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The title ‘chief engineer’ pretty much always means someone in engineering, not someone in engine service. It’s not used much any more, being more commonly replaced with titles like ‘engineering manager’ or similar. At that time, the different branches of engineering were not so differentiated, so he could have been responsible for all kinds of different engineering work. For that matter, about being stuck in Nebraska, he could have just been there or routine business when that blizzard shut things down.
I would also note that there were and are so many people of German ancestry in St. Louis and downstate Missouri along the river that a guy named Ehrlich would be quite plausible. There was a publication called ‘Pocket List of Railroad Officials’ which listed all the significant officers and contacts for every North American railroad, and if he was a chief engineer, he’d probably be in it if could come up with one for the right timeframe.
RG7
