Nostalgia & History > The Roundhouse Was A Dangerous Place

Here is another segment from my interview with the late Robert Presley, as he talked about his time working in the Illinois Central roundhouse in Carbondale, Illinois.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

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Glad you could bring these great stories back to life for the honor of these men, even though the documentary never came to be, this in a way is the documentary.
Brian Stevens

Great stories from back in the days of steam and early diesels . Great to hear them from the men who lived them

Mr Presley speaks a lot of wisdom. Roundhouses, rights of way, etc were dangerous places.

My dad's father was a "coal boy" on the Pennsylvania Railroad at Greenville yards in Jersey City NJ. In the early 1900s, the company hired boys 10-15 years old to go into the cooling fireboxes, and shovel / broom ash down the chute. Dusty, dangerous work. Small kids were preferred.

He broke a few ribs in an accident, the company sent him home on a stretcher, and dropped him off at his parents' tenement. Never went back.