Railroad

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Seneca, a thriving railroad town, came to be around 1888. Enough interest was shown in Seneca that a depot was built and rails were designed as a division point, where train crews were changed and the engines serviced. A two-story depot, identical to one in Anselmo, Nebraska with living quarters on the top floor, was built.

On February 28, 1920, the plumbing froze at the depot. The next morning a plumber was sent by the railroad to thaw the pipes but instead he started a fire with his gas torch and the structure burned. A new one was built for fifteen thousand dollars on January 3, 1921. The depot remained until all railroad activity in Seneca closed in 1973. On January 6, 1987, a huge hole was dug just to the west and the building was shoved in the hole by a bulldozer and buried.

The round house was a five-stall building to the north of the tracks west of the depot. In 1903 a 12 foot extension was added on and in 1907 five more stalls were built. In May and June of 1940 it was torn down. The roundhouse employed over 80 men over 3 shifts. The turntable, a 70 ft Armstrong, was out in the open. It was replaced by a 90 ft electric version in 1918 but was removed in early 1960’s.

Ice was cut from nearby lakes during the winter and hauled by teams and sleds. It was stored in the Ice house. In 1939 the railroad icehouse was retired and sold; but before it could be salvaged it burned down.

The railroad used a water tank for the steam engines. In 1930 they updated to a 100,000-gallon steel water tank to replace the old 30 foot wooden tank.

Boarding house, Burlington Hotel, built across the road from the round house; McCawley house, one of first hotels, built in 1912; and Weisner and the Stucco, boarding house, were used to house the crew. There were also many café’s, like the McCann Eating House that in later years was called “The Beanery.” The Burlington Café, which was damaged by a fire in December 1946, was repaired and used until it was torn down in the mid 1960’s.

Seneca’s peak as a railroad center was in the first 25 years of this century. Burlington operated the 1^st printing telegraph, a forerunner of the Teletype in 1910. Started in 1900’s passenger trains # 41, 42, 43, 44 were used. People hopped the train to go to other towns to do shopping outside or unavailable in Seneca.

Seneca’s two banks handled more the $16,000 in railroad payroll business monthly.

Inbound freight consisted of lumber, coal, flour, sugar, etc., cattle industry supplies, cotton cake, posts, wire, and cattle. Outbound freight consisted of mostly cattle and grain.

Seneca was a booming town until the car men went on strike in 1921. When the strike was settled, the strikers believed they had won. However, this incident marked the beginning of the downfall of Seneca, because the Burlington pulled the rip track out of Seneca and moved to Alliance. In 1960, the Number 41 & 44 passenger trains were discontinued. On August 24, 1969, Number 42 and 43 made their final runs marking the end of all passenger trains through Seneca.

On March 2, 1970, Burlington Northern merged with CB& Q . The population of Seneca began to decline. On August 1, 1973, the crew changes at Seneca were eliminated. Due to inactivity buildings were tore down or removed and many people left as a result of lack of jobs. Although all the railroad buildings are gone, trains still continue to go through.