Pete -
The Classics professor was indeed complimenting you - and you deserved it. And
you deserve it even more today. There are precious few people who have your
knowledge and on-the-ground experience with the railroad (and I believe you
said your father was first engineer - or whatever the correct term is - for the
Q) AND the ability to write about it in a literate style. Your stories are
interesting in terms of content and make engaging, compelling reading. I always
enjoy them, and I fervently hope you will write something about, ? well,
anything you want. It's all good. I don't care whether it's for the Zephyr, the
Burlington Bulletin, anything whatsoever. You are a treasure trove of
historical information who can make it come alive for readers.
Please consider it!
Best wishes,
Jonathan
--- In CBQ@yahoogroups.com, Jpslhedgpeth@... wrote:
>
>
>
> Meredith and list
>
> What a "fortuitous" question...It gives me a chance to ramble...Here goes...
>
> A few years ago a Classics Professor who was a member of our Lincoln
> Railfans Club commented favorably on my "BAck in the Days" piece which I
> write for our club newsletter each month. He complimented me on my "good
> memory"..I said to him something along these lines..."Well, I do have a good
> memory, but if I'm not real sure "I just make it up"...His response..."Well,
> I suspected that, but that's the mark of a good writer"...I took that as a
> favorable comment.
>
> Now as to the "Dirty Side"...I'm not making all of this up, and I'll tell you
> when I get to the "made up" part...My oldest memory of a mention of THE DIRTY
> SIDE of the Chariton Branch stems from a warm summer evening about 1951 or
> 52. My ralfan buddy Jim Christen and I were sitting on a bench in front of
> the "Drug STore" in Corning,MO. The store building was owned by Jim's
> Grandmother and the store itself was operated by Burlington Agent-Operator
> H.E. (Hap) Ware. Hap...short for "Happy" one of those railroad nicknames
> which portrayed the exact opposite of the real person. Hap was the Agent at
> Corning and even though there was kind of a "business-family" connection with
> him Jim and I never dared to go into the operator's "bay" at the depot.
>
> In a rare time of good fortune for us Hap was sitting on the bench in front
> of the store in an expansive mood and started telling us "railroad
> stories"..some of which might have been true...Someplace along the line Hap
> mentioned the "Dirty Side" of the Chariton Branch. I don't remember the
> context of the tale, but the idea of the "Dirty Side" provoked some
> curiosity. As a bit of explanation the line from Giles, nee Togo nee
> Bethany Junction southward through Lamoni, Kellerton, Mt. Ayr, Delphos,
> Irena, Redding, Grant City, Gentry, Worth to Albany Jct. (just south of
> Albany) was called the "Dirty Side". I asked..."Well, what was the other
> side...(Giles, Bethany, .....Albany) called..He said.."That was called THE
> STRAIGHT SIDE".
>
> Over the years Jim and I speculated as to why the "Dirty Side" was called the
> "Dirty Side"...We never came to any firm conclusion and I have no memory of
> anyone explaining a further details.
>
> As mentioned before Kellerton, IA was the birthplace of famed railroad
> fiction author Harry Bedwell. Harry worked several of the stations on the
> Chariton Branch in his early days as a student operator. One of his stories
> which appeared under a couple of different titles in RAILROAD was "When
> There's Traffic to Move". In this tale a young operator named Arthur began
> work on a branch line which had several cattle shipping points and was
> receiving very poor service and were losing the business. To make a "long
> story short"..Arthur did some scheming and satisfied the cantankerous cattle
> baron and got the business back for the railroad.. The setting and how the
> trai;ns ran made me think of the "Dirty Side" and it occurred to me...(Here's
> the possible "made up part)...Perhaps because of the numberous cattle loading
> points...(and there really were on the D/S) that the "Dirty Side" moniker got
> hung on that side of the branch.
>
> Did you perhaps know any of the agents on the Chariton Branch??? In going
> through some 1980's Burlngton Company magazines and looking in the
> retirements section I noticed the name D.V.Bacon had retired from the Leon
> agency...Don was an extra operator on the St. Joe Division in the 1950's
>
> Well, I could give you more stuff, but my wife is urging me to "give it up"
> and go with her to a 50th wedding anniversary thing this afternoon..
>
> I'll be glad to handle any additonal questions with additional facts and
> "made up" information.
>
> Pete
> .
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Meredith Johnston <mjohn@...>
> To: CBQ <CBQ@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Fri, Sep 17, 2010 9:47 am
> Subject: [CBQ] Re: Depot interior question
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --- In CBQ@yahoogroups.com, Jpslhedgpeth@ wrote:>
>
> (first station east of Mt. Ayr on the "Dirty Side" of the Chariton branch.
> >
> > Pete
>
> Pete:
>
> Why was the Togo-Mt. Ayr-Albany portion of the Chariton Branch called the
> "Dirty Side"?
>
> I was was raised in Decatur County and went to high school in Garden Grove on
> the Chariton Branch so I am always interested in learning as much as I can
> about the area.
>
> One of my classmate's father was on the section and worked that area. Wish I
> had been more interested in railroads at that time. The only thing I
> distinctly remember was the NB mixed freight that went through Garden Grove
> during noon hour while in school; a couple or three cars and one coach tacked
> on the end. Seemed like there was always one old lady riding the coach, the
> only passenger.
>
> Meredith Johnston
> Spencer, IA
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
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