Mr Wife Says If we Have Detectives We Need Train Engineers: Help Me Out Here

My great grandfather was an engineer for B&O all his working days.....don't think that counts though.....

"Mr Wife"??????  I'll bet she just loves to be called THAT!

You already have Casey Jones!  He's the local legend around Memphis.

I think it might count, put his name out there.

That's one of them there Freudian slips that tells you who wears the pants in the family.  Unless of course the wife is a Mr.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Jethro Tull?  Or is that too big a stretch?

George

Surely there must be one of those books containing stories about your chosen railroad "back in the day" in which exploits of some engineers are mentioned.  Just go through it and make a list.  If you can't find a picture of one of them, just select a picture of another engineer of the same era because most of us won't know the difference.

Bob Butterfield,  NYC Engineer, I think he was on the cover of a Lionel 1930s Catalog.

There was Joseph "Steve" Broady who wrecked Old 97, and  William Richardson, made famous in the song "Billy Richardson's Last Ride".

I think any of the OGR Moderator's could name at least one.

Bob

if you have Westinghouse you must have Tesla then.  

Hot Water.

Scrapiron Scher...

Jerry

Engineers' Rant

It's not my place to run the train the whistle I can't blow.

It's not my place to say how farthe train's allowed to go.

It's not my place to shoot off steam nor even clang the bell.

But let the **** thing jump the track and see who catches ****.

Actually that was NOT the "Engineer's Rant", since the Engineer did indeed "run the train", "blow the whistle", "shoot off steam", AND "clang the bell".

That was the famous Roundhouse Foreman's Rant.

Hey, when she starts giving orders she's more like Nero Wolfe, but she gets upset when I call her that.  She claims she has only a passing interest in the layout but she is up every day to check out my progress, and feels fully entitled to veto ideas she does not like. 

Hey Lee W.

Sometimes it is best to listen to the wife, she can make things ugly if you don't listen.

I have been married for over 20 years, with both wife's time thrown in.

The only engineer I can think of was with the Reading Lines and he drove one of the Reading Lines T-1's, a 4-8-4. His name is Charles Cockel, and fireman Shawn Fredrickson.

Lee Fritz

I always heard it was the fireman's rant.

I've heard it as the "Brakeman's Rant". makes sense these days because the brakeman is the one on the ground doing the work. The conductor is sitting in the van or sitting on the headend with the engineer. 

Charles "Charlie" Kachel gained fame as the engineer of Reading T-1 2102 on the Blue Mountain & Reading. He passed away in 1994 at age 78.

Charles Hogan was at the throttle of 999 on her record run.

"Wodburner Steve" runs the JOHN BULL replica at The Railroad Museum of PA at Straburg as well as No. 17, the YORK, on the Northern Central (www.steamintohistory.com). The YORK, a replica completed in May 2013 at [David] Kloke Locomotive Works, Elgin, IL, burns oil, so running her takes some adjustment on Steve's part.

Danny Seldomridge runs Shays on the Cass Scenic Railroad

J. Huber Leath was an engineer on the Strasburg Rail Road. A wooden coach bears his name today.

Hey I used have a Locomotive Engineer's license, do I count?!

As far as design engineers don forget to include the living;

Nigel Day and David Wardale come to mind immediately.  Also Dick Stone has been doing alot of work with the UP program and had a large hand in the last rewrite of the FRA steam locomotive inspection code.

Wouldn't have to mention it twice to me to add these two chickies on the left....

Since you mentioned it, I just may go ahead and order them tonight!

I've got a book of railroad legends and high tales.  If I remember, I'll look through it and see who is all listed.  I've been meaning to read that thing once I found it in a box of old stuff from my grandpa.

I always thought it was the Gandy Dancers Verse? They can't do anything about running the train but if it derails because of their handiwork they will catch it.

Jerry

how about rich, doyle and steve.

and al krug, and number 90 and a couple of others on the real trains forum that i can't think of at the moment.  

not only engineers, but a link to OGR.

include hot water...gotta have a fireman.

Steve Lee retired engineer of the UP Steam Program,he operated the 844 and 3985.

How about Choo Choo Charlie says Love my Good and Plenty.

Bob

It's a typo in the post title Lee... Mr.Wife...or isn't it?

How about the engineer in the 50's Lionel marketing films. He also did personal appearances for them.

Engineer(s) of the first transcontinental train. I know one train passed before the other in actuality before the spike event. 

or, just tell her one is enough since you are on there in the fishing scene.

How 'bout Charley Pratt (Smiley Burnette)?

Since you've got fictional detectives, how about a fictional engineer?

Specifically, "Papa Boule" (Michael Simon) from 'The Train', with Burt Lancaster as "Labiche", who also operates the loco at times even though he's actually a station master.

If you are using fictional characters how about the crew from "Emperor of the North"?  Don't know that the engine crew was that memorable but Ernest Borgnine (sp?) made for quite an interesting conductor. 

Don Wetzel, fastest man on the rails. Flight of the M-497, the NYC record setting speed trials.

How about those Yankee lads that stole the General?  Fess Parker would be a great engineer.

Okay, Fess Parker - yes!  Liked him on TV way back when, and liked his wine, too.

She sounds more like Mrs. Columbo *smile*

a couple of Johns come to mind...

John Frank Stevens

John Augustus Roebling

Stories my Grandfather, and his Father in law (my Great-Gramps) used to talk about the most, while the bottle grew empty, where often about "Con" Culhane, and the Ellen K. (Con is short for Cornelius), 1842(?)-1903). He was a Michigan Upper Peninsula, logging, and narrow gauge train man. If you would fight him, win or lose, he gave you a job. The better you did in the fight, the better the job, and pay. He spent a winter pulling up track behind him, laying it down in front, and moved his whole logging operation that way, from NW of Culhane lake in the U.P.of Mi., right across the frozen forests, hills, and marshes, to Sheldrake, Mi. He died falling between cars during a load shift, run down by his own train.

Another U.P. of Mi. guy, Dan McCloud, went right through some of the worst of the old cedar swamps, by just stringing ties together with runners, never even bothered filling in the holes, or smoothing grades. A virtual rollercoaster ride, with some outrageous grades. G.Gramps swore he thought the guy did some of it for fun, and the challenge, more than the time and money.

Would this help ?  I snaped a photo of the original pasted in a scrap book by the late Louis Hahn sometime back in the early days, maybe in the 20's or 30's.