Plowing snirt in Nebraska
The year was 1978, and I was an assistant roadmaster for the Burlington Northern out of Lincoln, Neb. Through…
Read moreThe year was 1978, and I was an assistant roadmaster for the Burlington Northern out of Lincoln, Neb. Through…
Read moreIt could have been a Trains News Wire headline: “Reading switcher shoves frozen Doodlebug.” You won’t believe the story. I…
Read moreI was able to secure part time employment with the railroad mail service on the Burlington during the mid-1950s. This…
Read moreAnyone who spent much time at all as an “excepted” (non-union) employee could expect, sooner or later, to be required…
Read moreMountain railroading always gave the opportunity for a runaway train. In 1949, I was working out of the small town…
Read moreI was working as a relief railroad tower operator on the Lehigh Valley in the late steam era. It was…
Read moreMajor railroad labor disputes haunted the nation during the latter part of the 19th century, highlighted by the “Great Railroad…
Read moreRock Island perishable traffic: One thing you learn quickly as a new railroad employee is that if you can hold…
Read more1950s EMD customer relations: At the height of dieselization circa 1950, the volume of orders pouring into Electro-Motive Division was…
Read moreIn 1981, I was Director, Freight Car Engineering, for Berwick Forge & Fabricating, a railcar manufacturer. The company decided to…
Read moreIt was a warm, sunny day in May 1942. I was a stenographer-clerk in Missouri Pacific’s Traffic Department at…
Read moreAround 1940, give or take a little, I was firing Southern Railway Ps-4 Pacifics heading the eastern leg of the…
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