When you look at the Railroad Station in Evansville, take a moment to think back in time as to what the lives were like back in those days. It was a different time with no internet and paypal. As trains came into Evansville, there was the small cart on wheels that was wheeled up beside the train with refreshments. There were railway mail clerks. There were conductors. There were engineers. And yes, there were the Station Agents. The following is the story of a very famous station agent----"Mr. W." of Evansville, Wisconsin.
He began as a station agent in 1951 in Greenwood, Wisconsin. The station agent ran the railroad station and had assistants called "operators". The operators were responsible for directing the train traffic. They had printed orders that detailed what happened when. These were the days when telegraph was king. The very experienced telegraph men could carry on a conversation and receive and send telegraph at the same time. Without making a mistake in the numbers and names of the cars, weight, cargo etc. Some operators only used the hunt and peck method on the teletype. In a small station where one had no operators to help, one had to do it all.
The agent once hired, was bonded, and had the responsibility of every bit of the traffic and the contents. They handled a system of freight bills and bill of lading that ensured payment before delivery. If a shipment was dispersed without being paid properly, the station agent was on the hook. The bank had to approve that the bill was paid for before the locks could be taken off the car.
Each morning, the very first thing the station agent did was check that all the cars were on the siding. If you as a station agent allowed someone to unload a car prior to payment, you would lose your job or be restricted to handling stations that did not handle freight. So, as a station agent you had to know the financial situation of the community.
If anyone broke a seal to a car without authority, it was a federal offense and it brought jail time.
Once truck traffic came to compete, the station agent also became a salesman. In addition to all the freight, there was also the telegraph business. One got paid a commission on the telegrams if they were not prepaid. On prepaid telegrams, they got nothing. One of the worst duties was to deliver the notices during the Korean War for deaths of serviceman. The agent was not paid for taking the telegram much less for the personal delivery. Usually, the local preacher was asked to help on these deliveries.
Then there was the railway express business. The station agent received a commission for all the freight that was shipped through the station. It is like parcel post today. So, depending on where the station agent was located the agent could make quite a bit of money. The best jobs were bid for depending on seniority.
Between 1951-1953 W was located in North St. Paul working for the Northern Pacific. This is right off HWY 36 right near my home on Minnesota. It is a small world. Near the N. St. Paul was the station called Glouster---this was a small station in what is now Roseville that kept the agent just switching trains 24 hours a day, nothing else. What a nightmare assignment that was. That was for rookies. One had to move on and up to make some money.
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After he was married, “W” bid on a job in Grey’s Lake full time. Prior to this time he owned a wrecking yard and several other small businesses. This was 1958. Bought a little trailer honeymoon shack and began his full time career. Then he got a chance to take the station in Appleton, when the agent there had heart attack. The railroad gave the Appleton station to W and thought that W’s wife could handle the Grey’s Lake station. So, she went in to the station and yes brought the kids. This caused a little sensation with the union. After three months they got another agent to handle the station. But this is a little known fact about Mrs. “W.”
Whenever there was a claim for lost or damaged freight, the station agent was responsible for doing the initial investigation of the claim and the facts of the case. Usually these cases were brought were brought in federal court.
“W” eventually became the director of tarifs and enforcement for the State of Wisconsin. Mrs. W by this time was in social work.
So---who is this man of mystery….this statistician and station agent who has seen the Main Streets all over the Midwest?
It is “W”---Mr. Gill Wiedenhoeft.
