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Railroad Crossing Watchmen
Unpublished Tribune photo from April 4, 1958
Railroad Crossing Watchmen
Unpublished Tribune photo from April 4, 1958
Mearl Brown and Verne Bodie ended their careers with Chicago and North Western Railroad when the new automatic gate replaced the two watchmen who had been stationed in the gate tower located between Kellogg and Duff.Tuesday afternoon at 2 o'clock Mearl Brown, 63, picked up a few belongings, looked around the lofty Chicago and North Western Railroad gate tower and then left for good. Just before he started to descend the stairs, a passenger train whirred past. He waved, a little sadly, to the engineer. "That's the last train I'll see from up here," he remarked.
1957 aerial view showing the position of the CNW crossing gate tower
Brown was winding up 48 years of work with the Chicago and North Western, 35 of which he has spent operating the signal gates at Ames crossings. - View more images of the Chicago & North Western in Ames. -
Institution of automatic gate operation today means the end of Brown's job as well as those of four other men who worked a shift at the local gate towers. They are Verne Bodie, State Center, who came to Ames to work a year ago when automatic gates were installed at State Center; Harley Cheville, with the railroad since 1942; William Hines, with the road since 1941; and Vern Erickson , who has done relief work since 1953.
"They say electricity means progress, but I say it doesn't when it puts men out of jobs," declared the State Center man. Bodie, 54, says he'll have to find another job since it's 10 years before his retirement. He's been with the railroad more than 28 years.Tribune photo published April 4, 1958
Note the Duff Avenue freight depot visible through the window.Many a time Mearl Brown, Chicago and North Western Railroad gatekeeper, nearest the camera, looked down the tracks to watch an engine puffing up the line. He feels railroading lost a little of its romance when steam engines gave way to diesels. Brown and Verne Bodie, shown with him, were retired yesterday when automatic crossing signals went into operation.
For Brown, however, Tuesday was the last day of regular work. In a couple of years he will be able to collect his pension from the railroad. This fall he expects to use his pass and go to Arizona for a little vacation. Meanwhile, this summer Brown will be able to work in the garden at his home at 312 South Russell Ave.
It was in 1910, when he was just a boy of 15 that Brown went to work for CNW. He was a section hand. On Aug. 1, 1923, he became a gateman, starting at the Duff Ave. crossing in Ames. He worked the Kellogg crossing and was switched back to Duff before the two were consolidated in the one tower in 1949. He has worked the 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. shift.
"I get up at 4 a.m. every day to get here. I guess I'll sleep a little later now," said Brown with a smile.
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