Louis
Don't rely on me for the spelling of Terrel..or
Terril..I'm familiar with the name, but not the proper
spelling.
A guy by the name of L.L. Smith was terminal supt at
Lincoln for an extended period of time..His nickname was
"Silent Smith"..I don't think I ever met him..Does the
name John Gilfillan mean anything to you??? He was a
long time Q man and came to the RI in 1955...He was
quite a "contrversial" character to say the least.
When I applied for a job at the RI the personell
department wanted me to go for an interview "with our
Superintendent at Fairbury, Mr.Gilfillan" to see if I
was even "suitable" for railroad service.
I went to Fairbury on Saturday December 21, 1958 for
my interview...I went up to the Supt's office on the
second floor of the RI depot and division office...I
went in and through the private office door i saw this
guy sitting at his desk smoking a cigarette with his
feet on his desk and wearing an old sweater...The Chief
Clerk was on Saturday duty and told me..Just a minute
Mr. Gilfillan is on the phone and he'll be right with
you...I stood around in the outer office for a few
minutes and Gilfillan walked out...looked at me and
greeted me with this..."HEDGPETH.....THAT'S WORSE THAN
GILFILLAN.
We made small talk for a couple of minutes....I told
him of my railroad experience with the Q and he told me
of his...I threw out a few names and from then on there
was no more interview...It was just an exchange of each
others railroad stories....
Well Gilfillan became my mentor on the RI and in 1964
brought me into the Freight Claims department where he
had been placed to see if he could reign in the
destruction the operating department was producing in
additional damage to lading after
derailments...Gilfillan managed to get on the bad side
of some folks at the RI and he got "dehorned" and sent
to KC as Supt of Safety...I managed to hang on and later
became Manager Freight Claims and later, after receiving
a job offer from the AAR to be transferred to the
Industrial and REal Estate Dept. to keep me there where
I survived until almost the end of the RI...They
eliminated my job in the Industrial dept. Bill Hoenig
who was RI's Chief OPerating officer at that time
offered me a job back in the Operating Dept, but I said
"been there done that"...no more of that for me...
I worked as a brakeman for the Q summers 56 57 and
58....I remember the dead line...in fact I have quite a
few pictures of what was there...In those days you could
go out and wander around the roundhouse...even go in and
as long as you didn't bother anyone they left you
alone. The last steam on the Hastings line IIRC was 55
and the only steam on the Ravenna line as I mentioned in
an earlier post was the 5080 for protection at
Ravenna. Steam was still active in the summer on the
Omaha division through 59 I think.
I'd like to have the dates for your dad's various
locations..His name has always been quite familiar to
me, but I don't think I ever met him...Do you remember
Billy Loos who was Terminal TM and later TM at Lincoln
and then I believe he went to St. Louis for some
time..but I also heard that he gave it up and went back
to YM at Hobson in Lincoln.
Well, it's like my wife always said..."Everything
reminds you of something"...and that's true..."It only
takes a spark to get a fire going"..That's me...I tend
to drop the whole load....like the guy when you ask him
"what time is it??? Tells you how to make a watch.
Pete
-----Original Message-----
From: LZadnichek
<LZadnichek@aol.com>
To: CBQ
<CBQ@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Mon, Feb 4, 2013 9:28 pm
Subject: Re: [CBQ] EL Potarf Story
Pete, OK, so Mr. Terrill's name was
spelled with an "i" instead of an "e."
Wasn't there an unrelated post some months
ago from some Terrill family member
wanting to find out about him? Anyway, I
do not recall the name of G.L. Griggs and
can not comment further as I do not know.
Sounds like another "story" there if you
want to share. Dad was terminal
superintendent at Lincoln in, I think,
1957 or 58. Might've been '57 as I can
recall steam still being as switch
engines. I remember visiting the Lincoln
roundhouse and dead line at the time.
About all I can remember of the terminal
office were the banks of teletype machines
all chattering away with train lists.
There was also a large framed Baldwin
Locomotive Company builder's photograph of
M4 6312 hanging in dad's office that he
brought home one night having saved from
the trash pile when his office was being
repainted. The framed photograph now hangs
in my home office. I've got to locate
dad's service record (somewhere in a
box) so I can be sure of all these dates
as we moved around so often. Walker
Johnson is another name that I remember
from my dad and mom. He may've been
Lincoln division superintendent when dad
was terminal superintendent. Dad kept a
copy of every employee timetable he was
listed in over his career. They, too, are
somewhere in a box. Those timetables would
help date names/positions during the eras
mentioned. Too many boxes, too little time
- Louis
Terrill was Division Supt here
in Lincoln in IIRC 1954-55
era...G.L.Griggs Jr. was Supt here
in 56...he was the guy who
arranged for me to get a braking
job...Someone earlier posted that
he was taken in and told a
supervisior.."This boy wants a
job"...That's exactly the wording
my Grandfather used when we went
into see Griggs about March
1956. Griggs Sr. and my GF had
been close personal friends from
many years back..I have copies of
the very personal letters written
back and forth between them...He
said toGL Jr. This boy wants a
job as brakeman" Griggs
said..how old are you..I said
"Ill be 20 March 23rd. He said
OK...you have to be twenty...He
said "you'll be the first man
hired on either divsion (Lincoln
or Omaha)....
Griggs "retired" sometime after
summer 56 and went to live with
his father in law Fred Harris who
was a banker at Alliance. My GF
and I stopped to see him early
summer 1957 at Alliance...Walker
Johnston who was TM at Lincoln in
56 became Supt after Griggs
retired...alll that to say that's
why I think Terrill was Supt
before 56...His son..(I'm not sure
if he was a Jr or not was a
student at UNL when I was there
which leads me to think Terrill
was here before 56.
Louis may want to comment on my
enclosing "retired" in
parenthesis...If you don't Louis
I'll say no more regarding the
matter.
Pete
-----Original
Message-----
From: LZadnichek <
LZadnichek@aol.com>
To: cbq <
cbq@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Mon, Feb 4, 2013 2:39 pm
Subject: [CBQ] EL Potarf Story
For those who
remember the late
E.L. Potarf who was
Q vice president of
operations during
the 1960s, here's a
story related by
Fred Crissey.
- - - -
Louis:
Here
is my first E
L Potarf story.
A R MacDonald
(Art) told me
this story in
the early
1970's. Mr.
Potarf VP-O, Art
(who was an
operating
officer by this
time but do not
remember what
his title was
when this
occurred) and J
W Terreill
(Divn.
Supt.?) were
high-railing on
a Nebraska
branch line
probably in the
early 1960s.
ELP had just
bought a new
camera and
suggested to Art
who was driving
that when they
saw some
phesants to blow
the car horn and
he (ELP) would
get some photos
of the birds in
flight. They
tried this
several times
but the birds
would not take
flight. ELP
then suggested
that Art
continue to
drive slowly,
JWT would sit on
one fender and
throw rocks at
the birds and he
would sit on the
other fender and
get his photos.
They tried this
plan but the
birds still
would not take
off. The birds
would run ahead
and then turn
into the ROW
grass or corn
fields.&
nbsp; ELP was
getting
frustrated and
with a few well
chosen words
wondered why the
birds would not
take off. JWT
suggested that
it was obvious
the birds were
not aware that
Mr. Potarf was
Vice-President.
More later. You
can forward on
if you want.
Fred
Crissey
- - -
-
What
a GREAT story!
I remember
both A.R.
MacDonald and
J.W. Terrell
(I think
that's the
correct
spelling).
Arthur
"Art" MacDonald
was train
master at
North
LaCrosse,
WI, during the
time dad was
assistant
superintendent
there in the
late 1950s.
Art and
dad became
personal
friends and
stayed in
touch
throughout his
lifetime. I
well remember
that Mr.
MacDonald had
a copy of
Lucius Beebe's
"Mixed Train
Daily" that he
loaned me to
read. This, I
think, was the
first railroad
enthusiast
book I had
ever read.
This inspired
me to have my
own railroad
books and over
the years I
have
accumulated
more than a
hundred
volumes. J.W.
"Johnny"
Terrell was,
as I recall, a
Lines West
division
superintendent.
I can remember
his name being
spoken by my
mom and dad,
so they were
all
acquainted.
I'm looking
forward to
Fred's next
ELP story -
Louis