Man, this hit home for me. My mother, both maternal
uncles, and maternal grandfather worked on the MOP. To
top it off, my mother and both uncles were "E.C.
Gordon"! But on the Q's Beardstown Div., sometimes it
seemed like there were only about four last names.
These guys tended to "clump up", i.e. one family would
be in train service, another would be in engine
service, while another would be in the shop crafts.
Once in a while they scattered out over several
crafts. And when you factored in all the cousins and
in-laws, it really got bad!
John D. Mitchell, Jr.
--- cy svobodny <ctsvobodny@y...> wrote:
> Father/son, brother/brother, etc. combinations were
> normal, and still are in this industry. I'm
> technecally(bad spelling) third generation railroad.
> Grandpa worked for the "Omaha"(? years) and later
> "GN"(23 years), dad was with Twin City
> Lines(stretcars
> & buses 31 years)), and I"m with AMTRAK(26+years).
> It's in the blood. Plus dad's uncle Frank was with
> "Milw. Rd.". Police & firemen are also many times
> the
> same way.
> --- PSHedgpeth@a... wrote:
> > I found this little jewel in RAILROAD September
> > 1943...I'll put in on
> > verbatim and then offer a few comments.
> >
> > "FATHER-SON crews in train and engine service on
> the
> > Burlington Route, Wymore
> > Division include Condr. P.S.Caldwell and Brakeman
> > J.M. CALDWELL, Condr.
> > J.D.Wilson and Brakeman D.A. WILSON (Now in Navy),
> > Condr. A.H. Stoldorf and
> > fireman D. M. Stolldorf, Engr. J.P. Shoff and
> Bkmn.
> > W.E. Shoff (Army) and
> > Fireman H.C. Watson and his son Bkmn. C.M. Watson.
> >
> > Brothers on the same division include Condrs. R.A.
> > and W.E. Robinson,
> > Condors. A.H. and J.C. Littrell, Condr.
> W.H.Delehoy
> > and Bkman T.L. DELEHOY;
> > Condr I.Patton, Engr. E.D. Patton and Bkmn. S.M.
> > Patton; Engrs. A.J. and W.L.
> > Mischnick, Engrs H.C. and J.A. Hill and Engr.
> > W.Watson, Fireman H.C. atson
> > and Bkmn. W.M. Watson.
> >
> > And these brothers-in-law: Condr. P.S. Caldwell
> and
> > Engr. M.A. Johnson,
> > Condrs. W.E.Robinson and J.I. Brown, Condr. G.R.
> > Johnson nd Fireman C.W.
> > Hansen and Bkmn. I.B. HOLLOWAY and Bkmn. D.W.
> > GREENING.
> >
> > Fathers-in-law and sons -in-law: Engr. R.H.
> Gourley
> > and Bkmn. L.W. Neuman,
> > Engr. R.Cook and Bkmn. D.G. WALKER, Switchman H.L.
> > Peck and Bkmn. R.K.
> > Bachenberg, and SWitchman H.F. Hall and Bkman C.J.
> > Hiner (Army).
> >
> > Uncles and nephews: Condr. G.W. Hines and Bkmn.
> K.H.
> > Steward, Brakeman W.D.
> > Moyer and B.G. Hemperley (Army) Condr. E.L.
> Story,
> > Engr. E.D. Patton and
> > Brakemen I. and S.M. Patton; Engr. M.A. Johnson
> and
> > Bkman. J.M CALDWELL and
> > Chief Dispatcher C.E. Temple and Bkmn. J. F.
> Miller.
> >
> >
> > For a small division I consider this a pretty good
> > line-up.----J.M. CALDWELL
> > (BRT 493) 1030 F St. Lincoln, NE."
> >
> > Well maybe it wasn't really nepotism, but it seems
> > like the employement rules
> > and management policy wouldn't allow this kind of
> > thing today...
> >
> > The names in ALL CAPS are men I knew and worked
> with
> > in the 1950's on the
> > Wymore Division. At that time all these guys were
> > young conductors working
> > the non preferred jobs and the conductor's extra
> > board. I didn't know any of
> > the "fathers" in 1943...they had all retired, I
> > guess, by the time I came
> > along.
> >
> > I worked my last tour of duty on the
> > Fairmont-Hildreth local from July
> > 18-September 6 1958 with J.M. (Merle) CALDWELL,
> > Condr. I suspected at the
> > time that Merle was a "closet railfan"...as he and
> > other guys I worked with
> > got to know me a bit and found out my genuine
> > interest in the railroad, they
> > would tell me stories of railroad past.
> > I have run across adds in old RAILROAD magazines
> > where Merle had advertised
> > for pictures etc. He was born in 1910 and hired
> out
> > in 1928 when he was 18.
> > Someone said to me one day.."Merle's got a lot of
> > seniority for his
> > age"...and he did.
> >
> > D. A. (BUCK) Wilson was local Chairman for the
> > Trainmen at the time I was
> > there. I worked with GREENING as conductor on the
> > Pioneer Zephyr when it was
> > running as Train 44 Lincoln to St. Joe and
> returning
> > via Wymore as 42-90).
> > Walker was a "forced" conductor on 93-94
> > (Lincoln-Wymore turnaround local)
> > summer 1958...that was a go to work at 3:00am job
> at
> > Lincoln...Wymore about
> > noon and CF about 8:00pm for the return trip with
> > about 8 hours of switching
> > in the Crete Mills on the way back...It was a
> pretty
> > good paying job, but
> > abysmal hours.
> >
> > I don't know if any of these guys are still
> alive...
> > I know Merle Caldwell,
> > and Buck Wilson are gone, don't know about any
> > others.
> >
> > Well, writing this little thing has probably
> > benefitted me more than anyone
> > else out there, but I thought that it might fit in
> > with Leo's recounting of
> > some BRT stuff, which I have found extremely
> > interesting.
> >
> > Just from memory, it seems like most of the
> Trainmen
> > belonged to the BRT
> > rather than the ORC and the enginemen to the
> BofLF&E
> > rather than the
> > BLE....That might be a slanted viewpoint since I
> > tended to get better
> > acquainted with the younger firemen and brakemen
> > rather than the old heads
> > Conductors and Engineers.
> >
> > Well that's a little trip down memory lane for
> > me....
> >
> > Pete
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been
> > removed]
> >
> >
>
>
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