Extra 1331 East - Beaumont Subdivision - Depression Era Traffic Increase - 4/2/1933

Found an interesting tidbit in the May, 1933 edition of The Frisco Employee's Magazine. The next-to-last sentence, especially, is very telling of how the Depression affected train movements and, subsequently, revenue.--ca

Engineeer Charles A. Harley, on the Beaumont, Kans. and Arkansas City road switcher, dropped his roundhouse foreman the following note on April 2 [1933]: "Business at this point showing a marked improvement. We got a real April Fool, when these industries gave us 63 loads the night of April 1st. It was too much tonnage for one 1300-class engine, so dispatcher at Enid ran extra 1331 light, Enid to Arkansas City to handle the first half of this 63 loads of oil. Aside from the regular trains that daily handle the business of this division, extra 1331 was the first revenue train to be run over this division in a year and a half. HAPPY TIMES ARE COMING HERE AGAIN!"