Nostalgia & History > Curing A "Wild" Engineer

In 2000 I was still working in the radio business when I came up with the idea of doing a radio documentary on the men who worked on the railroad during the steam era. I put out a little note on our station's "swap shop" sort of segment, which resulted in my visiting Mr. Robert Presley in Hurst, Illinois.

Robert Presley went to work on the Illinois Central in 1941 at age 15, working for his father who was the foreman on a track gang. He later went in the service at the tail end of World War II, and returned to the railroad when he left the military in 1946. His career eventually took him into the roundhouse at Carbondale, Illinois, and into the signal department during slack periods at the roundhouse. Mr. Presley was 84 years old when he passed away in 2011.

The documentary never happened, as I had only conducted a couple of interviews when Amtrak called and I changed professions. However, it seems a shame to let these stories go untold.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

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Great story Mary. On the railroads I worked on they would display a yellow/red board 2 miles in advance of a red board notifying the crew that there was a work zone ahead and they had to contact the foreman in charge of work for permission to come thru his work zone and any instructions as to how to proceed, i.e. speed between A and B, looking out for men and equipment on or close to the track.
The yellow board was a reminder for temporary speed restrictions in two miles as listed on your orders with a green flag at the end of the restriction.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

Bob3985 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Great story Mary. On the railroads I worked on
> they would display a yellow/red board 2 miles in
> advance of a red board notifying the crew that
> there was a work zone ahead and they had to
> contact the foreman in charge of work for
> permission to come thru his work zone and any
> instructions as to how to proceed, i.e. speed
> between A and B, looking out for men and equipment
> on or close to the track.
> The yellow board was a reminder for temporary
> speed restrictions in two miles as listed on your
> orders with a green flag at the end of the
> restriction.

It certainly changed the game with radio communication! It's the same on the former I.C. today.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

Wow! That was quite a story! That DID cure that
"wild" engineer!

I love these stories. And, as I said on the other
thread, I would love to hear all of each interview,
whenever that is possible. Those stories are really
interesting.

Thank you very much for posting these gems here.
I will never get tired of stories like these.