|
1910 Sports and Trains
|
|
The Rolfe Arrow — December 9, 1976
With some talk of athletic conference realignment, I’ve been reminded that the old athletic games of 60 - 70 years ago had the location dictated by the transportation. Rolfe boys for the main part played the western towns of Laurens, Marathon, Linn Grove, Paulina, Sutherland, and I believe at one time Hawarden. To the east the competitors were Humboldt and Eagle Grove. The girls’ basketball teams traveled to most of these towns too. What was the reason for this string bean scheduling? The transportation! Railroad transportation was the only adequate means. Horses were too slow and automobiles and roads were as yet unreliable and also slow. The old timers say that at one time there were as many as eight passenger trains a day through Rolfe. The east and west Northwestern line seemed to be the one that furnished the most passenger trains and thus the most towns that were the athletic competitors. One Northwestern train left for the west in the morning at 8 a.m. If a game were some distance away the players took that train. The 2 p.m. westbound train would get them to the closer towns such as Laurens. The 8 p.m. eastbound train called "The Flyer" usually got them back. It was not uncommon for players to be overnight guests in homes in the competing towns. I do not know the details of the departure times for Humboldt and Eagle Grove, but no doubt the players found a Northwestern schedule and accommodations to fit. In some later years we played Manson, Fonda and Rockwell City. However, these towns were on the main lines of either the Illinois Central or the Great Western so they probably had even more passenger trains than Rolfe. Connections were probably made at Fort Dodge, Eagle Grove, or Humboldt. On occasion Fort Dodge played at Rolfe, sometimes the first team, sometimes the second team. One time the Fort Dodge team missed their connection at Humboldt. The Rolfe people called the game off when no one appeared at our depot. Of course, all of the football games were played in the afternoon, and mostly on Saturdays. That surely played havoc with the farm boys who had stern fathers that didn’t have much time for athletics. These days it’s hard to imagine the railroad passenger trains making any kind of speed. We are accustomed to seeing an occasional freight creeping across the prairie. The trains of the early days were anything but slow. The passenger trains came down the hill from the west at 50 or 60 miles per hour. Obviously good track and equipment maintenance were the keys. After a very organized stop to exchange mailbags and passengers, deliver papers and express, and pick up a few dozen cans of milk and cream, the trains sped off to the east along the banks of Pilot Creek with the then familiar steam whistle announcing the supremacy of the iron horse. In the fall of the year the football boys might be trudging away from the depot carrying their gear and replaying the game of the afternoon.
|
|
return to Bubbles in the Wine index return to RHS home page all rights reserved |
