Jump Starting the United States Railroad Project

Question

I'm starting a new project to tell the history of Arkansas railroads in the state. I noticed we had a United States Railroad project started by [[Smith-40964|Philip Smith]] and he was gracious enough to let me work on the project. I have filled out the United States page for the project and am looking for input.

Next step is to develop a template for each state, so that you can tell the history of railroads in your state and communities.  I will prepare a template and post it for comments before we finalize it, so that everyone who wants can have a say. The template will be a guide to get you started. You will be free to make changes to fit your state needs.

I also want to create pages for the existing major railroads, so that we can tell the story of their history and predecessors. Again, feedback is welcome.

We will need volunteers to complete the various state pages. I'm working on a draft for Arkansas, but anyone is welcome to help or join in.

Take a look at this page and give me your feedback!!!

Comments

Thank your for your enthusiasm and willingness to take on advancing the work on railroads, particularly in Arkansas, Jimmy. What's been done already will be valuable as a foundation. I'm sure you'll be able to build on that and take it in new directions.

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Another way of expressing this:

Some of my ancestors and relatives worked for and traveled on rail lines operated by rail companies that have been incorporated into CSX Railroad, but knowing that doesn't provide much information about the past. It doesn't help descendants of rail workers gain any understanding about how the railroad affected their ancestors' lives -- such as recognizing that that a place where they lived was one of the Pennsylvania towns that were sites of rail maintenance shops for the old Pennsylvania Railroad (and thus a place where many young people moved from other communities).

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I'm hoping that Jimmy can "jumpstart" good information about railroads in America's past that can help provide context for the biographies of our ancestors who were part of the rail industry.

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Thank you for your comments. If they remain space pages, that is okay too. There needs to be a single focal point to spread out from. Much of the detail about past railroads and shortlines will be told in the state pages. Because they all have a history in at least one state, more than likely many. However, their history is different in every state. I would have categories it differently, but just trying to make do with what exists.

I think it will make more sense when I write a state page and work on Arkansas for a template for others to use or follow if they like. It is a complex issue, because there are so many and they span so many states. Many people will not know the names of past railroads, and where to start the page. This will be a place to link everything and find what you are looking for.

At least that is my goal.

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In my immediate area alone there are probably a half-dozen short line railroads that were rather short-lived or quickly made part of something else. One was known as the RR to nowhere. A template to help standardize how info is presented could be beneficial. Ellen, does this want to tie-in to our existing structures at the state or county levels (or both)?

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Thank you. I have fiddled with this ideal for a while, and I started working on Arkansas to think about how to link it back to one source and split it off there for each state. It took me some time to tackle it.

I think it will make more sense when a bigger picture is available and the Arkansas page is done.  I appreciate all the comments.  It is just too rich of history, not to be told.  I hope I get something that everyone can mimic or copy.

Answer 1

I have not looked for railroad information or categories on Wikitree until now. Thanks for the heads up! I have several ancestors who worked on the railroads of their time.

I have at least one freight conductor, a roundhouse employee and more in the tangent lines. The railroad across southern Michigan also figures in to a One Place Study I have in mind. It was the reason for the town's creation.

Looking forward to your progress on the Arkansas page, and model for other pages!

Answer 2

I love this idea.  Trains are in my blood.  My paternal grandfather and great grandfather (his father-in-law) worked as electricians at the Central Terminal in Buffalo, NY.  One of maternal great grandfathers was a section hand on the railroad between Buffalo and Erie, PA.  Many of my great uncles worked at the American Locomotive plant in Dunkirk, NY.  When you get further along with the project, I would be interested in working on New York State.  Although I think New York may need multiple people.  I have materials in the railroads in Western and Central New York, but nothing on the Capital area and down the Hudson Valley to New York City and out to Long Island.

Comments

Great, as soon as you start a page, I can add it to the United States page, so users can click a link to get to it. Hopefully, we get some volunteers to help in New York, but that is the beauty of Wiki, because it is always there for others to pick up the banner later.

I just finished the Arkansas page, waiting for some feedback.  I want to be inclusive of ideals and suggestions. Take a look at it. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Arkansas_Railroad_History

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This is what I have gotten together so far on New York.  I will be adding more over the course of the year, I envision sections on the short lines, suburban trolley lines, the Long Island Railroad, the New York City El and subway.  Any help is welcome!

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:New_York_Railroad_History

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Look great!

Answer 3

Sounds great! I have been working on county pages throughout Appalachia and every time you see towns and even counties that only exist because rail went through there. I'd be happy to help with Maryland, then any state that needs help.

Comments

Great, as soon as you start a page, I can add it to the United States page, so users can click a link to get to it.

I just finished the Arkansas page, waiting for some feedback.  I want to be inclusive of ideals and suggestions. Take a look at it. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Arkansas_Railroad_History

Answer 4

What a great idea for a project!  My grandfather, great-grandfather, and several great-uncles worked for the New York Central for quite a long time in Ohio.  This would be a great way to tie them all together.

I saw your spacepage on Arkansas Railroad History -- very impressive!

Comments

Thank you. I think this approach will allow you to explore the railroad and its impact on our ancestors' lives. Once a state page is built, you could do a page on the counties and talk about the depots in each town, train accidents, and type of jobs they had in the county.

Answer 5

This is an excellent project.

 As my family traveled across the Mississippi River from Memphis, Tennessee into Arkansas, We followed the Railroad all the way to Marked Tree, Arkansas. I do not know the name of the lines that ran on those tracks, but some pretty long trains. The tracks went through downtown Marked Tree. My uncle would pull up onto the track and turn the motor of the vehicle off. It frightened me and I just wouldn't ride with him.

There was a little community called Old Weona (Poinsett County) that the Tschudy family owned. They focused on the timber industry and it seems like I remember my mother saying they had a railroad sideline, which retrieved the timber. The Tschudy's brought my grandfather from Caruthersville, Missouri to Old Weona in 1927. He lived in Poinsett County the rest of his life, first in Old Weona, then Weona, and finally they built a home in Marked Tree with the St. Francis River down the street and the railroad tracks just another block.

On another note, I added the Richard Tull family of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Richard was the treasurer of the Philadelphia and Reading RR in Pennsylvania.

Answer 6

Great framework for the railroad project.  I looked specifically at Arkansas to see if you had anything there about the historical railroad bridge and line between Fort Smith and Van Buren. Glad to see you had a section on that.  

I had reviewed the history of that bridge and rail line when posting instagram pics of the bridge at sunset or sunrise   

In 2019, we had record flooding, and that bridge survived flooding at 43 feet above flood stage. However, an earlier flood many years earlier had damaged the bridge.

That bridge is still vitally important for shipments crossing the Arkansas River.  Also, Van Buren has a train tour that travels through there and also into Northwest Arkansas.

I’ll read the Arkansas page in more detail later.

Thanks