Dinkey Photos

Ames & College Railway Dinkey - Page 4

This Ames & College Railway Dinkey image is from a postcard published between 1900-1907. Engineer Fred Stull is seen leaning out the cab window as the Dinkey travels past the horse barn (now the Landscape Architecture Building).

CONCLUSION

The Dinkey

made it possible for faculty to live downtown and commute to the College;
carried school children from 4th Ward to downtown school;
facilitated the transport of construction materials to campus during a period of great growth;
was integral to town and campus life for 16 years, bonded the two communities, and furnished many memories of the good old days.

In 1907, the Ames & College Railway was sold to the Fort Dodge, Des Moines and Southern Railroad, the Dinkey tracks on 5th Street were torn up and steam power vanished for good. New tracks were laid for an electric trolley line running from Main Street to campus, and the line was extended from Kelley to Ames. The interurban made its first run down Ames’ Main Street in July. A new station called Central Station was built opposite Chemistry Building.

Sometime during the WWI years, Seaman Knapp and Frank Lange made an unsuccessful attempt to locate and reclaim the Dinkey as a museum piece. The Fort Dodge, Des Moines and Southern Company had previously retired the Dinkey to its Boone yards, and when Knapp and Lange inquired about it, they were told it had just been donated to the wartime scrap iron drive. Back in Ames they spread the word that the Dinkey had been “thrown at the Germans.” Even without the physical artifact, the Dinkey has provided its own legacy.

Farwell T. Brown Photographic Archive

Following the demise of the Ames & College Railway, the college terminus Hub served many purposes, including post office, bookstore, snack concession, and ticket office. Visit Iowa State University's Dinkey Station page.

SOURCES

Brown, Farwell T. Interview, 10-2-04.

Brown, Farwell T. Ames, the early years in word and picture. Ames, Iowa : Heuss Printing, c1993. vi, 230 p. : ill. ; 26 cm. pp. 39-43.

Meads, Gladys H. At the Squaw and the Skunk. Ames, Iowa : Greenwood Printing Co., 1955. 181 p. : ill., ports. ; 26 cm. pp. 36-37, 86, 104, 140-144, 151.

Photographs in Dept. of Special Collections, Parks Library, Iowa State University; and Ames Historical Society.

This photo from a postcard dated 1885 shows a steam engine, which looks much like our own Dinkey, operating in the area of Logansport, Iowa. (photo courtesy of Frank Evans)

This image from page 110 of The American Railway, published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1889, shows that an engine similar to the Ames Dinkey was produced by the Baldwin Locomotive Works.

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