Today was an interesting day. Thought the furnace was broken, it just took a while to kick on, and it was cold! Cataloged 8 boxes (which beats my earlier record of a box an hour). Mostly it was a lot of binders and boxes of papers. I did find some interesting things though. For example:
A Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) form listed the number of injuries (both fatal and not fatal) that occurred at various stations and shops in May 1926 and 1927. Wyoming had one fatality to a tresspasser in 1926. The shop in Cheyenne had none what so ever. That's impressive. Especially if they're talking about the steam shop, I"ve been there. That place could easily be dangerous. The craziest thing, however, was the Unit Shop, which had a passenger suicide.
I also found some GREAT employee files. One of them included an admittance letter from an employee that lied about his age to get a job at the railroad. He said he was born in 1888, but he was actually born in 1890. Of course he didn't fess up until 1927!
Also learned what horses were for at the Tie Plant. Charles Osterman's horses were used to pull tie cars. There was a letter that explained he was removing his horses from service because they weren't being used enough, ALTHOUGH, I think he pulled them because he saw them being pulled too hard, thus they were not being treated well.
Besides boxes, I also helped shovel the snow in the front of the depot and swept up turds. Yes, turds. One box of loose papers (freight bills) was full of turds. Don't know what animal left them, they were definitely bigger than a rat. So. Gross.
I also spoke with Larry about my ideas for the display at the Public Library here in Laramie. Next Wednesday I'll be setting that up. So check for photos then!
A Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) form listed the number of injuries (both fatal and not fatal) that occurred at various stations and shops in May 1926 and 1927. Wyoming had one fatality to a tresspasser in 1926. The shop in Cheyenne had none what so ever. That's impressive. Especially if they're talking about the steam shop, I"ve been there. That place could easily be dangerous. The craziest thing, however, was the Unit Shop, which had a passenger suicide.
I also found some GREAT employee files. One of them included an admittance letter from an employee that lied about his age to get a job at the railroad. He said he was born in 1888, but he was actually born in 1890. Of course he didn't fess up until 1927!
Also learned what horses were for at the Tie Plant. Charles Osterman's horses were used to pull tie cars. There was a letter that explained he was removing his horses from service because they weren't being used enough, ALTHOUGH, I think he pulled them because he saw them being pulled too hard, thus they were not being treated well.
Besides boxes, I also helped shovel the snow in the front of the depot and swept up turds. Yes, turds. One box of loose papers (freight bills) was full of turds. Don't know what animal left them, they were definitely bigger than a rat. So. Gross.
I also spoke with Larry about my ideas for the display at the Public Library here in Laramie. Next Wednesday I'll be setting that up. So check for photos then!
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