Real picture postcards (RPPC) are easy to find, but looking for a specific subject narrows the hunt. I was very happy to come across the RPPC pictured here. It is from 1909 and captures a busy scene at the Rock Island depot in Amarillo. Railroads RPPCs seem to have been a favorite of traveling photographers who produced postcards for sale to local customers. There is a chance this card was sold in the Rock’s passenger depot in the background.
Glancing at the card, it captured a scene that was probably rather common, but there are a lot of interesting details. It is obvious that this is a Rock Island scene from the locomotive; #1427, a 4-6-0 ten-wheeler, class D-30-14A/T-28, built by the American Locomotive Company’s Brooks works, Dunkirk, NY, in 1901 or 1902 and scrapped 08/36. The ten-wheeler type locomotive was ubiquitous across the U. S., with a country-wide total of over 16,000.
Interesting note, the ten-wheeler type was the only steam locomotive that did not have a nickname. There were Americans (4-4-0), Prairies (2-6-0), Mikados (2-8-2), Northerns (4-8-4), and a slew of others.
The tender is heaped high with coal, perhaps it had recently made a trip to the Rock Island coal tower. A white flag, visible at the front of the locomotive to the right of the fellow with dark hat and light overalls, denotes this as an “extra,” unscheduled train. It is a short train with a locomotive, a boxcar, probably a flat car, and a caboose. I believe this is a work train. The photograph was taken looking southeast, and the shadows would indicate early afternoon. Perhaps the track gang was returning from lunch, and the photographer saw the opportunity for a group photo? At least two men are wearing ties, so maybe the depot staff was included? I counted 34-38 people in the photograph. The four mules in harness on the left are a reminder that animal power was prevalent, and work was hard in pre-WWI days. Were the mules transported in the boxcar?
All in all, a pleasing picture of a halcyon day in Amarillo? Maybe. However, the back of the card reflects a common, but unsavory part of Amarillo’s past. The short note, penned by Mr. Sisler to his sister in Pennsylvania reads:
Dear Sister, I am not in this view. This is a gang of Mexicans, but we have discharged them and now have white men.
The note helps determine that Mr. Sisler most likely worked for the railroad but also sadly reflects the racial opinions of the day.
– Jerry
Jerry Michels was born in 1953 and reared in Washington, MO. Jerry is an elected life member and past president of the Missouri Pacific Historical Society (MPHS). He has written many articles for the MPHS and the railroading press. He has authored two books. He attended the University of Wyoming from 1971 to 1980 receiving BS, MS, and PhD degrees. He moved to Amarillo in 1981 to take a position with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (Texas A&M). He retired after 33 years as an Emeritus Professor of Entomology. He lives with his bride of 42 years, Judy, and has one son, Kyle, who with his wife Lainey, owns Amarillo’s Bomb City Distillery. He has one granddaughter, Gabrielle, who is a sophomore at Texas A&M in electrical engineering. He is currently the treasurer of the Amarillo Railroad Museum, a board member of the Santa Fe Historical Museum. When not pursuing railroad history he enjoys traveling with Judy, other history, old movies, and stamp collecting.