Nostalgia & History > Working For The Illinois Central

Back in 1991, one of my father's coworkers lived next door to the retired chief dispatcher of the Illinois Central's St. Louis Division. Dr. Brandon passed this on to my father, who in turn passed it on to me as I remember. I approached Mr. Joseph, who at age 90 agreed to sit down with a 19 year old kid with a tape recorder.

R.C. Joseph needed to have his parents sign a release allowing him to take a job on the I.C. as an operator in 1919. He worked the extra board and also worked regular jobs at a number of small stations in southern Illinois, including such hamlets as Hallidayboro on the mainline and McClure on the "Mud Line" parallel to the Missouri Pacific in the Mississippi River Valley. In the 1940s, he came to the dispatcher's office in Carbondale, where he would retire as Chief on December 31, 1968, after 50 years with the railroad. He passed away in 1994.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

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Interesting to hear from an "old timer". Thank you.

These have been very interesting incites into the people who ran the railroads. I love the equipment, but the people are really fascinating although a lot of that history has been lost.

Bruce Stikkers
St. Joseph, IL

Thank you for posting these videos. I really enjoyed them. Please post more if you have them.

Mike