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Re: [CBQ] Further To CB&Q Clerk

To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [CBQ] Further To CB&Q Clerk
From: archie hayden <klinerarch@charter.net>
Date: Sun, 2 Mar 2014 20:01:34 -0600
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Louis Thanks for sharing with Mr Currie who I might add would be a welcome member for our group. The female clerks working in a man's word as it was back then were subject to lots of ribbing and kidding. The ones who lasted could dish it right back or at least grin and bear it. Archie
On Mar 2, 2014, at 3:26 PM, LZadnichek@aol.com wrote:

March 2, 2014

I shared Archie's earlier post about Elsie Morsch with family friend Earl J. Currie who sent me the following reply. Earl started his railroad career in the mid-1960s on the Q's Chicago Division and rose through the ranks to retire as a BN vice president. Earl gave me his permission to post his reply on this List. Some of you may remember Earl from Lines West when he was BN division superintendent at Lincoln at about the time when many of the BMR/Q branch lines were being either abandoned or cut-back. Earl is interested in joining this List and I think his operating department memories of the Q's last years and its employees will be valuable history to preserve.

Louis Zadnichek II
Fairhope, AL






Louis,

Yes, I knew Elsie very well. On my first day as Trainmaster Aurora, she came to work for me (also her first day in Aurora) as a combination secretary/personnel clerk. It was a new job established on that day to give me a hand with all the paperwork involved in hiring new Brakemen, which we were desperately short of in those years, due to the draft for the Viet Nam War taking so many people, plus our wages not being competitive at that time with those paid by the big factories in the area. .
We hired literally dozens of people in a short time.

Elsie was a hard worker, very loyal and conscientious. Her previous job had been in the office at the Clyde Diesel Shop.

I was transferred out of Aurora in a few months but returned in a year or so as Asst. Supt. During that time she married Jimmie Morsch, a Brakeman. I can't remember if he still had his Conductor's rights at that time, or had given them up so he could work a regular job as a Brakeman or Collector on the dinkies or other passenger jobs.

Elsie was a fine person, and it is wonderful of her to have taken time to write these memoirs of her early days on the railroad. I wonder what job she was working at the time she retired.

Van Nortwick was a classic, old school mechanical officer. After he set me straight on how he did railroad business, Van and I got along well. At first, he would not even recognize that people on such lowly positions as Trainmaster even existed.

Like so many loyal old-timers, Van was not enthralled with the merger. In the early 1970's an officer of the former GN was sent to Chicago to be on Van's staff. Van never even spoke to him for the first six months. At that time, they had a big run-in on some routine mechanical matter which forced Van to talk to him. even though he had no use for the GN guy. With that interaction, they came to understand each other,and they got along well after that. The GN guy (Tom Kotnour) became the System CMO-Cars in later years.

Thanks for passing this item along.

Earl


From: LZadnichek@aol.com
To: ejcurrie@comcast.net
Sent: Thursday, February 27, 2014 10:24:53 AM
Subject: CB&Q Clerk

February 27, 2014

Earl - Do you remember Elsie Morsch who was hired on in the mid-1960s as clerk to J.R. VanNortwick, master mechanic, Chicago Division? Good recollection from her below about Mr. VanNortwick who was good friends with my Dad. Best Regards - Louis

From: klinerarch@charter.net
To: lzadnichek@aol.com
Sent: 2/26/2014 4:44:51 P.M. Central Standard Time
Subj: CB&Q clerk

Louis,  Hope you enjoy this letter from Elsie Morsch written to her
fellow employees when she retired in November of 2003.  I can relate
to this era of railroading as I am sure you too had a close look at
it.  Best Archie

<ElsieQclerk_NEW.jpg>

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