STRAWS: I was at the 4000 Foundation Railfair in No. LaCrosse Saturday
& despite the heat it was well attended. Came across a Burlington marked
item I had no idea existed: BR herald on pkg of soda straws! (this was quite
old as were 2 to a pkg and are the real thin variety). It just goes to show
that what you might think in common and pass by, is uncommon elsewhere. Anyone
have or observed marked straws?
THE 'Q': Among Emps and fans, sometimes
we refer to the Burlington as 'the Q' for short. It's understandable the
corporation would not like to use such a casual term in referring to
themselves so over the years I have only seen one brochure that used the term
'Q' until:
INDUSTRIES: Just acquired a Frt Traffic Dept publication
listing all industries served by the Q. It's organized by industry category
AND by station: line by line, branch by branch; a real treasure trove of just
what businesses was originating and/or shipping on the Burlington (this volume
is 1917). There are ads by the Burlington on several pages and guess what one
of the slogans was used repeatedly? "Get your freight thru by way of the Q!"
IF anyone has a particular town or type of industry they are modeling or
researching & need some info, contact me off-list (for example: in
addition to Heilemans in LaCrosse, there was also 2 other breweries! Also
QO&StL is listed separately and all coal mines are broken out; also neat
to see all the Gold mines in the Black Hills)
Speaking of freight, I
encountered a ret'd CB&Q Frt Agt at the 4000 Show as well as a former LaX
Div Operator (who spent a little time at every Tower from Savanna to the
Cities!). I have visited with a lot of different Q employees but a Frt Agt was
a first. Like passenger Agts they not only had offices along the Burlington
but at selected major cities thruout America and even overseas. This fellow
spent some time in Detroit and had a good story about a local Mafia leader who
liked the Burlington's bridge scorepads. I am working with him (and the Tower
Operator) to share some stories and photos in an upcoming Zephyr.
Moral
of the story: attend a midwestern RR show and you just might find that one
'never before seen' (at least by you) CB&Q item AND meet a former Emp!
Gerald