niGH-LIGHTS OF THE LAWDALE RAILW MD INDUSTRIAL CCMPANY
By—Jim Osborne
(The foUovdng article v/as published in a recent issue of
the Shelby Daily Star. Tliinking that some of you boys might
enjoy it also, vte are re-printitig it in your ovm iLittle
paper.)
A little'railroad idth a big official nane, almost as long as its ten miles of
twisting, rollin.g narrov/ gaxi^ track, has chugged to a halt after 43 consecutive
years of faithful service ?nd the fj.nc.il chapter is written on the Lawndale Railway
cjid Industrial Company. Ti\icl^ have displaced steam for locomotive transport in
the inexorable march of progress.
In the early days of the grovrth of CloveH^d Mill lUid Power Company, the. late
MAJOR H,F. SCKiHCX foresaw the need of a more efficient method of trriisporting
finished products of his mill mid rJLso the in*-co:rdng supplies, between Lawndale and
Shelby, which v;ere being hauled by v;ay of v/agon-train at that time. As a result of
his wish for more efficient end faster service, the railroad crjne into being in
the latter part of 1899,
V/HEN 0RG.^T2ING THE railv;r.y company, there developed consider*T.ble discussion, "fer
pjid ag‘in” the use of the standrj:*d tract. But LIAJOR S'CKEMCI^ settled the question,
once and for all, by using one of his favorite expressions to emphasize his
decision, "By doggies, I don^t \irxit my freight coxs traveling rJl over the country”;
hence, the narrov; gauge road, believed to be the Ir.st of its kind, in this section
of the country, started out v/ith tvjo verj'' small engines, loiown as the ONE and WO
SPOT. Theyviere similar in size to any small logging engines. There were five or
six boxcars,•four "flat" cars, with removable sides, that could be used for hauling
coal, bricks, heavj^ timber, machinery, etc. It was a frjiiiliar rxid amusing sight to
see this traiii, stop pjiyv'/here along the lino, at a convenient cordwood pile, for
refueling.
In 1903, the road, vras converted from a private Line to a public carrier adding two
passenger cars and three "suiraner coaches," the latter, being "frcsh-air" passenger
cars, TTith open sides, having all the advrJitages of "Amos n» Mdy's taxi-cab"—^plus
rxi occasional cinder in yx.j\ir eye. Many young courtin' couples preferi^^d this type
of car, hoping that the cinders would be plentiful, thus providing them the extreme
pleasure of removing the common offender, from their adored onc*s eye, at close
qiiai'tors. Soon, due to both passenger and freight revenue, being heavy, it became
necessary to establish a strict schedule-leaving Lawndale at 9:00 A.M. arriving
in Shelby at 10:00 A.M.—^then leaving Shelby at 2sCO P,M. and arriving at Lawndale
at 3;00 p.m.—making two station stops, between the two terminals. Double Shoals
and Metcalf,
THIS TRAIls V/AS MAJOR SCHEMCK^S "prido n* joy," and during his lifetime, the engineer
had strict orders to blow the v^.istle when within a mile of the Lawndale station to
give the MAJOR ample time to gather his hat and wall-cing cane in order that he mi^t
meet the train, rain or shine. One day, he failed to hear the "station-blow" and
missed meeting the train, which irked him to such m extent that he gave prompt
orders at the machine shop to make him a v/histle, big enough and loud enough that
it could be heard for miles around. Needless to say, he never was knovm to miss the
train, after that.
HAIG METCALF is the one and only employee that seirved during the entire history of*
the road, having supervised the laying- of the originiil track; since its con^letion,
he had chargc of all transferring of freight and the up-keep of the road. In any
emergc:ncy he was conplete master of the situation—^he tolerated no advice from
either his section crew or the train employees-—-and curious bystanders wejre given
advance notice that he had no time to answer "fool questions."
(con»t. on next page)