After waiting several days for transportation, we (Companies E & F of the 20th Infantry Regiment) are finally loaded into Pullman cars for the 870 mile ride from Junction City, Kansas to Nitro, West Virginia. The trip took three days -- from Tuesday noon, December 17, to Friday noon, December 20, 1918. I sent postcards to my mother Hattie, my brother Willis, and my sweetheart Minnie, from several points along the route...I mailed these first two from Lawrence, Kansas:
To Miss Minnie G. Frey, Stockdale, Kansas
Post Marked: Lawrence, Kansas, December 18, 1918
On board train Tuesday night. We left this P. M. Expect to reach Nitro sometime Friday. We have pretty good accommodations & are not crowded. It is a long train however & we go very slow.
To Mr. Willis Griffing, Manhattan, KansasI mailed two more postcards from St. Louis, Missouri -- one to Minnie and one to my mother. I will only show one since the image and messages are identical.
Post Marked: Lawrence, Kansas, December 18, 1918
On board train Tuesday night. Well, we pulled out this P.M. and expect to arrive Nitro sometime Friday. A lady gave us postcards and apples in Topeka. Am well.
To Miss Minnie G. Frey, Stockdale, KansasFinally, I mail two more postcards from Milltown, Indiana. Milltown is 25 miles northwest of New Albany, Indiana, and on the route of the Norfolk Southern Railroad.
Post Marked: Saint Louis, Missouri, December 19, 1918 9 A.M.
Wednesday P.M. [December 18]. Have reached St. Louis & must stop for about six hours to water & feed the horses & mules. The trip has not been very tedious as yet, but we are only half way there.
To Miss Minnie G. Frey, Stockdale, Kansas
Postmarked: Milltown, Indiana, December 19, 1918
Somewhere in Indiana. We are hung up out here in the brush somewhere waiting for them to fix a drawbar. Our train is so long it broke in turning a sharpe curve this morning. Am well. – Ward
To Mrs. Hattie P. Griffing, Manhattan, Kansas
Postmarked: Milltown, Indiana, December 19, 1918
We are hung up somewhere in Indiana waiting for them to fix a drawbar. Our train is so long that it broke in turning a sharpe curve. We haven't had a hot meal since Tuesday noon and won't get any until we land in Nitro. Am well. – Ward
Stopped to water the horses and mules. What about the men?
ReplyDeleteThose who recall the heyday of American railroading probably miss the mechanical reliability of trains then and their on-time records. But travel by train sure beat a wagon or walking.