Pardon the oddity of this question, but I hope some of the historians among us can answer this queston:

In the photo below is the top of the tombstone of James W. Wilson, the chief engineer of the Western North Carolina Railroad which ran from Salisbury to Asheville, NC and then to Murphy, NC and Paint Rock, TN. The most famous segment of this line is of course the famed "Asheville" or "Old Fort Loops", which are one and the same. After building this line he also laid groundwork for a couple of other lines in the Western NC and Eastern TN area.

Anyway, note the hammer and rope on the cross at the top of the tombstone. Is this or was this common for either civil engineers or other railroad-type workers? I can't find any references on the internet about this other than of course the familiar Mason symbols.

Thanks, Matt

Well, seeing we're talking about railroad imagery on a tombstone, across from my grandfather's grave site, there's a headstone with a P&W locomotive on it. My guess is that something like a train symbolizes the industry they worked in, and the great accomplishments they made while they were involved with it.

The hammer in this context can represent "the power of creation". They also used to use an anvil to represent "the creation (or forging) of the universe". All of these were common christian symbols used in the period after the Civil War up to the post WW II period.

They can also represent the craft of the deceased.

All of these symbols are largely forgotten now...another grand tradition passing into obscurity. Ever seen a wheel with wings on an old headstone? Puzzle over that one for a while.

T7

Easy. Red Wings fan.



Not the answer, eh?

The California State Railroad Museum has a headstone on display that has the front end of a locomotive carved into it. It is part of a railroader's display and may be part of a display case about the dangers of working for the industry -- it may be for a engineer who died in a wreck.

I do not know how or why they have the headstone.