Railroad Employee Records

[Anonymous]

   My Grandfather, John Ramsey King was an engineer on the Pittsburg Division of the P.C.C.&St.L. Railway. He and his Brother, John Reuben King were Engineer and Fireman on the same Locomotive when it was involved in a tunnel collapse in the early part of 1900. It happened somewhere along the Ohio River Route. They worked from Pittsburg to Cincinnati & sometimes on to Chicago or St. Louis.

   They did not die in the accident but were retired. My Grandfather died Oct. 26, 1927. My Great Uncle died in Steubenville about 1945. He had a silver  plate in his head from the accident. I was not born until 1937 and never met them but I think about them often. I would like to know how to fine their records.

Reuben King

 

[coalminer3]

Your question is a common one asked by genealogists and others who are interested in family history.  Most railroads did not retain employee records.  Therefore, you will probably have a hard time tracking your story that way as chances are the records do not even exist.  However, if your grandfather did draw Railroad Retirement, the Railroad Retirement Board records may be of some help to you.  Type the words Railroad Retirement Board into your friendly local search engine and follow the links. 

There are several different sites out there with copies of ICC accident reports.  Again, doing a keyword search may lead you to what you need.  Local newspapers may be helpful to you, but you will need a date (or set of dates) to search.  Last, local historical societies may have some information as well, but many of these outfits are volunteer operations with all the strong and weak points that go along with them.  I

f I were doing a search on this project, I'd start with obituaries in the Steubenville paper; if you have a copy of his death certificate (where to get these vary WIDELY from state-to-state), you could start there and work your way back.

Hope some of these ideas help.  Good hunting. 

work safe