As is happening over much of America, the elderly are moving in to live with the kids.

A neighbor has had his 91 year old father-in-law move in with them. He is a card-toting former SP brakeman and after some brief conversations with him, he seems to have much to tell.

This has started me thinking about trying to get this recorded for posterity. Do any of you have practical experience with such a project? If you must be anonymous, please email me offline--if you don't mind identifying yourself--post to the board for all to benefit.

sc 'doc' lewis

Heber Valley Railroad
utweyesguy@aol.com

One incredibly cool side effect of returning Central Railroad and Banking Company office car #2 to Savannah was a call we got shortly after a couple photos of the "new" car appeared in the local paper. A gentleman of about 89 was the son of a division superintendent back in the teens, and his family had taken the car to Tybee Island and lived in it for a week on vacation. He was 5 at the time, but had some vivid memories to share - the porters name was Jessie, he always wore a white coat, etc. We invited him out for a lunch and videotaped him telling stories and answering questiuons, which resulted in another great tale - November 1918. The armistace had just been signed ending WW I. He was travelling with his father towards Macon on a nasty, sleety night when the trainw as stopped a few miles out of town at a military reservation by soldiers wanting to ride into town to celebrate. His father worked out in the weather loading the soldiers on board and taking them in to Macon, became ill with influenza, and was dead before Christmas.

These stories halp make the interepretation of that car relevant in human terms to visitors. Go record all the memories you can before they disappear.

Dave

irondave@bellsouth.net

I have no practical experience, but I did hear terrific tales that you would be interested in. I ran into an elderly gentleman about ten years ago who was an engineer for the D&RGW in Utah. He talked about running 3400Â’s (2-8-8-2) on stock trains on the Heber Branch, and double heading with ten cars on the Rio GrandeÂ’s old 4% branch to Park City. He spoke about using water brakes to descend hills, and how much he hated Baker Valve Gear. Truly fascinating.

Twenty years ago, I knew the retired General Agent of the Northern Pacific in Washington. His name was Earl Kremer, and he died in 1984. He was a wealth of NP lore. I met him because he had been a friend of my father-in-law. When I came into the family, Mr. Kremer's wife had recently died, and he desparately wanted people to talk to, since he lived alone.

It was one of those rare occasions when you get to do a good deed and really enjoy it. I used to take him to some local railroad club meetings where one and all enjoyed his company. My only regret is that I did not own a tape recorder, and get some of his stories on tape. Don't repeat my mistake.

kevingillespie@usa.net

Don't forget company or employees group reunions. Hard to believe that 10-20 years ago when we attended the Lake Shore Electric Railway employees reunions that those folks would all be gone now. Talk about not planning for the future, thats me! We had some unbelievable days talking to the old-timers, stories about operation, maintenence and personalities from a lost era.


lamontdc@adelphia.net

Steamtown NHS has an oral history program. We currently have over fifty interviews on file from railroaders, Steamtown USA people, and individuals tied into the creation of Steamtown NHS. I would be happy to make available our 'write-up' on our program. We do our best to follow the guidelines of the Oral History Association.

Patrick McKnight
Historian, Steamtown NHS

pat_mcknight@nps.gov

Has anyone drawn up a standardized list of oral history questions to ask different types of railroaders from various historical eras? Obviously you would ask different questions to a steam-era engineer than you would to a contemporary diesel-era brakeman, as well as along lines of gender. This is something I have been working on for awhile and have assembled questionaires from various railway museums. Sorry to vent, but I wish the Association of Railway Museums would delve into topics like this instead of just being hardware-orineted all the time. If anyone wishes to share their questioniares I am willing to share mine. Feel free to contact me off-line.

K.R. Bell
RR Museum of PA

> Steamtown NHS has an oral history program.
> We currently have over fifty interviews on
> file from railroaders, Steamtown USA people,
> and individuals tied into the creation of
> Steamtown NHS. I would be happy to make
> available our 'write-up' on our program. We
> do our best to follow the guidelines of the
> Oral History Association.

> Patrick McKnight
> Historian, Steamtown NHS


c-kbell@state.pa.us

>
> A rare treat to read an entry not about the technical side. Our State Agency, in partnership with two volunteer groups, is beginning oral history projects. One is in the Pullman community on the south side of Chicago. Where to start? Develop a list of questions which start with the general, such as place of birth, family history, personal history, employment history and details, plus many questions about the quality of life at the time: what sounds, smells, sights did the person see. Keep the interview close to your outline, but let the person talk without being led. Next, after drawing up your questions, identify your targets. You might have to advertise. Look at city directories, which often list employment. Look for personnel records or, if before the 1930 census, look up census information. Send a short questionaire to the respondees. The questions should help you know if the person knows anything. Don't give them the list of questions---they might consult with others before your interview them. You want their answers pure. If they don't know, or even if they're wrong on known facts, it doesn't matter. It is important why they say what they say, and what they remember. Their sense of important events is vital to a good oral history. If the person occasionally says they don't know, that's good. It indicates they're not making things up. Of course, these conversations should be recorded. Video is OK, but it presents stagefright or hammy behavior. Sony has a digital recorder on the market that allows you to download the audio into your hard drive or to a disk, and, it will print a transcript(without proper names and places) If you've ever transcribed an oral history interview from a tape recorder, you'll rush to the store to get a product like this The oral histories are good not just for historians, but will be perfect for voiceovers in future film projects, at displays or exhibits. Finally, never wonder about who should be interviewed first. The oldest, of course. Organizations which do not do oral histories are bad history organizations. I'd like to exchange ideas with you---e-mail at haaghistory@yahoo.com, or here at the interchange. I notice that the excellent people at Steamtown have some helpful advice, which I'm going to seek, too.



haaghistory@yahoo.com