Harry Hood documented the history of the Southwest Missouri Railway

In this interesting photo of the Southwest Missouri Railway employees, it appears the streetcar builders might be the men on top of the cars, with the motormen and conductors down below.

We’re curious about the little guy sitting on the block? He looks quite a bit like the man in the bowler hat.

The Southwest Missouri Railroad, a book published in 1975 by local historian Harry C. Hood Sr. can be found on the shelves of the genealogy room, located on the third floor of the Webb City Public Library.

Harry was born on Dec. 28, 1905, in the south part of Carterville, the area now known as Johnstown.  His home, situated on mining ground, was located within 50 yards of the streetcar tracks.

Harry lived in the area his entire life. He worked in the mines of Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma. And he worked several years as a marble polisher at Carthage Marble Corporation.

Here is part of the the book’s introduction.

One of the finest electric interurban systems ever to operate in this part of the country was the Southwest Missouri Railway. This trolley line, which survived four and one-half decades of constantly changing transportation trends, began with a two-mile mule car line and, eventually, had 94 miles of main line track besides a large mileage of branch lines and industrial switches. The eastern terminal was in Carthage, Missouri, and the western terminal was in Picher, Oklahoma, with several miles in the State of Kansas.

The book recounts the history of the line, incidents and accidents, the trolley baseball league at Lakeside Park, employee names and more.  The Southwest Missouri Railway was an essential part of the community that provided citizens with a means of transport and employment.

The line enjoyed a generous and constant amount of passenger revenue from the lead and zinc miners of the Tri-State District throughout the more than four decades of its existence. This factor is why the line lasted longer than many of the other interurban lines of the era.

Rural housewives and students also used the line to travel to town for shopping and schooling. The Southwest Missouri Railway ceased operations more than 85 years ago, but it is still possible that there are still a few people around who may have traveled on the line as children.

We are fortunate to have a restored streetcar in King Jack Park so we can experience what it would have been like to travel on the railway line.