operate in 1960.

Fred Harvey Farm Property, 1984.  Building to the left (north): Fred Harvey Produce and Carbonating Plant.  Building to the right (south): Fred Harvey Dairy. Mike Hurley Collection.

Fred Harvey Farm Property, 1984. Building to the left (north): Fred Harvey Produce and Carbonating Plant. Building to the right (south): Fred Harvey Dairy. Mike Hurley Collection.

Note: Fred Harvey died in 1901, but the Fred Harvey Co continued under the direction of his children.  For more information on Fred Harvey see:  http://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/fred-harvey/15507.

Sources:

  • L.Mike Hurley Collection, Photo Archives HCHM.
  • Hurley, L.M. “Mike”.  Newton, Kansas #1 Santa Fe Rail Hub 1871-1971. North Newton, KS: Mennonite Press, 1985.
  • Levinson, Marc.  “Red and White All Over”, 22 October 2014 Wall Street Journal – Book Review of Citizen Coke by Bartow J. Elmore.