YES…but NO!
Relatives from both my mother’s and father’s sides of my family worked for the railroads from late 19th. to early 20th. century, up to as late as the 30’s/40’s. One for roads in southern MN, the M&St.L and the other in northern MN, the SOO Line and whatever subs…
My pike isn’t a model of either, but both railroads have a presents with rolling stock and even a loco from each that run pretty often.
My great grandfather was a station master for the Jersey Central. He actually died on the job in 1929 when a locomotive ran over a stone which shot up and hit him in the head while he was standing on the platform. But the main reason I model the Jersey Central is because it ran through the town I grew up in and my earliest train memories are of Trainmasters and GP-7’s hauling heavyweight coaches in push-pull mode.
My Great Grandfather was an engineman for Philadelphia and Reading in Philadelphia. He died in a railroad accident in 1932 after 38 years of service.
I model Reading Company, CNJ, Conrail, and PRSL
The Railroad retirement act is very similar to social security. It began in the late thirties to present? Any railroad employee working in this time period is in their records. try google search on “geneology railroad workers” and see wahat you get or go to the bigger geneology websites and see what they have.
MY FATHER WAS AN ENGINEER FOR THE SOUTHERN RR FOR 51YRS. MY GRANDFATHER WAS A SECTION FOREMAN FOR THE SOUTHERN. ONE OF MY BROTHERS WAS CHIEF CLERK FOR THE SOUTHERN. MY OTHER GRANDFATHER WAS AN ENGINEER FOR THE NC&ST.L. IN COWAN, TN. I AM MODELING THE SOUTHERN RR IN AND AROUND MEMPHIS, TN. THANKS. FOR ASKING.
I model the ole Southern Pacific,I worked for them years ago and grew up in S.P.country.[2c][^]
JIM
Yep … Grandfather is a retired 30 year man from Uncle Pete ( read Union Pacific ), spent some time being dragged around the yard here in Portland OR which left a lasting impression, not to mention they’ve been the biggest game in town for quite some time.
my father worked as a repairman for penncentral and for conrail in harrisburg, and that’s what i model. billy b.
My great-grandfather worked on the Great Western (and later British Railways) as a guard (conductor) up in North Wales, so I have a whole string of '30s private owner coal wagons from the area. The nice touch is that they’re made by Dapol (who are based in North Wales), so they’re locally (roughly - it’s about an hour’s drive) made models painted for local businesses. I use a Bachmann 66xx 0-6-2 tank loco and matching GWR brake van to top and tail the train, which looks pretty good - still need to DCC the loco so I can do some coal shunting on the layout.
Well, in a way I could say ‘Yes,’ as one of my Great Grandfather’s worked for NYC out in the Auburn NY area way back when. And since I’ll be doing Conrail/CSX in the Syracuse area, ‘YES, I will be!’
JP
Yes, I model the Santa Fe. My father and an uncle of mine was a trainman and a track welder respectively.
Take care,
Russell