Published by permission from the historical society.

Transcribed by Mrs. McElroys' MMS class.

The First Train

The first train to ever pull into the City of Mulvane was on Sept. 29, 1879. The train came from Wichita. The Mulvane Station was in "two box cars, set end to end," and the late E. F. Emery was agent. The station was located on the west side of the tracks.

The following day a train from Wellington pulled into Mulvane and the two trains left for Winfield. Crowds began to gather at the depot at Mulvane and Winfield. A big celebration was to take place in Winfield - the end of the line.

A few minutes after 11:00 a.m., in Winfield, an indistinct and weird whistle a few miles north was heard, indicating the approach of the Wheezing little locomotives from Wellington and Wichita pulling their strings of flat cars loaded with people. On the first train, which started from Wichita about 8:00 a.m., there was an estimated crowd of 400 ladies and 1,200 men. The second train came from Wellington to Mulvane, then to Winfield carrying about the same number of people. When both trains unloaded there was a crowd of about 4,000 persons at the depot.

A procession, headed by the Wichita National Guard and Wichita Fire Company, started for the center of town. These were followed by a carriage for the orator of the day (nobody remembers who it was), other carriages, then the Wichita Cornet Band in gala costume of tall silk hats and swallow-tailed coats. Following were ladies in carriages.

(Every carriage from Winfield and around was pressed into service.) Finally, the pedestrians trailed in the dust. The procession was a mile long!

Judge Donald made an eloquent speech, which was followed by a barbecue dinner served to the crowd at noon. The afternoon was quite a celebration and a grand ball was held that evening; tall hats bobbed and long skirts swished! When the excursionists started back home is another point of information missing.

The flat cars that the people rode on had railroad ties for seats.

One reporter for the Winfield Courier who rode in the cab of an engine one rainy day gave this description. (Excerpts follow.)

"The rain was pouring down and the iron horse groaned, puffed and snizzled as if trying to express its disgust of the weather."

The track he described in the following vivid way: "The track from Winfield to Mulvane is a good deal like the Dutchman’s description of the Allegheny Mountains, ‘Up a little and down some more; twisting and winding around with several heavy cuts and fills and numerous culverts. At Mulvane the engine, which had been going up tail foremost, was turned around and headed for Wellington."

Since the track was laid, the railroad distance between Winfield and Mulvane has been lengthened by one mile. From Mulvane to Wellington the distance has been reduced from 28 to 18 1/2 miles.