Nostalgia & History > CNW Central Division Officers and Dispatchers 1982

For your enjoyment and for you CNW fans who were around Mason City/Waterloo/Des Moines then, here is a listing of officals for the Central Division 1-1-82.

At the time the Central Div was based in Mason City. A few years before the Central(mostly MSTL lines) merged the Missouri Div(ex CGW) into one new divsion. Also this was at the time the CNW was running the Rock Island, and had not offically bought it. that would be the next year.

Also there were two dispatchers offices, one in Mason City the other in Des Moines to run the former Rock Island lines. There were 3 desks in Mason City, A East, Central, and South. Anyone know how the desks were divided by subdivisions?

I also know a few of the dispatchers that are listed on here.

Feel free to comment.

MILW86A

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Thanks for posting this. I always find it interesting that some railroads called the Supervisor of the engineers "Travelling Engineers" and
some called them "Road Foreman of Engines". Now they are MOPs (Manager of Operating Practices); at least on the UP.

Bob Helling
Prose

I know where some of the disaptchers came and went. Burkhart became a Asst Supt with the CCP, and he ended up working for the IAIS. He just retired from there this last year. Cal Foster retired from the DME when the CP closed the Sioux Falls Dispatch office and moved it to Mpls. I remember Cal clerking in Mason City during the later days of the IMRL. Carrol Kaduce ended up going to the IANR after Boone closed in 1989 then later went to the CP/IMRL/ICE and retired in 2006. Larry Kirstein I think retired from the UP in Omaha as a Corridor Manager. Greg Paulson later went to the CCP and worked in Waterloo. May have gone to Homewood after the IC buy back in 1996. Jim Reuber lives in Boone and retired in 1997(Ex CGW man too). His son "JMR" works on the Branch Desk 2nd trick. Steve Schaefer ended up in Omaha also as a corridor manager and has since retired. Denny Stowe and Chuck Winship were from the Rock office in Des Moines. Matter of fact, both their pics appear in Ed Brunners article about dispatching on the Rock in the July 1980 TRAINS magazine.

In the Des Moines office, thats where the former Rock lines were being dispatched from, since Manly to Inver Grove, and Allerton to KC were CTC. I have some RI paperwork with Pat Mankins name on them, same with Dick Gibson too.

MILW86A

R L Thompson and L H Elyea (I think) were former RI dispatchers
also.
zr190