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The 3 o'clock meet between the midday train and the "Studemotive Express" at the KV Junction. Afterwards the car would return to Belleville while the train continued into Lumber City, Backup to Reedsville, and returned as the evening train to Lewistown. (Robert G. Lewis collection)
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Afternoon Train Replaced by "Studemotive"
Naturally, the midday round trip became the least used of the three daily trains.
In 1935, to cut costs, it was decided to eliminate this noon trip but only between
Reedsville and Belleville. A schedule was worked out whereby the train still left
Belleville for Lewistown around noon, but on its return went only to Reedsville.
Mail, express and passengers, if any, then would make connections to Belleville on
the railroad's automobile. Dr. Getter's Cadillac was used for this purpose. The train
then headed back to Lewistown and returned to Belleville at day's end. Since the
road into Belleville went only through the center of the valley, the automobile
missed all of the railroad stations along the mountain. This schedule conflicted with
restrictions of the state Public Service Commission, in the requirements of handling
mail and passengers under prevailing local conditions, and in a few months the
KV
reinstated its afternoon train.
In 1938, in a last-ditch effort to conserve money, the railroad replaced the
midday train between Reedsville and Belleville with an automobile; but this time
the car was altered to run on KV
rails. Roy Warner was called upon to rig up a 1926 Studebaker that the KV purchased for $50.
Flanged wheels and an axle from an old unused railcar were used in the front and the rear
wheels were cast at Hertzler & Zook's. The automobile first was used as a track
inspection car, but it proved to be so successful that in a very short time it was
put into daily service, meeting the KV
train in Reedsville and returning to Belleville with passengers.
This vehicle was affectionately called the "Studemotive,"
and a separate baggage cart
was built for it to haul additional express and mail. The Belleville station agent,
Ellwood Harmon, was the designated driver of the car to Reedsville, and he always
had to check that the cart was securely hitched in back. Once it was not, and it
wasn't until the Studebaker arrived back in Belleville that the agent or his
passengers realized the cart was missing. The agent had to drive all the way back to
Reedsville before he found it sitting near the
KV junction. |
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