Train wrecks and memorabilia from Turn of the Century Railroading

Four Photos of the wreck of Engine #3534 at Riverside

My grandfather, Morris H. Tuttle, spent many watchful nights in the Boston & Albany Railroad's Tower #18.  I found this poem he wrote about one of those nights and have titled it
The Towerman's Dream

This credit card sized coupon for a laxitive was inside ny grandfather's diary for 1900. As an employee of the Boston and Albany Railroad he must have found it quite modern and humorous. It's interesting that humour hasn't changed very much, but laxitive advertising has. Today we hear very seriously about "regularity". The CCC company apparently did not mind being somewhat more graphic with toungue in cheek (so to speak).

Front

Back

Does anybody remember Capt. Jack Crawford?

He billed himself as The Poet Scout. He was, I believe, a sidekick to Wild Bill Hicock. In the days before movies and TV he must have enthralled audiences with his tales of the Wild West. I know that he is not entirely forgotten to history as he penned a poem about the death of Wild Bill Hicock. Aces & Eights, the Dead mans' Hand and all that.

He apparently almost missed a train and was grateful for my grandfather's help in catching it. This incident apparently introduced them and today there remains a few letters which testify to a certain amount of corespondence between them.

This "friendship" between them was, I'm sure, a source of pride to my grandfather. Capt. Jack gave my grandfather an autographed picture of himself (shown here), I'm sure he had an abundant supply, with a poem about their meeting in the train station penned on the back of it.

I've titled this poem
"The Flyer"

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