Milam County Historical Commission
Milam County, Texas
Milam County, Texas
Requests for Info
Received via Website
Received via Website
2015-06-05
Harry Nicholls
h_k_nicholls(AT)peoplepc(DOT)com
(EMAIL IS FILTERED)
P O Box 224288
Dallas, TX 75222-4288
two14-2eight8-7nine58
I am trying to locale a "Santa Fe Freight Office" as shown in a photo I have, It may be Milano or Temple, TX.
Am curious if your records have any SANTA FE Freight Office photos of the pre-1900 era. This photo has 11 men
dressed in suits and hats on the platform. The photo shows the dock side, not the track side.
If so, I shall come down to see the photos.
Thank you,
Harry Nicholls
*****
2015-06-05
Mr Nichols,
Thank you for contacting us. I will forward your email to all members of the Milam County Historical
Commission and hopefully you will be hearing from some of them.
Can you please send a scan of the photo you have? That would make it more helpful for someone to know which
terminal it was.
We do have these photos on the site:
Plus this article:
Thank you
Jerry Caywood
MCHC Web Administrator
*****
Mr Nichols has a filter on his email. I attempted to send my email twice and was apparently unable to decipher the code
and my email would not go thru.
If Mr Nichols reads this, and wants a response, I ask that he disable this filter so emails can go thru.
Jerry Caywood
UPDATE: Apparently Mr Nicbols has rec'd my email
*****
2015-06-06
Here is the photo. We believe it is a possible SF-Gulf line depot because of the roof supports being straight
as opposed to the ATSF standard of curved roof supports. ATSF also did not call their freight warehouses
"Office".
I will examine the photos you sent tomorrow to see if there are any similar ones.
Thanks for the swift reply,
Harry
*****
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2015-06-26
Mr. Nicholls,
I wanted to let you know that the Milam County Historical Commission is currently reaching out to other sources
for assistance on your inquiry.
We have contacted the Temple Railroad and Heritage Museum to see if they possibly have information regarding
the location of the depot in the photograph. Mr. Gary Jackson, President of the Rockdale Historical Society
(Depot) has researched his archived photos of the various Rockdale Depots and has found none that match. A
reply is pending from Mr. Bert Dockall, the Rockdale Station master, to see if his resources may have a match.
Also a Mr. Barkley Lagrone, and his brother Claude, have books containing photo's of older Santa Fe depots.
I understand that the late Mr. Robert Pounds took an interest in this very subject and did a considerable
amount of research while compiling these books. I forwarded your email, including the photo that you provided,
to Mr Barkley Lagrone to see if there might be a match in his book. I'll advise if I receive information.
Sincerely, Jack Brooks
*****
2015-06-27
Mr. Nicholls,
I wanted to let you know that the Milam County Historical Commission is currently reaching out to other sources
for assistance on your inquiry.
We have contacted the Temple Railroad and Heritage Museum to see if they possibly have information regarding
the location of the depot in the photograph.
Mr. Gary Jackson, President of the Rockdale Historical Society(Depot) has researched his archived photos of the
various Rockdale Depots and has found none that match. A reply is pending from Mr. Bert Dockall, the Rockdale
Station master, to see if his resources may have a match. Also a Mr. Barkley Lagrone, and his brother Claude,
have books containing photos of older Santa Fe depots.
I understand that the late Mr. Robert Pounds took an interest in this very subject and did a considerable
amount of research while compiling these books. I forwarded your email, including the photo that you provided,
to Mr Barkley Lagrone to see if there might be a match in his book. I'll advise if I receive information.
Sincerely, Jack Brooks
*UPDATE SINCE ABOVE; I received a call from Mr. Lagrone this morning. He stated that he holds the following
book;
http://www.arizonahobbies.com/Santa-Fe-Depots-Gulf-Colorado-Santa-Fe-Railway-p/sfrh288.htm by Robert Pounders.
He said that I may stop by his home to see if we're able to match up the depot. I'll try to get by there at my
earliest convenience.
Respectfully, Jack Brooks
*****
2015-07-11
Mr. Nicholls.
Mr. Barkley Lagrone was kind enough to loan his Santa Fe Depots book to me this morning. It covers the
Galveston, Northern and Southern Divisions. The Title reads; Santa Fe Depots - Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe
Railway - by the late Richard E. Pounds & William W. Childers. ISBN 978-1-933587-28-8 published by The Santa Fe
Railway Historical & Modeling Society Inc. (2012). http://www.gettextbooks.com/isbn/9781933587288
I must admit that I am a layman regarding depots, but I found this book to be an excellent, very educational
and interesting read.
While perusing the book, I did take note that a majority of the photos were taken trackside and not dockside. I
believe that I still would have had a good enough perspective of the depot that I would have suspected it to
be one and the same. Unfortunately, I didn't see a depot that matched your photo.
Page number four of the book states: "Some of the early information is lacking because many old original papers
and journal entries were destroyed in the fire of April 3rd, 1907, and only brief information in the books
remained. Photographs and drawings for each district were selected with the intent of presenting a visual story
of each station".
I have not received a reply from Temple Railroad and Heritage Museum to date. Http://www.rrhm.org .I might
respectfully suggest that you try calling them at (254) 298-5172. The reason is this statement in the
acknowledgements of the mentioned reference; "The greatest assistance came from Craig Ordner at the Temple
Railroad and Heritage Museum in Temple, Texas. Craig pulled boxes of correspondence, photographs, form 598
books and Employee Timetables for my review. Judy Covington, Executive Director of the Museum, and her staff
were most helpful".
Special thanks again to Mr. Lagrone who also attempted to assist in answering your inquiry. Unfortunately I am
lacking further resources to assist you. On behalf of the Milam County Historical Commission, we wish you
success in locating the city of your station/Depot.
Respectfully, Jack Brooks
*****
2015-07-11
Jack,
Thanks for the effort. I, too, looked at the Pound Book and could not match up any even close depots. I shall
contact the Temple person, Mr Ordner, upon my return to Dallas later next week.
Harry
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