Railroad records finally located

Me and my sister on a train 30 years ago

Trains have a unique place in my family history. My older two kids were obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine for years when they were little, and spent a lot of time building tracks and running the trains on them. I remember taking train rides as a kid, and while I can't remember where we were going or why, I do remember how fun they were. While living in Montana, my folks would take train rides out to Washington to visit my uncle Randy, and to go to Seahawks games. Going a bit further back, one of my 3rd-great-grandfathers, Philip Hammer, died after being struck by a train in California in 1899. Another 3rd-great-grandfather, Adoniram Shute, reportedly died of a heart attack while on a train in Montana in 1909. But on a happier note, several generations of my paternal ancestry worked on trains, or in jobs relating to trains. My grandpa, Fred Gibson, worked for years in the railroad industry. His father and uncles both worked for the railroad, and his maternal grandfather Samuel Joseph did as well.



Fred Gibson in a train, 1970s

 

Knowing that several relatives of mine worked for the railroad, when I got started in genealogy I became interested in knowing more about their time with the railroad, and what the railroad records could tell me about them. Before too long, I found an index to Northern Pacific Railway personnel records. I saw that there were indeed personnel files for my grandpa, his dad, uncles David and Thomas, and what looks like his maternal grandfather, Samuel Joseph. 

 

Index record for Fred J. Gibson, my great-grandfather

Index record for Thomas Lewis Gibson, my grandfather's uncle

 

Unfortunately, at the time I could not figure out how to find the records these indexes were pointing to. One thing led to another, and I never really got back to finding out how to find these records. I made token searches now and again, but never found them.

 

Until this week.

 

I got a text message saying Ancestry had released images and indexes for a record group called "U.S., Northern Pacific Railway Company Personnel Files, 1890-1963". My mind immediately went back to those railroad record indexes from so long ago, and I went to searching. Three minutes later, I hit the jackpot!

 

 

 

Well, part of the jackpot. It turns out they had records for two of the five people I had index numbers for, Frederick John Gibson (my great-grandfather) and Thomas Lewis Gibson (his brother). David H. Gibson, Frederick and Thomas' younger brother, somehow got skipped (they have the records before and after his number, but not his), and the collection on Ancestry stops before Sam Joseph and my grandpa's records. Hopefully future updates will add these records.

 

But I was so happy to finally know what these records look like. I do wish my great-grandfather's file was longer, as it's only eight pages, two of which are scans of the manila folder containing the actual records. But Thomas' file is 117 pages! I've only had time to go through a little of it so far, but what I have seen is fascinating. Over and over again, auditor reports of the various stations mentioned that Thomas was considered competent for a more responsible position. On the other hand, the file also contains a letter stating Thomas was suspended for five days due to leaving his telegraph station to get a drink of water - the last line of the letter states "Your excuse that there was no water in the house and you wanted a drink at that particular time is no excuse whatever."

 

I love living and researching in this digital age, when we have so much information available, and more coming online all the time. I can't wait to see what else I find in these files!