seeking information on engineer and his engines

[NW Mailing List]

Chris;  It is highly unlikely that any employment records can be found.  The
N&WHS doesn't have any and the Federal Privacy Act keeps the railroads from
releasing any. Most older records were discarded decades ago.  At any rate,
the information about what trains he ran and what locomotives he operated
were never in employment files.  For that you would need his personal time
books where he would record what trains he operated and (likely) what
locomotives he was using.  Since the engineer was paid by the run, this info
determined how much he was paid- weight of train and weight of locomotive
being critical items.  This info was in the crew registers but this was
usually discarded after about 6 months.  The Time book was the engineer's
way to check what the company recorded and dispute any differences.  These
are little ledger books, pocket sized.  If you are lucky your family will
have them.  

 

The employee magazine probably does not have an article with him in it.
However these were not indexed completely, so a page-by page search is
likely required to find anything about him.  Given that the first issue was
written in June of 1923, it is mostly likely that no article was ever
written about him.  This sort of article would have been extremely rare in
any case.  

 

In short it is going to be very, very difficult to construct his history as
for the most part the company records never had any of his details of work.
Think about what is in your employment files.

 

Gary Rolih

Secretary N&WHS 

 

 

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From: nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org
[mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org] On Behalf Of NW Mailing List
Sent: Sunday, July 05, 2009 7:31 PM
To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
Subject: seeking information on engineer and his engines

 

I am starting a detailed geneology record of my great-grandfater, and he was
an engineer for the N&W.  His name was James Cecil Neff.  I am seeking
information on how to search for his employment records, and some history on
the lines and engines that he worked on.  Also is there a way to find if he
was the topic of any articles in the N&W magazine or any other of the
companies documentation.  He lived in Rural Retreat, Va, Kenova, WV, and
Portsmouth, OH.  I have some pass cards and engineer cards dated between
1905-1919.  He died in 1921.  He served at the Kenova sub-division during
those times.
 
His picture did appear in a N&W magazine in July 1953(page 392).
I have two photographs that show the engine numbers he worked on.  They were
1136 and 1447.
 
Any information about him, his engines, or how to find this information
would be greatly appreciated.
 
Thanks,
Chris Neff




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