Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-02-20
COMPLAINT Of
TRAIN SERVICE
Patrons Along Cascade and Bel
levue Branch of the c. NJ. &St.
p. Demand investigation
THEIR PATIENCE soRELY TRIED
Complaint to Railroad Commissioners
In Part States That Company is At
tempting to Operate This Line With
Worn Out Equipment and Has TAX
en- Out Telegraph Instruments.
pecial to Tlmes-Republlcan.

/
Des Moines. Feb. 20.-The state
railroad commissioners have very in
tereStng matter to investigate up at
Cascade and Bellevue and if the COM
plaint which has been made to the COM
mission from the towns along the Cas-
cade and Bellevue branch of the Chi
there is a condition prevailing there
| calculated to try the patience of
saints. According to the complaint of
the mayors and city councils of Cas-
cade, Bernard, Bellevue, and LaMoote,
| four of the five towns on the road, the
| Milwaukee has dumped all it's rejected
| narrow gauge material from discarded
| points into this road and has taken out
| the telegraph instruments at the three
| towns along the line, leaving only the
| Instruments at the terminals, Cascade
| and Bellevue. Under this condition thu
| patrons of the road claim that they are
never able to tell when IL train is COM
| ing except by telephoning to the farm
houses along the right of way and thus
ascertaining whether or not the train
| has passed that way.
| The complaint of the mayor and city
council of LaMotte goes into more
minute details of the conditions than
any of the others. After relating that
the Milwaukee has for years been
dumping it's rejected and discarded
| al ff1ic hrnrc11
! on the change of other branches to
| the broad guage, the complaint says:
| That because of the broken down and
worn out equipment said road is in d
dangerous condition as affecting the
safety of the train crew and the trav-
cling public and also wholly inadequate
to handle the business along the
| lines.
THAT the said Chicago, Milwaukee
& ST. Paul has, within the past few
years changed several of their narrow
guage lines to standard lines and have
dumped their worn out equipment from
such narrow guage lines to this line,
and are attempting to operate this line
with such worn out equipment.
"That about two years ago said road
abolished telegraph service at thru
stations along the line, leaving only
stations at Cascade and Bellevue, leav-
ing business men and the public with
out any means of knowing where the
trains are or when they will arrive,
save only as they can trace the same
by use of the telephone in the houses
of farmers along the route.
| "Owing to the worn out engines not
more than five standard loads of freight
can be carried over the line on sched-
ule time and frequently as many as
| twenty standard car loads are offered
and received for one trip. The result
| being that the shipments of livestock
are so delayed that the Chicago mar
ket is reached too late for an early
market and often too late for the mar
] ket of the following day, causing q
great loss to the shippers thereby"
| "The petition then proceeds to recite
that when twenty cars are presented,
where only five can be hauled the road
has to resort to running double head
ers, and instead of running the trains
in sections of five cars each, must run
| it all in one train for the reason that
there is no telegraph service with the
4 VIZ
| train can be rum at a time over the
entire line When this train is started
in at one end of the line all others have
to stay off till it gets to the other END.
owing to this inability to move more
than one train over the road at time
the train scheduled to leave Bellevue
at 6:55 in the evening and reach Cas-
cade at S:45, cannot leave Bellevue till
the arrival of the freight from Cascade
due in Bellevue at 4:3O, but as this
train is frequently several hours late,
| the Bellevue train due to leave at 500
| frequently does not leave till midnight
and sometimes not till the next day.
Thus it is claimed that passengers
must frequently wait at the depot for
| hours for Il train or to meet their
| friends.
Still another complaint is that the
stock for shipment must be loaded to
the narrow guage cars and again re-
| loaded to the standard guage. Sum-
| ing up the complaint the petition
states: 1--WE also submit that when a
road that has been built largely by
| aid of taxes and donations and has
been operating under one corporation
| for twenty-five years, charging full
freight and passenger rates, such road
| should be required to make suca
changes and additions as will enable
I it to comply with section 2116 of the
code of Iowa"
| The road complained of was origi-
nally built as the Chicago, Bellevue
| Cascade & Western Railway Company
| and was incorporated August q, 1876
| 1t is thirty five and six-tenths miles
long, extending from Cascade in Dubu-
que county to Bellevue, in jackson
| county 1t is probable the original ir-
tention was that it should reach Chi
cago 1t was completed in 1879 ard
in 1880 was conveyed to the Chicago,
Clinton, Dubuque & Minnesota Rail-