Hi Jonathan & All,
Re: Chi-Chi, The Burlington Monkey
Animals played a role in most railroaders' lives. From their pets to
Blackie at the Burlington Yard Office. My Dad was an engineer here in
Burlington and the engineer the day the #5632 Color Poster picture was
taken. He loved animals and they loved him. Well, almost all of them.
Railroad families were so cosmopolitan in those days to have, or have
friends that had, exotic pets. Although we never had a monkey, we had a
raccoon, a pocket gopher, an opossum, cats, and dogs. Kelly the Coon
came from an engineer in Galesburg and made several personal appearances
at "show and tell" when I was in grade school. And Kelly made a couple
of visits to the Burlington Roundhouse and Yard Office. And once to a
local beauty shop on Main Street when his escape plan unfolded.
Two local railroad families had pet monkeys. Chi-Chi belonged to one of
them. Dick Morrison was a last minute contributor to the Waycars book -
some great Quincy, Omaha & Kansas City waycars, one w/ park bench bolted
to the roof. Which was not an uncommon practice into the '20s. Dick took
Chi-Chi's picture in 1946. And like most photo subjects, Chi-Chi closed
his eyes when the shutter clicked.
Dick's Father, George, was Dad's engineer in 1946 after Dad came back
from the service. Dad had a railroad exemption as a fireman but could
not stand being left out of the fight. So he enlisted in the Army in
late '44 and found himself with Patton going to Belgium where he lost
his lower right leg to a mine in February '45. When he returned to
Burlington the railroad didn't want to put him back to work because he
was a "cripple and cripples can't climb around a steam engine." So he
showed the master mechanic that he could, and better than most with 2
legs. So he went back to work firing for George Morrison on the Quincy
Branch. Hand firing, I might add.
I had recently seen a great photo on Ebay of the Rio Grande steam engine
Hesperis with a dog sitting in the cab window. And I have a photo of a
dog riding a CB&Q sand pit bucket with 2 workers in Nebraska.
But I knew no one had seen a "real" monkey in a steam engine, so Chi-Chi
was elected to the prestigious position of Mile Post 206 Company Mascot.
In fact, Chi-Chi is probably the only monkey to be photographed in a
CB&Q steam engine. Chi-Chi brings new meanings to "train crew" and
"roster shot."
The other railroad monkey here in Burlington belonged to an engineer,
Dick Fletcher. Being the proud owners of a "exotic pet" raccoon, Dad and
I went to see Dick's monkey. I though it would be a "petting zoo"
experience. It was, for about the same amount of time it takes to light
charcoal with rocket fuel. The monkey bit my Dad, started screeching and
screaming, made 8 laps around his cage in 1.45 seconds, threw crap
through the cage and scared the bejeezus out of all of us. All Dick
could say was, "he's not use to many people, maybe you oughta come back
another day." We never went back. We'd seen enough monkeys.
The comments about engineers is a tribute to my mentor in the jet
airplane business that always said "anybody can fly a Learjet if you
feed him enough bananas." A rationale that could be applied to most life
endeavors.
But, whether pilots or engineers, that doesn't always apply. I have
found strong evidence that there is no direct correlation to the amount
of bananas ingested and the skill level of either a pilot or an
engineer. I HAVE seen a correlation though, that some pilots and
railroaders do appear to act like monkeys regardless of the bananas
consumed or trees climbed.
I am glad to see someone inquire about Chi-Chi. Railroads were just more
than just trains. Chi-Chi, although long gone, will be forever a
"Burlington Monkey." And we have included a Chi-Chi momento for all of
you that ordered the Limited Edition Waycars Book or contributed to it.
And look for Chi-Chi in the future. He's likely to appear anywhere.
There are more animal stories to come! Next, we have a rooster that went
to Quincy in the Waycars book.
Randy
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