Men and Women that made the PRR.

This topic is about the Men and Women behind the PRR , the unsong hero`s .


I had two Great Great Uncles that worked for the PRR on the main line in the late 1800`s , Uncle Phill was a engineer on a E-6 4-4-0 # 1046 and Uncle Ralph was a fireman/breakman .

Len.

I had a Cousin ,who was a Brakeman on the Pennsy, in the Erie,Pa. yards. He finished his career as a Conductor on the Penn Central or Conrail.One time ,he told me to come down to the yards, and he would give me a ride. Unfortunately, I never took him up on it. He has since passed on.
Back in the 60's or early 70's, my Father was friends with an older Gentleman, who was a retired Pennsy Passenger Engineer ,who worked the Erie-Emporium runs. My Father was always trying to get me to go visit him, and talk railroading. Being a young know-it-all, I never got over to visit him, something I've always felt kind of sorry about. I did meet him once, but we didn't get a chance to talk much, then. We should never put off what we can do now, I guess.
The rail museum, in Altoona, has a nice area where you can look up Pennsy employees names in a sort of computer file system, with info on when and where they worked. Also, you can add info on family members not listed. Worth looking into.

My great-grandfather was brought over from Scotland by Cassatt to build bridges, but he and Rea apparently differed on everything, including the Hudson River tunnel plan (being a stiff-necked Scot, he differed with most people I am told). Guess who lost?

My grandfather was a section supervisor for the PRR as he studied engineering until he "ran off to work on Mr. Roosevelt's ditch" in Panama as my grandmother called it. On his return, he got his degree and worked for the Mechanical Department in Altoona and then for Rogers (ALCO) in Schenectady, NY.

My dad worked his way through college on D&H track gangs (hence my handle) and later worked on the design team for the F-M TrainMaster and then came home to Schenectady to work for GE on the E44.

The big deal for me, as a kid, was that we got a lot of father/son quality rail miles together all over the PRR system (many cab rides) and got to meet lots of railroaders and their families and hear lots of railroad stories.

Years later, we lived close to the main line in NJ and my father would often walk up there to admire "his" motors rolling by.

Real cool story Gandy, Thanks . I like to hear the story of family`s who worked on the railroad , Its neat to hear what they did . It real live history that you don`t read in any books .

Thanks again,
Len.

It feels odd to post to 7 year old threads, but I'll add that my grandfather was with the PRR from 1917 to 1961. He finished his career in GG1s, pulling the Nellie Bly, and retired the day they ended that run. I got to ride with him in the cab when he drove it back to the yard that day, an exciting few minutes.

My dad was a brakeman and a freight conductor both before and after WWII. He was injured on the job in 1948 and retired to sue for his injuries.
In an ironic twist I wound up working for a successor of the PRR, Septa in Philadelphia, at a former Reading car shop, Wayne Junction.