My grandparents’ next-door neighbor, A.C. Russell, ran the day switch engine in the yard at Jefferson City and gave me the railroad – and MoP – fever. He hired out with the MP at Carthage in the early 1910s and ran trains in France during WWI. His tales of railroading in France and on the MP made a big impression on a little kid. He retired in 1960 and passed in 1970, four years before I went to work for the Frisco. A couple books from his library are among my most prized possessions, and it sure would be great to talk to him again, rail to rail, after my 35 years with BNSF and predecessors.
Originally posted by Charlie Duckworth, 11 April, 2015