RAILWAY EMPLOYEE RECORDS FOR COLORADO
VOLUME III

By
Gerald E. Sherard
(2005)

When Denver’s Union Station opened in 1881, it saw 88 trains a day during its gold-rush peak. When passenger trains were a popular way to travel, Union Station regularly saw sixty to eighty daily arrivals and departures and as many as a million passengers a year. Many freight trains also passed through the area. In the early 1900s, there were 2.25 million railroad workers in America. After World War II the popularity and frequency of train travel began to wane.

The first railroad line to be completed in Colorado was in 1871 and was the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad line between Denver and Colorado Springs. A question we often hear is: “My father used to work for the railroad. How can I get information on Him?” Most railroad historical societies have no records on employees. Most employment records are owned today by the surviving railroad companies and the Railroad Retirement Board. For example, most such records for the Union Pacific Railroad are in storage in Hutchinson, Kansas salt mines, off limits to all but the lawyers. The Union Pacific currently declines to help with former employee genealogy requests.

However, if you are looking for railroad employee records for early Colorado railroads, you may have some success. The Colorado Railroad Museum Library currently has 11,368 employee personnel records. These Colorado employee records are primarily for the following railroads which are not longer operating.

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad (AT&SF)
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad employee records of employment are recorded in a bound ledger book (record number 736) and box numbers 766 and 1287 for the years 1883 through 1939 for the joint line from Denver to Pueblo. Possible information recorded in the book is: name of employee, date of employment, location, job titles, reasons for job changes, weight, height, complexion, hair and eye color, birth date and place, and marital status.

Colorado & Southern Railway Co. (C&S)
The Colorado & Southern was Colorado’s state home-grown railroad. It was, in fact, known as “The Colorado Road”. Its pride and joys were the Texas Zephyr, flagship of the road’s passenger fleet and the fastest train between Denver and Dallas, and steam locomotive No. 900 which was one of the prettiest ever built.(1)
The C&S came into existence in 1898 as the result of a merger of the narrow-gauge Denver, South Park & Pacific and the Colorado Central. It thrived until

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1908 when its standard-gauge and narrow lines became a subsidiary of the Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad, and it was finally absorbed in 1982. The main line of the C&S, which some wags suggested stood for “Cinders & Smoke” because it was the last Class I railroad in the region to rid itself of steam locomotives. The rail line remains a major Front Range north-south rail link in Colorado. (1)
Below is a partial alphabetical listing of employees of the C&S Railroad for whom there are employee record files. Many of the files only contain an “Application for Employment”. Important information given on the employment application was: occupation applied for; city, state, and date of birth; color of eyes and hair; style of beard; if alive, names and addresses of wife, father, mother, and children; names and addresses of other near relatives; previous employment history consisting of name of railroad, occupation, and dates; names and addresses of all persons dependent on the applicant; full name and address of applicant; surgeon’s certificate of examination listing many eye, ear, disease, and physical evaluations. Box numbers 445, the rear of 731, and box numbers 1276 through 1290 contain most of these applications.
Some of the files contain information involving railroad accidents and incidents.
These investigations usually involve locomotive engineers or firemen. Sometimes demerit marks were issued for disoperation of the engine. An accumulation of an excessive number of demerit marks usually resulted in employment suspension. Firemen and engineers were regularly examined and the findings may also be in their employee files. General correspondence may also be contained in the file. Most of these files are contained in box numbers 202 and 1275 and the rear of box number 456. Box number 766 contains letter applications to the Auditing Department during the time period 1908 to 1919. The rear of box number 731 contains many of the exams required to become locomotive firemen and engineers. It was common for locomotive firemen with experience to be promoted to locomotive engineers.

Denver, Leadville & Gunnison Railway Co. (DLG)
The rear of box number 445 contains files of applications for this railroad.
Pertinent information given on the applications is similar to that of the Colorado & Southern Railway Co. except no surgeon’s exam or names of dependents are given.

Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Company (D&RGW)
Denver and Rio Grande Western employee records contained in box numbers 714 through 717 and 727 through 733 are from the DC&H (Dining Car and Hotel Department). Box numbers 766 through 772 and 1287 contain mostly employee records for laborers assigned to the Burnham Store in Denver, Colorado. The Burnham Store was the railroad’s parts department and was located about 8th and Mariposa Streets in Denver. Contained in these files is an “Application for Employment”. Important information recorded on these applications is: full name, position, social security number, birth date and place, citizenship, race, nationality, hair and eye color, weight, height, marital status, address and ages of children, father and mother’s name and addresses, emergency contact person and address, education, relatives employed by D&

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RGW; work history documenting where employed, occupation, time periods of employment, salary, reason for leaving, and supervisor. Other miscellaneous paperwork also is in the file with the employment application.

Union Pacific Railway Co. (UP) The front of box number 456 contains employee records for special agents of the Union Pacific Railway Co. These special agents consisted of guards, watchmen, and a few support staff of steno-clerks. Pertinent information given on the applications is similar to that of the Colorado & Southern Railway Co., except no surgeon’s exam is given.

Complete information from these records may be obtained by contacting:
Archivist, Robert W. Richardson Railroad Library The Colorado Railroad Museum 17155 West 44th Avenue Post Office Box 10 Golden, CO 80402-0010 Phone 303-279-4591 Fax 303-279-4229 Email: [email protected]

The Colorado Railroad Museum - Richardson Library is your best source for any information you may be seeking on Colorado railroads. In addition to employee records they also have accident and equipment records.

Other sources for railroad employee records: Denver Public Library Western Railroad Collection 1. Denver Tramway Personnel Records which are being indexed. 2. Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Accident Reports (16 volumes) and Personnel Files (4 volumes and 2 boxes) which mostly are filed by date. 3. Railroad Maps: Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, Atchison, Topeka& Santa Fe, and the Union Pacific Railroad 4. Railroad Photographs, see http://gowest.coalliance.org or www.denver.lib.co.us 4. Railroad Manuscripts 5. Railroad Books and Periodicals

Union Pacific Railroad Museum Library, 200 Pearl St, Council Bluffs, IA 51503, phone 712-329-8307, www.uprr.com/aboutup/history/museum/index.shtml has 150 boxes of personnel records. For information about Union Pacific equipment, also contact the Union Pacific Historical Society, www.uphs.org

Southern Pacific Railroad employment cards dating back to 1903: contact California
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State Railroad Museum Library in Sacramento, CA www.csrmf.org/doc.asp?id=122

They also have The Biographical Directory of Railway Officials of America

Burlington and Quincy Railroad Co.: contact Chicago’s Newberry Library archives records

Great Northern and Northern Pacific Lines: contact The Minnesota Historical Society www.mnhs.org

Pullman Co.: South Suburban Genealogical Society in South Holland, IL has indexed records dating from 1900 to 1949 and covering 200,000 employees; for free online form go to www.rootsweb.com/~ssghs/pullman.htm

For pension information about employees who worked in the rail industry in the U.S. after 1936, contact the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board, the railroad workers equivalent of the Social Security Administration. The Board provides information on deceased persons, but requires consent to provide information on persons who are still living. The records are by the employee’s social security number. You can possibly find deceased individuals Social Security Number through www.ancestry.com or www.familysearch.org.

Office of Public Affairs Railroad Retirement Board 844 North Rush St. Chicago, IL 60611-2092 www.rrb.gov/geneal.html Phone 1-800-808-0772

If your ancestor had a Social Security number starting with a "7" he probably worked for the railroad between 1937 and 1943. The Railroad Pension was set up at the same time as Social Security and railroaders received their own Social Security numerical prefix. Until 1964, railroad employees were given special numbers, with the first three digits (ordinarily designating geographic area) falling between 700 and 729.

National Association of Retired & Veteran Railway Employees, Inc. (NARVRE), www.NARVRE.com, email: [email protected]

Another possible source of information about an ancestor who was a railroad worker is the United Association of Railroad Veterans, 187 Illinois St., Patterson, NJ 07503.

For information about Nebraska railroading, see www.rootsweb.com/~nerailrd/index.html this web site has a link to the National Archives (NARA) which has railroad accident records for 1911 to 1984. The NARA publication North American Railroads, Reference Information Paper 91, is your best source of information for small abandoned railroads.

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By through research, it is possible to collect information about a railroad worker. You can find articles about any accidents he may of been involved, articles about and pictures of the equipment he operated, railroad maps of the lines he may of traveled, and the type of work he performed. Please be advised that railroad work was, and in some way still is today, a very dangerous job and may workers were involved in accidents which may be documented in employee records or newspaper articles. The work was also very dirty because of the coal burning locomotives.

Even if you cannot find specific information on your railroad ancestor, the following are some tips to assist you in your research: a) If you know the name of the railroad(s) your ancestor worked for, look for a capsule history of that railroad.

b) If you know only that your ancestor worked for a railroad in a specific state or city, attempt to find a listing of the railroad(s) which served that area. And then, perform a research on the corporate and/or operational history of the particular railroad(s), as in item (a) above.

c) If you know that job(s) your ancestor performed for the railroad(s), write a general description of what that job entailed. Again, not specific to the particular person in question, but the job duties in very general terms.

Up until about the mid 1950’s, railroaders were a breed apart from the rest of us. They controlled powerful machines, they traveled to far off and exotic places, and they had the respect and admiration of every little boy - and most grown men. The closest modern day job to hold the same admiration and esteem is probably that of airline flight crew, with the pilot having the same status as the engineer of old.
The trainmen were part of a fraternity that worked their way up the ladder. They lived dangerous lives. In one month in 1887, 34 railroaders died in on-the-job accidents. That is a fraction more than one a day! In the entire year of 1888, 2,070 railroaders were killed on the job. Another 20,148 were injured. Be that as it may, railroaders scorned other professions, for theirs was the adventure of the age. Here then, is a description of the various jobs these iron men held when our grandparents traveled great distances:

BAGGAGE HANDLER
The baggage handlers duties were to load and unload baggage from inbound and outbound trains. In small towns, the telegraph operator or station agent usually did this. In large towns, it was a full time job, and like modern airports of today, the baggage handler had to make sure the baggage was placed on the right train, or was transferred from an inbound train to the right outbound train. Full time baggage handlers were identified by their “red caps”.

BAGGAGE MASTER
The person in charge of the baggage car. From 1840 to about 1920, passengers

5referred to him as the “baggage smasher.” They swore he held contests with the baggage handlers to see who could stand at one end of the baggage car and hit the far wall with someone’s baggage.

BRAKEMAN
Prior to 1888 when Westinghouse developed a reliable air brake, stopping a train or a rolling car was very primitive. Iron wheels, located atop cars, were connected to a manual braking system by a long metal rod. The brakemen, usually two to a train, would ride on top of the car. On a whistle signal from the engineer, the brakemen, one at the front of the train and one at the rear of the train, would begin turning the iron wheels to engage the brakes. When one car was completed, the brakemen would jump the thirty inches or so to the next car and repeat the operation to apply the brakes on that car. The brakemen would towards each other until all cars had their brakes applied. Tightening down too much could cause the rolling wheel to skid, grinding a flat spot on the wheel. When this happened, the railroad could charge the brakeman for a new wheel. New wheels cost $45, which was exactly what the brakeman earned a month. In good weather, the brakemen enjoyed riding on top of the cars and viewing the scenery. However, they had to ride outside the cars in all kinds of weather - in rain, sleet, snow and ice, as well as good weather, ready to apply the brakes instantly on descending grades or when running fast. Jumping from one car to the next at night or in freezing weather could be very dangerous, not to mention the fact that the cars were rocking from side to side.
Whenever a train unexpectedly stopped on the road, the rear-end brakeman who was the senior brakeman, would take a red flag or lantern and hurry back half a mile to give the stop signal to any train which may be following. Another duty of the brakeman was to couple the cars, uncoupling being generally devolved on the freight conductors. Both of these tasks were very dangerous. During the hour of preparation for departure, the brakemen would assemble the cars from different tracks, change the cars from the front to the rear of middle of the train, and set aside cars that were broken or disabled.
Brakemen had the unpleasant experience of dealing with hitchhikers and tramps.
On freight trains, the brakemen had opportunities to get acquainted with farmers along the route from whom they bought fruit and vegetables. On passenger trains, the brakemen dealt more with the public, and their chief duties were those of a porter. Those that were good at flirting with the public, were promoted to conductors. On the modern “limited” trains, a brakeman’s day could consist of a three hour run without a stop.

CONDUCTOR
On passenger trains, the Conductor held the ultimate dignity. He typically worked his way up from brakeman or flagman. When a man became a Conductor, he was placed in charge of a car and for several days made trips under the direction of a “pilot.” The duty of the pilot was to instruct the new conductor how to collect and ring up fares, issue transfers, and learn the various stops along the tracks on which the train ran. He was the captain of the train. His job required diplomatic skill, such as explaining politely to a woman who claimed her “10-year-old” son who was sprouting

6whiskers, could not ride for free, but had to pay half-price. Conductors had to handle crooked gamblers, and had to use finesse when explaining to some passengers why they shouldn’t fire their pistols out the window at passing telegraph poles. At times, they were even required to deliver babies, or doctor the smashed or severed fingers of one of the train’s crew. He also collected fares when folks boarded the train where there was not ticket agent.

ENGINEER’S APPRENTICESHIP
To become an engineer, one must previously pass through a regular course of instruction. First, the apprentice who seeks to become an engineer goes to the master mechanic of the “Division” and makes application for work. If the applicant shows ability, he is soon promoted to the task of “firing” engines.

ENGINEER
The locomotive engineer was a real hero in olden days. The engineer enjoyed the privileges of the office, much like pilots of airplanes today. The engineer was allowed to have his engine painted whatever colors he chose. He was allowed to alter the sound of the whistle by placing wooden stops in it, to create a unique and distinct sound. This had the side benefit for the engineer because his wife or landlady would learn to recognize that distinct sound and she knew he would be home soon, so she would have dinner waiting for him when he arrived. Engineers had to work their way up the promotion ladder. Quite often he started out years before as a Wiper in a yard house, then worked his way up the Engine Watchman, then to Switch-engine Fireman, then Road Fireman, then Hostler, then Freight Engineer, and finally Passenger Engineer.
The first trips as engineer were under the direction of an old engineer, who acted as his pilot, and who taught him the road in order that he may know the grades, the crossings where the whistles were to be blown, and obtain any other necessary information. The first trip alone was a happy moment to the ambitious engineer because with his promotion came a nice increase in salary at “freight-engineer” rates. The freight engineer was paid $4.00 a day, per 100 miles. After a time, he was placed upon a passenger train, where, also go got an increase in salary, but at the same time, incurred more responsibility and more danger. A Passenger Engineer averaged about $160 per month.

ENGINE WATCHMAN
This man’s job was to keep water in the boiler and keep enough fire going in the firebox to move the locomotive within the railroad yard.

EXPRESS AGENT
While not actually an employee of the railroad, Express Agents were employed by the “Railway Express Agency,” which was a private concern, and usually had an office in the depot. Their job was the ship packages, much like United Parcel Service (UPS) or Federal Express (Fed Ex) does today. Quiet often, especially in smaller communities, the Express Agent was also on the payroll of the local railroad. He might have been the telegraph operator, or the ticket agent, or even the station agent.

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FLAGMAN
Prior to about 1900, Flagmen were called Freight Conductors. The Flagman was the senior brakeman. He had worked his way up the ladder by being competent, avoiding being killed, and he had to be able to read, as he would pick new orders for the train at various stops along the way. He may also be responsible for collecting fares from passengers that would ride in the inexpensive boxcars on the freight trains. If, or maybe, when a train wreck occurred, or when a train was required to stop for some unusual reason, and would be blocking the main set of tracks, the Flagman’s job was to set flares and warning devices along the track in the direction of any expected train, then they were to station themselves as a visible point as far down the tracks as possible to be able to warn any oncoming train of the dangers ahead.

HOSTLER
The Hostler would go into the yard and pick up an engine from where the
Switch-engine Engineer left it running, and move it into the roundhouse. Additional responsibilities included acting as a stableman or person who cared for horses used in the rail yard.

RAILWAY MAIL CLERK
These people actually worked for the U.S. Postal Service, not the railroad. They were considered the aristocracy of the postal workers. They were paid better, and they got to travel. Their job was to sort mail on the mail car while traveling from one location to another.

ROAD FIREMAN
Many railroad companies required, on the part of their firemen, a good common-school education, and subjected them to an examination in certain branches. This job probably had the sharpest contrast to that of conductor. The Road Fireman traveled with the freight or passenger trains. The fireman’s main job was to shovel coal into the firebox of the engine. Early engines burned from 40 to 200 pounds of coal per mile, depending on the quality of the coal and on the engineer. Another job of the Fireman was to keep the cylinders on the drive wheels oiled while the train was underway. Prior to 1888, this could only be done by climbing out on the running boards and creeping forward alongside the hot boilers and pour tallow on the valves. This duty ended when a device was invented that mixed oil with the water that was turning into steam. This allowed a self-lubrication to take place in the drive piston cylinder and all of the related valves. Other fireman’s duty was to keep up sufficient steam with which to run the engine, to keep a sharp lookout, when not otherwise engaged, for all track obstructions, and to ring the bell and take signals from the train crew. In addition to this, he was expected to keep his locomotive in splendid condition, and not infrequently clean the entire “jacket” every trip.
When the fireman was about to make his regular trip, he reported at the roundhouse, drew the necessary supplies, and saw that the lubricators, lamps, oil cans, tank and sand boxes were filled. If he used soft coal, he saw that it was broken and wet