Smith Service Company

About Smith Service Company

The old Santa Fe rail line still cuts through Baldwin City, past the depot and the crossing that has marked the edge of downtown for as long as the trains have run. Smith Service Company clears that crossing first, then works out along the residential streets feeding into it, house by house. The crossing itself ices over fast — shaded by the depot, packed hard by passing trains — so it gets attention before the rest of the route does. It's a quieter kind of route than downtown's, closing the loop back at the depot by late morning. By evening, the same trucks are usually back out, catching whatever the afternoon sun melted and refroze.