Chuck Akers' Grandfather in 1927

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

Abe, you've done it again!  Thanks so very much for the post. It really meant a lot to see my grandfather's name listed as the brakeman, first time I had ever seen THAT !!   It also seems that all of the men back then used the same format to log events and misc. times in their conductor's books.  My grandfather used the same place to record the reporting times and such.    Good work !!

Chuck Akers
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org<mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> 
  To: N&W Mailing List<mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> 
  Sent: Saturday, July 15, 2006 5:53 PM
  Subject: Chuck Akers' Grandfather in 1927


  Chuck Aker's recent post on the proposed intermodal yard at Elliston reminded me that his Grandfather, C. E. Akers, had been a Conductor on the Radford Division.

  So, Chuck, this is for you and for the enjoyment of the other Listers !

  Attached is a composite scan of parts of four pages from one of the Conductor's Train Books kept by my own grandfather, Abram D. Burnett... this one from 1927.  It shows that your Grandfather and my Grandfather worked together on April 14 and April 15 of that year. 

  On April 14, they reported at Roanoke at 1:30 PM for Ex 1707 West.  The head end brakeman was Jerry E. Sink, the Engineman was C.C. Spangler and the Fireman was O. B. French.  The various notes in the book show that they "Picked up 15 hoppers on ladder West End," which means they obviously got their 45 car miscellaneous freight train (30 loaded cars and 15 empty hoppers) out of Park St Yard. Total train was 30 x 30, no tonnage given.  Times shown are:  WB 2:20PM, Christiansburg 4:00PM - 4:10PM, Pembroke 4:45PM - 4:52PM.  (Given the running times, I wonder if they stopped for coal and water at Vicker???)  Unfortunately, Grandfather did not record the arrival time at Bluefield.

  On the return trip, April 15, 1927, the crew and the engine was the same.  The train hauled 65 loads of miscellaneous freight and 4 loads of coal on the rear end.  Reporting at 8:30AM, they departed Bluefield 9:05AM, with the note "Delayed Bfd for 24" (a passenger train.)  Arrived at Blake 9:30AM, no departure time recorded.  Dry Branch 11:15AM - 11:25AM.  Elliston 12:45PM - 12:55PM.  Arrived Roanoke 1:50PM.

  Your grandfather, Chuck, was the flagman on these runs.  One of the "principles" which is now almost lost and will certainly be in the future, was that, of the two or three brakemen on the crew,  the Flagman was always listed right after the conductor on the time card and in the train book.  That made it more transparent for the Timekeepers who processed the time cards, because the head end man got an extra 15 minutes pay for getting the engine out of the engine house.

  Not only are the running times remarkable, but how quickly they got out of the yards is almost unbelievable. 

  Seniority dates for the employees on the trains:

  A.D. Burnett - hired 6/17/1909, promoted 2/13/1916
  C.E. Akers - hired 9/18/1911, promoted 3/26/1918
  J.E. Sink - hired 10/20/11, promoted 3/24/1918
  C.C. Spangler - hired - unknown, promoted 4/20/1903
  O.B. French - hired 3/22/1906, promoted 1/25/1918

  Seniority dates are taken from "Roster of Conductors, Trainmen, Engineers, Firemen and Yardmen Employed on Radford, Norfolk and Shenandoah Divisions," published by Railroad Poster Service "under supervision of Ray W. Drake," probably reflecting the Jan 1, 1919 senority rosters.  This is one of those little pocket books paid for by the advertising of the merchants in Roanoke.

  The seniority dates of the oldest employees given in this book are:

  RADFORD DIVISION:
  Passenger Condctor - R.L. Branscome 4/1/1890
  Passenger Brakeman - J. C. CcClellan 6/1/1883
  Freight Conductor - J.H. Senter 1/18/1887
  Freight Brakeman - Walter Arthur 7/1/1888
  Colored Freight Brakemean - John Palmer 7/7/1883
  Road Engineer - G.W. Cooke 8/18/1874

  NORFOLK DIVISION:
  Passenger Conductor - W.M. Farrar 12/4/1888
  Freight Conductor - A.W.Bethel 1/6/1888
  Brakeman - William Hogan 6/9/1884
  Engineer - R.L. Irvin 11/4/1875

  SHENANDOAH DIVISION, ROANOKE DISTRICT:
  Passenger Conductor - B.V.L. Chaney 4/7/1891
  Freight Conductor - J.R. Dean 10/25/1887
  Passenger Brakeman - M.A. Brogunier 8/6/1886
  Freight Brakeman - E.B. Wiseman 4/21/1891
  Engineer - S.L. Mayo Sr. 6/16/1883

  SHENANDOAH DIVISION, WINSTON DISTRICT:
  Freight Conductor - D.C. Shiplett 2/20/1899
  Freight Brakeman - W.H. Love 9/15/02
  Engineer - J. K. Matthews 3/1/1892

  Looks like Old Man Cook, the 1874 Radford Division engineman, took the prize for longevity.  He had been an AM&O man !

  Enjoy Chuck, et al !

     -- Abram D. Burnett
  ________________________________________
  NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org
  To change your subscription go to
  http://list.nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/attachments/20060721/abafb2be/attachment-0001.html