[N&W] Re: What happened to N&W's steam designers?

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

To add a little more about Gurdon McGavock, he began working for the N&W in
1917 and worked off and on through WWI and college. After graduation from
Cornell in 1922, he begin working fulltime until his retirement in 1963. He
lasted into the diesel era which included the merger with the Virginian and
the retirement of the its old electrification system.

 From my interview with him, he said the he ended his career with the title
of Mechanical Engineer for the railway and as such he was head of the
Mechanical Engineering Dept. He worked all 41 years for the railway in
motive power in the M.E. dept.

Bud Jeffries
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Mark,

My reply about McGavock's death date may have failed to answer some
questions you and others may have about this extraordinary gentleman.  I had
the pleasure of knowing him during my early days in the N&W Motive Power
Department, although I did not work for him.  I worked in an adjacent
office, but on Saturdays those of us who were scheduled to work that day, as
well as several retired Motive Power employees who regularly showed up,
would meet at 10:00 AM to flip coins to see who had to buy the group Cokes.
It was mainly though these sessions that I got to know him and listen to his
wisdom and wit, so here are a few bit and pieces of what I remember.

He once told us that the first formal classroom that he was ever in was when
he entered Cornell as a freshman to study engineering!  His home was in a
rural area of Southwest Virginia (Wythe or Pulaski County, as I remember)
that was so remote there was no way for the children to get to school, so a
tutor was hired to teach the children in their homes.  When one thinks how
such a primitive arrangement produced someone like McGavock it makes one
wonder what kind of return we are getting these days for the billions spent
on elaborate educational facilities.

He talked with a slow, Southwest Virginia drawl, but when he spoke others
paid attention!

After dieselization, he stated that he could learn about the mechanical and
electrical aspects of diesels if he had to, but that he did not feel the
need to do so.  I have no doubt that he could done what he said if he had
wanted to.

In any discussion, you could depend upon McGavock to make some sage
comments.  One comment that I remembered, although I have forgotten the
discussion itself, was, "All laws result in an injustice to someone at some
time."  As I have reflected on this down through the years, I have seen how
often that is true.  Yet, our lawmakers seem to know no limits on passing
new laws.

McGavock was a practical joker who also enjoyed a humorous story or joke.
In this vein, I remember another sage comment that he made.  He stated, "All
humor is based on the other fellow's misfortune."  Again, as I have
reflected on that down through the years, I have seen how often that is
true.  I do remember one "gotcha" type humorous joke that he played on us --
one that I have used myself on lawyer friends as well as others.  It goes
like this:

         Question:  What is the difference between unlawful and illegal?

         Answer:  Unlawful is contrary to the law.  Ill eagle is a sick bird!

This joke is particularly effective when the person being questioned
attempts to explain the difference before being given the answer.

As to the subject question about the steam designers, here my comments, some
of which is speculation.  During the last years of steam I suspect that as
they retired or died they were not replaced in kind.  Those who continued to
work were involved in steam locomotive component redesign projects (just
notice the many revision dates on the drawings) as long as steam was viable
and/or shifted to freight car design work, as well as passenger car
modification work.  Remember that the N&W designed and built all of its
hopper cars and many of its gondola and covered hopper cars during the last
years of steam and in the years after that, requiring a cadre of car
designers.  Also, there were component redesign projects on owned freight
cars as well as modification of owned freight cars to serve certain
shippers' special needs.  All of these freight and passenger car designers
were under McGavock's direction until he retired.

Gordon Hamilton
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 >     Mr Hamilton,
 >          This is off the lists subject,but how do you get to the Social 
Security site.
 >                                        Thanks , Ed Case

Ed,

I believe that there are several sources, but the one I used is
http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi.

Gordon Hamilton
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To get to the Social Security Death Index just type in SSDI in any search, 
and it should come right up. It's use is self explanatory, and it's easy to 
use. It is useful in trying to determine the status of people you may be 
searching for and genealogy. It does not go back much beyond the early 
1960's and is not 100% complete as it depends on volunteer reporting by 
individuals or funeral homes. You will not have a great deal of luck in 
looking for deceased railroaders because nearly all of them were in the 
Railroad Retirement System which does not have computer access. If you are 
looking for someone here, you have to submit a form and payment for a RR 
Retirement search.

However some railroad workers have had social security earnings, so there 
is a small chance they may may be in SSDI. The key to inclusion is if a 
final SS death benefit was paid out.

Rick Morrison
___________________________________________________________

This is in reply to Mr. Case's question on how to reach the Social Security
Death Index (SSDI). There are several ways, one of the easiest is through
www.familysearch.org (the LDS genealogy web site), click on 'search for
ancestors,' fill in the blanks and off you go. Another good one is
www.rootsweb.com and possibly other genealogy sites.
Bob Simpson
Dayton Ohio
bob.simpson at earthlink.net