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This class is believed
to be the one just ahead of the April 1945 class shown below. Only one man is identified – Bob Fisher from the Wisconsin
Division. He is standing, second from
the right. There were 9 returning
veterans from World War II in this class and all were reimbursed for it under
the G.I. Bill. This threw an
unexpected monkey wrench into the machinery because the instructor, who was
paid $75.00 by each man, did not report the income and was investigated by
the IRS! Our thanks to Illinois Division
Conductor Bob Fisher for this
picture. |
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Front row, left to right: Clearance Jenks (Milwaukee - standing), Adam Muraski (Chicago), Paul Frisch (Milwaukee), Harry McCallum (Milwaukee), Zygmunt Klapcynski (Milwaukee), Claude Conn (Chicago), August Erdman (Lake Shore). Middle Row, left to right: Harvey Ulsberger (Milwaukee), Art Ralph (Chicago), Walter Herrli (Chicago), Gordon Jacobson (Milwaukee), Phillip Marten (Milwaukee), Arthur Nielson (Chicago), Ed Hagstrom (Instructor), Harold Jenks (Milwaukee - standing) Back Row, left to right:
Ernest Bahringer ( |
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Thanks
to Jim Yanke and Walter Gorlewski, we have this fine
photograph of another Engineer’s Class believed to be at Front row: Third from the left
with the black cap – Walter Gorlewski;
third from the right - Warren Moss. Middle Row: On the left with the fedora – Instructor Ed Hagstrom. Back Row: Tallest man with lots of hair - Frank Belmont; 5th from right, head leaning is Dick Degnan. |
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Now,
Just What Was an “Engineers Class” All About? Back in the steam days, every fireman had to pass the "Third Year Mechanical & Air Brake Examination" to qualify for promotion to engineer. This was a tough examination and extensive study was required in order to pass. Ed Hagstrom, one of our engineers, conducted an 8-week class to teach these firemen the fundamentals of machinery and air brakes. While taking the class was not required, without it your chances of passing the examination were not very good. Fail the exam twice and you were out of a job, so almost everyone signed up for the class. There were exceptions. Occasionally, a fireman would be so unnerved that rather than face the exam, he resigned and hired out again as a new man. The examiners were Road Foremen of Engines and Trainmasters who questioned each man, one-on-one, for about half a day. Much of the examination centered on a thorough knowledge of air brakes and Hagstrom was particularly tough on this subject. Many of his questions during the class began: "If such-and-such brake pipe broke, what would happen and what would you do?" It wasn't too long before Hagstrom got the nickname: "Professor Broken Pipe." Hagstrom charged $75.00 for the class and it was strictly cash in advance – no credit and no easy payment plan. One fireman pleaded poverty and asked Hagstrom if he could pay later, to which the answer was “No.” “Do you have a car?” asked Hagstrom. “Yes.” “Sell it,” ordered Hagstrom. The fireman did and went on to pass the exam. The $75.00 tuition was only part
of the problem. The class was taken on
your own time. If you could hold a job
that worked late afternoons and evenings – great. If not, there was no money coming in for
the duration of the class. Men from
out of town had hotel expenses as well and those not from the Wisconsin
Division had almost no opportunity for work. |
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Does anyone recognize any of the
unidentified men in the pictures?
Please let the webmaster know if you do. Our thanks to Bob Fisher for the first 1945 picture, to Jim Yanke and Walter
Gorlewski for the 1949 picture and to Harold Cardo for letting us use the 1945 picture and for
remembering most of the Milwaukee men; to Wally Smith and Walter
Skodowski for identifying most of the Chicago men; and to Truman Koehn for help with the Lake
Shore men. |
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