RAILROAD MAKES TRACKS WITH HOUCK AS ENGINEER

One of the most important dates in the history of railroading in the U.S. was May 10, 1869.

Officials from the Central Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad appeared before a big crowd at Promontory, Utah, to drive the "Golden Spike," thus marking completion of the first transcontinental rail line in North America.

Stories have been told and movies made of the six-year construction project, which resulted in a coast-to-coast rail hookup.

There was considerably less fanfare as one of the most important dates in Cape Girardeau railroad history passed on Dec. 31, 1880, after a gang of workers bucked the odds to give Cape Girardeau its first railroad.

The Cape Girardeau railroad story could be a classic featuring an old wood-burning locomotive with a bent axle, a bit of final-hour ingenuity to meet a midnight deadline when the steel ran out, and a cold "non-reception" in town when the job was done.

Louis Houck, an attorney, historian and author, was the good guy who entered into an agreement to complete 15 miles of rail during a five-month period to obtain a clear title to railroad lands upon payments of two mortgages of $5,000 and $6,000 against the property.

Congress, in 1850, had started making federal land grants for the development of U.S. Railroads. The land provided for railroad right-of-way and six miles of property on either side of the tracks. The railroad company could sell off the extra land to pay for building the railroad, if completed within a 10-year period of agreement.

Only five months remained on the federal land grant for a 15-mile section, which would connect Cape Girardeau and Delta by rail an impossible task by many standards.

Houck took on the odds. He had little money, but he organized the Cape Girardeau Railway Co., mortgaged some of his wife's property, hired a crew of 40 to 50 men, and set to work.

He ordered a thousand tons of rail and connectors from the Iron Mountain Railroad. He purchased an old locomotive with a bent axle, which made it jump the track often.

The weather was bad, and near the end workers often worked at night by the light of the locomotive and wood fires.

On the final day, Dec. 31, it appeared that Houck could not make the final connection in time. But, Mrs. Houck suggested a full day's pay, plus a bonus if the road was finished that night. The workmen accepted the challenge. Mrs. Houck made and delivered sandwiches and hot coffee.

The work progressed ... until the steel ran out.

According to history, Houck was equal to the situation. He simply had workmen take up the steel behind the locomotive and relay it in front. Thus, the last link was completed one hour before midnight on Dec. 31, 1880, and Cape Girardeau had its first railroad, except for a little gap where a few rails were out.

The train, with all the crew aboard, arrived in a cold, dark Cape Girardeau at 2 a.m. Jan. 1, 1881. There was no one to greet them, not even a friendly bartender to sell them a celebration drink. The townspeople knew the road could not be completed on time, and had gone to bed.

Houck had built the first railroad that extended across the swamps and backwoods of Southeast Missouri from Cape Girardeau to Delta, to hook up with the St. Louis and Iron Mountain line, which ran from St. Louis to Pilot Knob through Delta to Belmont.

Trains soon started regular operation from Cape Girardeau, with two trips daily. A temporary station was built at the end of Good Hope Street, where the Frisco freight depot was later constructed.

The Cape Girardeau line was extended in 1881. By August it reached Lakeville in Stoddard County. In 1882, the road to Brownwood was completed.

That year the company became the Cape Girardeau and Southwestern Railway. By 1884, rails were extended to Wappapello in Wayne County and later westward to Chaonia.

The railroad boon was on.

In 1891, Houck acquired controlling interest in a line form Campbell to Kennett, and two years later he built a line from Kennett to Caruthersville.

Over a 25-year period, from 1880 to 1905, Houck was responsible for construction of 500 miles of rail lines. He built a rail system north from Cape Girardeau to Farmington and Ste. Genevieve, and south from Cape Girardeau to Morehouse, Parma, Gideon, Kennett and Caruthersville.

Houck's contribution to the transportation system of Southeast Missouri is immeasurable, say historians.

"Benefits derived from such railroads added greatly to the welfare of Cape Girardeau, and the territory west and south of the city," said Dr. Frank Nickell, director for Regional History at Southeast Missouri State University. "Some of the oldest sections of the state were without satisfactory transportation until Houck brought them railroads."

Nickell said railroads were vital in the growth of agriculture in the region.

"Wheat and corn were difficult to ship on steamboats," explained Nickell. "Roustabouts had to carry the grain in bags to the boats. This was a tedious task and space on the boat was limited. Railroads made it much easier to ship larger volumes to longer distances."

With over 500 miles of railroads in Southeast Missouri by the turn of the century, there was no connection with St. Louis or Memphis, except by ferry to the Illinois Central in East Cape Girardeau, or a round-about way of Delta and the Iron Mountain line.

In 1903 Frisco controlled the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad, and trains direct from Chicago pulled into Cape Girardeau's station. But the round-about route to St. Louis took longer than the 36 hours required by the palatial packet boat, "Idlewild."

The first regular passenger train from St. Louis to enter Cape Girardeau was on June 1, 1904. People could now travel from St. Louis to Memphis, through Cape Girardeau.

"This rail line gave the city a big boost," wrote Felix Eugene Snider and Earl Augustus Collins in the book, "Cape Girardeau, Biography of a City," published in 1956. "Population doubled in three years, and went from 4,500 to 15,000 in 10 years.

For a few years Cape Girardeau was an active railroad center, being on the Frisco main line, and a terminal of the Hoxie branch, the St. Louis and Gulf, Chicago and Eastern Illinois, the Cape Girardeau and Chester, and the Thebes Terminal Railroad.

The Missouri Pacific, which absorbed the Iron Mountain, purchased the old Cape Girardeau Northern in 1927 and built a line into Cape Girardeau. Its first commercial train arrived here in October 1929.

During this era, the city was served daily from Gale and Cairo, Ill., St. Louis, and Poplar Bluff.

Railroads were important to the growth of several small communities at the turn of the century.

The growth of Chaffee and Scott City has been aided over the years by the Frisco Railroad. Many of the pioneers in these two communities came to this area to work on the railroads. Historians say many of the early pioneers had to live in boxcars and tents until houses could be built.

Railroads were important to Delta. By 1887, Delta hosted three railroad companies the Cotton Belt, Iron Mountain and the Houck Railroad, which later became the Frisco Line.

During the early 1900s, Thebes, Ill. was served by three railroad lines The Chicago & Eastern Illinois, Illinois Central, and Missouri Pacific. Railroads were also vital to several other Southern Illinois towns, including Gale, and Cairo.