Independence, Missouri

July 1944 Inbound Freight Traffic

The Waggoner Gates Mill produced Queen of the Pantry Flour until after World War II.  It was located on the Missouri Pacific in Independence where the National Frontier Trails Museum is now.  Most of the mill burned in 1967.

Waggoner Gates received 71 carloads of wheat during the week, or roughly 10 a day.  The average shipment distance (estimated as the crow flies) was merely 54 miles, though some origins were nearly 200 miles away.  Still, this local supply chain from a diverse collection of small shippers is very different than railroad operations today.

Just over half of the carloads originated on the Missouri Pacific.  All of the foreign carloads were interchanged to the MP at Kansas City.

There is an interesting diversity of reporting marks.  In this era of generic boxcars, a surprising number of cars came from eastern roads.  Also there does not seem to be a pattern of a “captive fleet” cycling from the nearby origins on the MP to the mill and returning empty to be reloaded.  The closest origins have an equally diverse mix of car owners.

Note: The totals below add up to 72 cars, so I obviously accidentally counted one shipment twice when I was tallying the statistics.  The originals are provided if anyone cares to figure out where my error was.  It is close enough for me!

Origin Railroads:
MP: 38 cars
CB&Q: 19 cars
AT&SF: 6 cars
MKT: 5 cars
SLSF: 2 cars
CGW: 2 cars

Shippers:
19 cars
Farley Coop Elevator, Farley MO, on the CB&Q (31 miles)
8 cars
R V Hendrick Grain, Buckner MO, on the MP (14 miles)
6 cars
Levasy Elevator Co (Napoleon Elevator)., Levasy MO, on the MP (17 miles)
H C Ardinger, Lexington MO, on the MP (33 miles)
5 cars
Napoleon Elevator Co., Napoleon MO, on the MP (21 miles)
3 cars
Master Kelly Grain Co., De Soto KS, on the Santa Fe (35 miles)
Master Kelly Grain Co., Independence KS, on the MP (170 miles)
2 cars
Edgerton Milling Co., Dearborn MO, on the CGW (43 miles)
Jos. Vance Milling Co., Wellington MO, on the MP (25 miles)
Master Kelly Grain Co., Adrian MO, on the MP (53 miles)
Master Kelly Grain Co., Galesburg KS, on the MKT (146 miles)
1 car
Davis Hunt Grain Co., Wilsey KS, on the Santa Fe (145 miles)
Farmers Union Coop, Columbus KS, on the Frisco (150 miles)
Farmers Union, Pauline KS, on the Santa Fe (75 miles)
John Schenk, Welch OK, on the MKT (182 miles)
Master Kelly Grain Co., Altamont KS, on the Frisco (164 miles)
Master Kelly Grain Co., Butler MO, on the MP (64 miles)
Master Kelly Grain Co., Caney KS, on the MP (193 miles)
Master Kelly Grain Co., Columbus KS, on the MKT (150 miles)
Master Kelly Grain Co., Michigan (Valley) KS, on the MP (80 miles)
Master Kelly Grain Co., Milo MO, on the MP (109 miles)
Master Kelly Grain Co., Nevada MO, on the MP (100 miles)
Master Kelly Grain Co., Schell City MO, on the MKT (90 miles)
Master Kelly Grain Co., Thayer KS, on the Santa Fe (143 miles)
Otho Clark, Atherton MO, on the Santa Fe (10 miles)

Reporting Marks:
MP: 16 (includes IGN and T&P)
CB&Q: 9
AT&SF: 7
NYC: 6 (includes MC)
C&NW: 5 (includes CStPM&O)
SLSF: 5
CRI&P: 3
CGW: 2
PRR: 2
CP: 1
DL&W: 1
GN: 1
M&StL: 1
MKT: 1
N&W: 1
PM: 1
SAL: 1
SOO: 1
SOU: 1
SP: 1
UP: 1