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What's your favorite railroad emblem ?...
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[quote]QUOTE: <i>Originally posted by VerMontanan</i> <br /><br />With out a doubt, Rocky the Great Northern goat. Appropriate on so many levels. First of all, mountain goats were actually visible from GN trains running along the southern boundary of Glacier National Park; Secondly, as one of the most financially stable and successful railroads (never went into bankruptcy, received very little land grant relative to most other "transcontinental" railroads completed prior to 1900), the sure-footed mountain goat represented the kind of company Great Northern was. <br /> <br />I also appreciate other railroads with emblems that were classic or representative of where they went: Classicly all-American: Union Pacific (and still is). What could be more appropriate for the Pennsylvania Railroad than their Keystone? Baltimore and Ohio's Capitol Dome emphasized its importance to the nation's capitol, and Western Pacific's feather reminded all of its low-level crossing of the Sierras. <br /> <br />The ones I am least impressed with are those that are unimaginative and arbitrary, and the best examples were merger partners with Rocky the goat, surprisingly. The words "Burlington Route" inside a square hardly is memorable, and the symbol of yin and yang has nothing to do with the railroad itself but rather randomly chosen by an NP company officer at the end of the 19th century, and is used to represent countless other entities diluting its uniqueness even more. <br />[/quote] <br /> <br />I think Jim Hill's goat, "Rocky" is aOK here. I think you might enjoy this tidbit about Jim's goat, from a hometown boy. <br /> <br />As follows: <br /> <br /><b>A Run For His Money</b> <br /> <br /><i>*** Pershing was employed at the Red River Lumber Company, at Westwood, California, from 1922-1927. He was like many other young men of that time, who came to Westwood and Susanville to seek employment to work his way through college. <br /> <br />The following is a remembrance of Dicks' tenure with the Red River Lumber Company, at Westwood, and a chance meeting between him and that company's founder, T. B. Walker. <br /> <br />"I do remember a story about a conversation I once had with Mr. T. B. Walker (the head of all the Walkers' and the Red River Lumber Company). When I was first at Westwood I tried to take advantage of any spare time I had to learn about the business, but the work day was 10 hours long and the work week was 6 days long, so the only time off was Sunday." <br /> <br />Bright and early one Sunday morning I headed down to the gates and spotted an elderly gentleman standing in front looking as though he might be lost, so I asked him if I could be of any help to him." <br /> <br />"He said he was looking for the run-back tracks, where they made the daily pull-out of freight from Red River. I told him if he would follow me, I would show him. As we walked along he seemed nice and nearly friendly so I introduced myself. He shook my hand and said he was 'Thomas Barlow Walker of Minneapolis.'" <br /> <br />"It just so happened that the old American Magazine was running stories each month of prominent Americans and that month it had covered 'T. B. Walker' - little known but who was thought to be the tenth richest man in the world." <br /> <br />"Since I was relatively young, and not to smart - I told him I knew of him, had read theAmerican Magazine story - and was it true that he was the 'tenth richest man' and how did it feel to be so? But, my question didn't seem to phase him, his reply was 'Well I truly can't say - I have never gotten around to count all my money, but I have enough to do the things I want to, and that suits me!'" <br /> <br />"I don't remember ever seeing or talking to 'TB' again but his son, Mr. Fletcher Walker, told me that his father had mentioned talking to someone named '***,' and the question he'd been asked and that he's gotten quite a kick out of it. Mr. Fletcher Walker said when his father mentioned talking to someone named '***,' he guessed who the questioner had been." <br /> <br />"One more thing I recall -- when he and I reached the make-up yard we ran across quite a few Great Northern boxcars with the white mountain goat insignia painted on the outside. Mr. Walker stopped and pointed to one of the cars and said 'They call that Jim Hill's goat, I'll bet if I had chosen railroads instead of lumber, I would have given Jim a run for his money!' I must have gasped for Red River Lumber Company was worth over $30 million at that time when a million was a lot of money -- from what I heard later of 'TB,' he probably would have!"</i> <br /> <br />Hope you enjoyed a mirror to the past and its buddies! <br /> <br />Jim - Lawton, NV <br />
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