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Railroad history from a non-railfan
There are at least two instances in this article that the word “principle” was used as an adjective. The spelling of the adjective should be “principal”, meaning “the most important.”
Love the Soo Line picture. When I was a kid we often drove through New Richmond on the way to my mother’s hometown of Clear Lake. I always looked for the passenger train, but never saw it there.
Interesting, wide-ranging and well-illustrated article. My compliments to the interviewer as well as the interviewee.
Love the picture of Devil’s Lake. I have stood at the spot where the picture was taken, it’s a beautiful area, got to spend several summers there in the 60s.
I must agree with Jack, some of my favorite railroad shots are of the people themselves, Particularly the breed I worked in service in the mid 60’s, some who were the tail end of the steam generation. They were tough like the conditions they worked under, but most would not hesitate to lend you a hand when circumstances warranted.
Very interesting article. As a former school teacher I understand the importance of teaching students about our history and the the impact it had on our lives.
Jack can teach us a lot about our hobby or profession. His ideas for passing on the railroad heritage are fantastic. It never occurs to us that the vast majority of commuters who ride trains all across America have no idea about, or interest in, railroad history. It’s also unfortunate that children’s school classes cannot take field trips that allow them to ride trains that are in the business of providing actual point to point transportation. I like his ideas for heritage displays in terminals and incorporation of railroading in classroom curricula.
David Beardsley. There used to be a whole series of editors and proof readers between a writer and the final print product. These days, the story is written on a computer and goes straight to print. Then we have to put up with spell check programs that have a way of changing whole words to something different. It drives me crazy to see so many “typos” in magazines, newspapers and other print media and in on-line articles, but we’re lucky bad spelling and grammar isn’t more prevalent than it is, especially when we consider the quality of education available to most people these days. I was a guardian to a fifth grader a few years ago. His written spelling and grammar were atrocious. I confronted his teacher. Her answer was that his thoughts and ideas were all that mattered. I was appalled. Anyway, that’s the kind of education we are getting from our public school system. Consider yourself fortunate that the only errors in this otherwise fine and well written interview are minor ones.
In the photo of an L&N employee hosing down an L&N steam locomotive, why was it necessary to point out that he was an African American employee? He is an employee of the L&N doing his job, nothing more.
A Makowski from Illinois
I agree that it was not necessary to indicate the person washing the engine was an African American. The welder was not pointed out to be a White American! They are railroad workers.
My reaction also. It was jarring in its unexpected inclusion and did not add any meaningful info.
First. Great article! Couple of grammatical errors, sure. No big deal and no excuse to attack hard working teachers out there. I sub teach in a town in N. MN that owes it’s existence to the Northern Pacific RR and the Mississippi River. I have printed the article and will share it with the history department at school. Maybe they can include this railroad history in the curriculum.
I