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Transportation historian George W. Hilton dies
Another legendary historian of the industry has passed, very sad. Another definitive title not mentioned of Hilton’s (in collaboration with John Due) was, “The Electric Interurban Railways in America.” This book is practically the preeminent resource of both large and small streetcar/interurban systems across the country; the histories of many would likely be lost forever without the in-depth research the authors provided.
I had G W Hilton as an instructor one summer at Northwestern Univ. He was a true intellectual. I left the campus after that summer session a changed individual. His influence was so overwhelming he may have had an influence in my changing my vocation choice from rail management to what years later became dentistry. My view of the rail industry was altered from an emotional to a rational one I believe in a major way due to his mentoring, notwithstanding that it was only for two months one summer as an undergraduate student.
His influence was so strong that one spring about fifteen years ago while vacationing in Southern California I actually stopped in at his office a UCLA. He approved of my choice of dentistry over the rail industry. “Too many small minded people in railroading,” was his response. He was gifted.
A truly gifted railroad historian and economist.
The first issue of Trains which I picked up was in 1972 (May perhaps?) and his article “View of the Viaduct…” was outstanding. One of my all time favorites from the magazine.
RIP.
Ed
I was loading/unloading mail at Cheyenne sometime in the 1966-71 timeframe when I recognized Mr. Hilton walking down the platform. My workmates excused me while I ran the man down. He was surprised, but as gracious as he could be. He was riding No. 5, a coach-only mail train, rather than one of the streamliners … just for the experience, he said.
Hilton, for all his academic credentials and brights, was one of us.
I interviewed him circa 1972 when he passed through the Southern Tier of NY and found him to be a thoroughly interesting railfan and a total gentleman. His ilk are too quickly passing from us and he will be missed.
For the benefit of the TRAINS staff, in January 1967 DPM gave Dr. Hilton eight pages and one-half pages, eight with solid text, on “What Went Wrong and What To Do About It.” Dr. Hilton concluded that the ICC must go. Hilton, DPM once noted, wrote a lot about the marginal, also-ran, or uneconomic entities of the industry, e.g., Monon, Ma & Pa, car ferries, etc. He made them all seem larger than life.
Condolences to the extended Hilton family. His writing profoundly influenced my life. “The Night Boat” exposed me to the history of those vessels, and through the photo credits, a lifelong friend who later introduced us. His article on the Great Lakes car ferries (Trains, January 1975) came to my attention while I was a swab at the Coast Guard Academy in CT. The message was “ride them while you can,” so I did just that during my summer leave. Fell in love with the Lakes, came back for several assignments, and met my wife during one of them. Thank you, George, for a remarkable legacy.
The passing of George Woodman Hilton is a terrible loss to the railway industry and railway enthusiasts. My condolences go to his family and close friends.
Mr Hilton’s literary contributions offered a colourful and enlightening history of railways.
I greatly enjoyed his writing. At the prompting of the news item above, I read “The view of the viaduct from in front of the diner” from the May 1972 issue. It is a great story, especially the surprise in the baggage car after the derailment of the Lake Cities Limited. Priceless.
I knew George personally and prided myself on a complete collection of his publications. He was a role model to me in my career, and a standard by which most should be judged and few have attained.
One of my all time favorite readings was (is) the bible of Interurbans by Hilton and Due: The Interurban Electric Railways in America. While presenting otherwise technical subjects as diverse as cable cars, single phase AC, you name it he was a delightful speaker. I felt like I knew George personally, he will be missed but still remembered through his many writings.
One of my all time favorite readings was (is) the bible of Interurbans by Hilton and Due: The Interurban Electric Railways in America. While presenting otherwise technical subjects as diverse as cable cars, single phase AC, you name it he was a delightful speaker. I felt like I knew George personally, he will be missed but still remembered through his many writings.
By itself, his masterwork on American narrow gauge would have been a life’s work for a scholar. And yet he did so many other things. Odd that he was at UCLA, not a campus for those who study such mundane and dirty things as railroads, and still accomplished so much. He was a giant among railroad historians and economists, and had it so right about so many things. RIP
I too was surprised by the omission of “The Interurban Electric Railways in America” from the book list. Like others, I read most of his books, and enjoyed and learned from them. I also had the pleasure of meeting him at least twice. First in the late 1950s when I spent most of a day holding the “dumb” end of a tape measure as he made a dimensioned sketch of Ohio Public Service # 21, at the Ohio Ry. Museum. Then in 1973 or 74 at dinner in Chicago with a group of friends from the Illinois Ry. Museum.
Although I never had the privilege of meeting him, I read his commentaries in “Trains” and thoroughly enjoyed them. This is a great loss for the industry and the hobby, but we are lucky to have had .him for so many years. My condolence to his friends and family.
Hiltons’s books and articles - always so well researched and written - entertained me as a rail enthusiast, and educated me as a rail professional. I first came across one of his books in my college library (in London, England, which shows how far his fame reached), and have been an avid reader of his work ever since. He’ll be greatly missed.
Let’s not forget Hilton’s “Monon Route”, the definitive history of the beloved CI&L. I’ve had a soft spot for the Monon ever since a friend from the Midwest gave me a copy in 1980. George’s level of scholarship is something all writers should aspire to attain. And lest we forget, it was Hilton’s September 1968 TRAINS review of “The Berkshire Era” that elevated Nickel Plate’s Bluebirds (and every other Alco PA) to the exalted status of “honorary steam locomotives”. His passing leaves a void that will never be filled.
Let’s not forget Hilton’s “Monon Route”, the definitive history of the beloved CI&L. I’ve had a soft spot for the Monon ever since a friend from the Midwest gave me a copy in 1980. George’s level of scholarship is something all writers should aspire to attain. And lest we forget, it was Hilton’s September 1968 TRAINS review of “The Berkshire Era” that elevated Nickel Plate’s Bluebirds (and every other Alco PA) to the exalted status of “honorary steam locomotives”. His passing leaves a void that will never be filled.
Let’s not forget Hilton’s “Monon Route”, the definitive history of the beloved CI&L. I’ve had a soft spot for the Monon ever since a friend from the Midwest gave me a copy in 1980. George’s level of scholarship is something all writers should aspire to attain. And lest we forget, it was Hilton’s September 1968 TRAINS review of “The Berkshire Era” that elevated Nickel Plate’s Bluebirds (and every other Alco PA) to the exalted status of “honorary steam locomotives”. His passing leaves a void that will never be filled.