John Mitchell's email
regarding the naming of a junction after I. G. Toland brings to mind another subject,
the naming of stations and sidings.
There were a number of posts a few months ago about this subject. I have always thought it was exemplary of the
CB&Q to honor some of it’s employees this way.
In the research that I have been doing, I have tried to take note of
names of employees that are recognizable as possible sources for the names of
stations or sidings.
This is by no
means a complete history on Mr. Toland, but timetables show him as a Train Dispatcher
at Galesburg in the early 40’s, Night Chief Dispatcher at Galesburg in the mid
to late 40’s, Terminal Superintendent at Lincoln in the 50’s, and of course
Superintendent at Hannibal in the 60’s.
A few names
that I have run across just recently come to mind, and are listed below. Admittedly, there is some conjecture on my
part, as it is possible that the source of a new siding name is from somewhere
other than what I have listed. This list
is also incomplete, as I’m sure many of you have names of other locations, or
information to the contrary of what I have shown below.
A good place
to start looking for names is where CTC was installed and new sidings or ends
of double track were created as a result.
For example, when CTC was installed between Flag Center and Savanna, a
new siding was built at Carter (between Polo and Hazelhurst) that was likely
named after A. J. Carter, who was an Assistant Superintendent at Aurora in the
20’s and early 30’s. C. R. Graf was a
Road Foreman at North La Crosse, and could be a source for the station on the
passenger main nearby. When CTC was
installed between Hannibal and Mark in 1957, a new siding went in at Falk,
which was likely named for J. P. Falk, who was at one time an Assistant
Superintendent at St. Joseph, and eventually Superintendent on the Chicago
Division. The new siding at Card (between Monroe City and Hunnewell) was added
for the CTC between Mark and Macon (also in 1957), and was likely named for W.
A. Card, who was a Superintendent at Creston, Burlington and St. Joseph. At Kansas City, the original Harlem
interlocking at the junction of the mains from Cameron and St. Joseph was, in 1925,
renamed Ustick after F. H. Ustick.
Sadler, a control siding between Weston and Iatan on the line between
Kansas City and St. Joseph was likely named after W. T. Sadler, who was a long
time Superintendent at St. Joseph. And
French may have been named after St. Joseph Chief Dispatcher F. E. French. A little further north, Starks could have
been named after Assistant Trainmaster C. Starks, from Albany, Missouri.
The new line
between Needles and Maxwell is an example of a project that required a number
of new names. On this line, the only
existing station names used were at Forker, Sumner, Hale, and Tina. A number of new sidings and junctions were
created that required names. Hamm is
located between Hale and Tina, and may have been named for H. W. Hamm, who was
Superintendent at Centerville from about 1908 until 1927. If true, this name is appropriate since Hamm
is located on the portion of the new line that was actually former Centerville
trackage that was reconstructed. As a
side note, Superintendent Hamm was succeeded by none other than H. C. Murphy.
Thiehoff could
be named for a number of CB&Q employees, the most well known of which was
probably W. F. Thiehoff, General Manager in Chicago. But there was Dispatcher at Ottumwa and a
Trainmaster at Brookfield with this name also, and probably others. And the junction where the CB&Q meets the
Wabash, at Maxwell, was likely named after H. W. Maxwell, who was Superintendent
Terminals at Kansas City for many years.
I’m still searching for sources of the names for Cotter, Aalberg, and
Persons, but it seems reasonable that these were CB&Q employees also.
Other names
that come to mind that could be a source for station names are John Lass,
Superintendent at Galesburg, W. B. Throop, Superintendent at Beardstown and
Galesburg, and of course Charles Perkins, CB&Q President for over 20 years in
the later part of the 19th century.
And either C. J. or L. B. Connett or both. In the Southern Illinois coal fields, Meyer
was named after a CB&Q official.
On Lines
West, the station at Holdrege was named after Lines West General Manager G. W.
Holdrege, and Flynn (the initial junction for the relocated Oberlin line) was
likely named for E. Flynn, who was a Superintendent at Omaha.
I hope this
will spur further discussion about the source of railroad names, because I
think it is an important part of CB&Q history.
Glen Haug
To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
From: cbqrr47@yahoo.com
Date: Sun, 6 May 2012 15:12:31 -0700
Subject: Re: [CBQ] H&StJ at Hannibal (was re. M.E.Hagen)
Mr. Toland was superintendent for several years following the merger. A couple of years after he retired (in about 1975), the then new junction between the BN and Penn Central north of Centralia was named "Toland".
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