The comments by "Uncle Dan" Willard are a real find!!! One of the many Q
mgrs who became Presidents of other RR's (in this case the B&O and the
subject of at least one massive 2 vol. bio that includes his Q career).
I've often felt that 1 advantage the Q had over its granger competitors in
addition to ones commonly mentioned, was a better labor-mgt atsmosphere,
especially after the strikes in the late 19th century. You could always
tell it, in my opinion anyway, in the demeanor of operating crews and
passenger train personnel. Waiting for a Zephyr in E. Dbq as a boy one
could always tell the marked difference between IC and Q men, ditto for the
the Milw people across the river. Q employees always waved back at kids, it
was 50-50 with the other 2 roads. Not to say there were not nice people on
competitors' payrolls nor that all Q people were friendly but their
corporate culture, as they would say today, was decidedly different just as
the Ringlings operated their circus with a different philosophy toward their
employees than the competition did in the early 1900's with the same
results; becoming #1. The Q's pioneering in employee welfare programs was
another example. Railroading was a tough business in the good old days no
doubt but some places were a bit easier to work for & with than others.
When I was with C&NW a fellow Alderman in West Chicago was chairman of the
BLE local - he often bemoaned the fact to me (knowing of my interest in the
Q) that his counterparts on BN (ex-Q) could deal with mgt better than he &
his C&NW peers could with theirs. I know of a number of Q retirees who have
remarked to me how impressed they were that Harry Murphy would remember
their names when he ran across them in his frequent tours around the Q.
Ralph Budd was remembered as a bit more reserved but then the 30's & 40's
were a tough era for any employer/employee.
Again, those remarks by Willard are a real find! Dick Overton, if he were
alive, would pounce on them. Gerald Edgar
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