THE MEMPHIS BUFFTHE MEMPHIS BUFF VOLUME 39 ISSUE 11 NATIONAL RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY VOLUME 39 ISSUE 11 NATIONAL RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY November 2012 November 2012

CLG 508 - 1894 CLG 508 - 1894

Central Station Offices -1955 Central Station Offices -1955 Memphis and Its Environs Map - 1865 Memphis and Its Environs Map - 1865

One Way Ticket to Jail - 1957 One Way Ticket to Jail - 1957

Jackson to Jackson Passenger Train - 1968 Jackson to Jackson Passenger Train - 1968

Memphis Chapter OfficersPresident – Walter Lang walterhlang@yahoo.comVice President – Bruce SmedleyDirector – Bill Strong williambstrong@bellsouth.netSecretary/Treasurer – Thomas Doherty TRDoherty@aol.comProgram Co-chairman – Carl LancasterProgram Co-chairman – Don Weis DBWeis@aol.comYahoo Group Co-ordinater – Terry Redeker tkredeker@hotmail.comNewsletter Editor – Tom Parker tscottparker@gmail.co

CLG 508

Michael Jack sent me this picture of an an old truss rod caboose on display in Greenwood MS. I, like Mi-chael assumed that it was an old Illinois Central Ca-boose. Seeking more information, I started “Googling” it on the internet. I discovered that it was in fact an old Columbus and Greenville caboose. When the Southern Railroad sold what became the CLG to a group of Mississippi busi-nessmen, the new railroad inherited thirteen wooden cabooses, most of them built in 1894. One of these, CLG 508, originally Sou X1350 is the one on display in Greenwood.

Central Station Offices February 1955

A listing of offices in Memphis Central Station Feb. 1955Room Office301 Traveling Auditor302 Trainmaster, Traveling Engineer Fulton Dist., Miss Divn306 Conference Room307 Pet Milk Company (Rental)308 Forest Products Bureau304 Employees Credit Union301 U. S. Appeals Board (Rental)401 Hospital Department – Infirmary406 Special Agent411 Communication Dept.415 Telephone Exchange407 G.O. Telegraph501-2 Memphis Terminal Trainmaster503-4-7-10-11 Joint Memphis Trml. and Memphis Div. Office512 Chief Dispatcher & Dispatchers514 Memphis Division Trainmaster516 Memphis Terminal Transportation Inspector601-6 Memphis Trml. and Div. Joint Division Engineers Office 607-8 Asst. Engineer MofW, Sgnl Sup., Supervisor Work Equip.611-14 Claim Agents615 System Bridge Inspectors616 Frisco RR Claim Agents (Rental)706 Memphis Terminal – Division Joint Asst. Div. Engineers712 Motor Express Rentals Corp. (Rental)714 Agricultural AgentEighth Floor Traffic Department

Steve Albers and Terry Cox gather data for the installation of antennas on the roof of Central Station for an ATCS Monitor server. In addition to ATCS Monitor, the installation will include a scanner radio feed of all Memphis railroads on radioreference.com. Terry came forward and rescued the project by enlisting the aid of the local ham radio enthusiasts. Still needed for the project: Relocation/addition of a receptacle in the penthouse, installation of CAT5 cable from penthouse to Don Weiss' office on the eighth floor. (A hole has been located in the penthouse floor to attic, eliminating need to drill through 20 inches of concrete!). Volunteers/donations of material needed. Contact Tom Parker (tscottparker@gmail.com)

“Memphis and Its Environs” MapBy Michael Jack

This map is dated May 25, 1865 – fifteen days after the end of the Civil War. Drawn by the “Military Division of West Mississippi” it shows the depot locations of the four railroads serving Memphis. The Memphis and Little Rock Railroad depot shown at Hopefield was reached by ferry. The other three points of the compass were serviced by the Memphis and Ohio, Memphis and Charleston, and Mississippi and Tennessee Railroads.

One Way Ticket to Jail (1957)

by Tom Parker

Back on September 14th I was listening to the NBC Nightly News when Brian Williams re-ported on a cold case mystery having been solved.

“On a snowy winters night in 1957 in a small town west of Chicago a seven year old girl disappeared and was later found dead” he began . As he contin-ued , the story began to sound strangely familiar.

Prime suspect seventeen year old Jack McCullough claimed he was in Chicago for a military medical exam at the time of her disappearance. His story fell apart last year after investigat-ors re-interviewed a woman who dated him in 1957 and asked her to search through some personal items She found an unused train ticket from Rockford to Chicago purchased shortly before the Maria Ridulph went missing. It was that part of the story that made me sit up and take notice. Just ten days earlier on Septem-ber 4th , I received an email from Larry Kott with the Illinois State Police; “I don't know if you remember me but you helped me about two years ago with some questions I had about an old train ticket from 1957 “ his email began.

Through my association with the Illinois Central Historical Soci-ety, Kott had originally emailed me on September 11, 2010, for schedule information on train between Rockford and Chicago, IL in 1957. I sent him copys of what I had. On September 15th Kott sent copies of an Illinois Central train ticket for me to analyze. Kott's September 4th email said he had a follow up question and asked for a number where I could be reached. Although I gave him my number, he never called. I suspect that the prosec-ution was getting all their ducks in a row and wanted to make sure they were able to contact me should the need arise. Pos-sibly an “expert” witness?

Jack McCullough at age 18

Seven year old Maria Ridulph disappeared December 3, 1957

Back of ticket showing issue date just five days prior to Maria's disap-pearance. "M5604654" is the Gov-ernment Order number.

Front of ticket furnished by Illinois State Police. "Govt. Order" stamp indicates that the ticket was pur-chased with a U.S. Government Travel Order. These government or-ders were typically used by the milit-ary.

Jackson MS to Jackson TN Passenger Train? (1968)

By Tom Parker

Recently I was going through some donations to the Memphis Railroad and Trolley Museum. Among the papers was a sheaf of train orders. These can sometin-mes be interesting so I set them aside for review.

A train order issued at North Jackson MS addressed to En-gines 4006 and 4039 reads “En-gines 4006 and 4039 run as first and second 2 North Jackson to Canton.” Number 2 was the northbound City of New Orleans. This indicated that tere were two sections of the City of New Or-leans. The orders were dated Au-gust 4, 1968, a Sunday. What would be going on to neccesitate two sections of the City? Not a holiday weekend, no Bowl games, No Kentucky Derby. The second oreder read “Engine 4006 run passenger extra Canton to Water Valley”. Something even weirder here. First 2 is now a passenger extra Canton to Water Valley. The City of New Orleans doesn't go through Water Valley,

hence change in the trains desig-nation. What kind of train is this?A pretty good sized one for a pas-senger train according to the Canton register ticket – two en-gines 4016 & 4006 and eleven cars.

At Grenada an order was issued for passenger extra 4016 to take the siding at Water Valley to meet extra 8082. ( A previous train or-der changed the the engine num-ber from 4006 to 4016. One pos-sibility, engine problems with 4006 caused the engines to be swapped.)

The last order issued at Water Valley clears the train all the way to Frogmoor Yard at Jackson TN with a meet at Middleburg.

A little research has provided a possible explanation for this train. The Republican National Convention was held in Miami August 5th – 9th. This was prob-ably the Mississippi Delegation going to the convention. At Jack-son, TN, they would pick up the route of the City of Miami: IC to Birmingham, CofGa to Albany and SCL to Miami.

CABOOSE

IC 9380 – TC Railway Museum, Nashville, TNMichael Jack Photo

Meeting Schedule

November 13, 2012December 6, 2012

Germantown Public Library 7-9 pm.

1925 Exeter RoadGermantown, TN

38138

Contact the EditorTom Parker

3012 Wood Thrush DriveMemphis, TN 38134

tscottparker@gmail.com