Who was this "Harahan" Fellow Anyway?

(Reprinted from April 2012 Memphis Buff, Memphis NRHS  Chapter Newsletter)

East Portal of Harahan Bridge

Who Was This “Harahan” Fellow Anyway?

By Tom Parker

The Harahan Bridge has been in the news a lot lately and additionally there has been a lot of discussion among the MRTM bunch as the captions on the bridge mural are finalized.

Generally, little thought is given to the origin of the name. After all, it's been the Harahan Bridge for almost 100 years. Being from an Illinois Central family, I had known since childhood that it was named after a former president of the IC, but since the IC never crossed the bridge, I couldn't understand why.

James Theodore Harahan was born in Lowell, MA, on January 21, 1841. He began his railroad career with the United States military railroad system during the Civil War. In 1866 he began working for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and in 1888 was named Superintendent of the L&N's Memphis Division. He advanced to the position of General Manager of the L&N and later held the same position with the C&O Railroad.

He joined the Illinois Central in 1890 as second vice president and general manager of the Louisville, New Orleans and Texas Railroad, later to become the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley. He oversaw the construction of a large yard just outside of New Orleans, LA, in a community named Harahan by the railroad in his honor.

In 1899, Harahan married Mary N. Mallory, the daughter of Captian William Barton Mallory, a long time friend and prominent Memphian. After the wedding at the Mallory residence in Memphis, the newlyweds left on a special train to Mexico, where they planned to stay for six to eight weeks, before returning to Chicago where they were to reside.

During most of his career with the Illinois Central, Harahan worked under President Stuyvesant Fish. In 1906, Harahan aligned himself with Edward H. Harriman and in a heated election replaced Fish as the president of the railroad and served in that office until his mandatory retirement at the age of 70 on January 11, 1911.

If not for a fateful train wreck early January 22, 1912, Harahan would probably have been just a footnote in Memphis history. Harahan and officials of the Rock Island Railroad were traveling in Rock Island business car 1902 which was attached to the rear of Illinois Central train number 25, the “New Orleans Express”.

Harahan had recently been named president of the Memphis Bridge and Terminal Company, which had been incorporated to build a railroad bridge across the Mississippi River at Memphis. The Rock Island had bought a share in the company just a few week earlier on January 3^rd and the group was enroute to Memphis to discuss the project.

Number 25 was stopped at Kinmundy. Illinois for water when it was struck in the rear by train #3, the “Panama Limited” The locomotive hit the wooden Rock Island business car and ended splintering two thirds of the length of the car before coming to a stop.

Killed were Harahan, Frank O. Melcher, second vice president of the Rock Island, Judge Edward B. Pierce, general solicitor of the Rock Island and Major Eldridge E. Wright, vice president of the Memphis Bridge and Terminal Company.

Coincidentally, Train # 25 was being pulled by locomotive 1212 which was previously numbered 382, the engine in which Casey Jones met his fate over ten years earlier.

As a result James T. Harahan's death in the wreck, the bridge was posthumously named in his honor.

Bridge Mural on North Wall of Museum

Illinois Central's "Hot Cut"

Illinois Central's “Hot Cut”

- By Tom Parker

North Yard transfer job with IC GP-7 8963 and SW-7 403 passes through Central Station in July 1968 . Note southbound “City of New Orleans on adjacent track.

Photo by Phil Gosney and used with permission

I happened across the above photograph on Mike Condren's website and and it immediately took me back to the early days of my railroad career over forty years ago.

I first became acquainted with IC 8963 working a data processing (keypunch) job at Johnston Yard. Aside from telegraph operators at Central Station and Johnston Yard, the “IBM Room” in the “Big Office” was the only interface between the Memphis Terminal and the IC's telegraphy based information system. Interchange cuts and and the “Woodstock Switcher” had to be punched into IBM cards each night and transmitted via telegraph to the IC's computer in Chicago. (Records of transfers between the yards and industrial moves were 100% pencil and paper and were not transmitted to Chicago.) IC 8963 was the engine assigned to the “Woodstock Switcher” and after a few days typing “IC 8963” four times a night the number began to stick in your head, even after forty years.

8963 was usually tied up on the North Yard
Engine Track behind the yard office

Phil Gosney's picture is what was the afternoon transfer to North Yard. There were three of these transfer jobs, one for each shift and operated seven days a week, The jobs went to work at South Yard and would take track 9, where the North Yard cars were classified to North Yard. 8963 was probably on its way back to North Yard after being serviced at the Johnston Roundhouse. Its usual home was the engine track behind the North Yard office.

After the transfer job yarded its cut, it would double together tracks containing blocks of cars destined to South Yard and “A” and “C” Yards at Johnston Yard.

Map showing yard locations

This Southbound transfer was known as the “Hot Cut”. A number of Memphis' largest industries such as Humko, Firestone, International Harvester and Kimberly Clark were located in the North Yard territory. Additionally, the aforementioned “Woodstock Switcher” operated out of North Yard and cars from Dupont, W.R. Grace and other Woodstock industries were added to the mix.

Companion to the “Hot Cut” was the “Hot Sheet”. Issued by the Superintendent's Office each day and updated frequently, the “Hot Sheet” was telegraphed to all the yard offices on the terminal, listing cars requiring expedited handling, many of the on the “Hot Cuts”.

At South Yard, "City" loading was set out and the "Hot Cut" proceeded south to Johnston Yard taking the “North” and “South” cars to Johnston's “A” and “C” Yards respectively. At all three yards, the cars would be switched immediately upon arrival and the loading would move on the very next train, interchange or industrial cut, many times within just a few hours after the leaving North Yard.

My dad was an engineer for the Illinois Central. In the years that he worked for the IC, he probably sat at the throttle of a majority of the IC's engines, but 8963 is the only engine that I can definitively say he operated. More than once, he got stuck with working the night switcher at Woodstock.

IC GP-7 8963 was built in 1953. It spent most of the 1960's assigned to the “Woodstock Switcher” operating out of Memphis North Yard. It was rebuilt in 1978 by VMV at Paducah, KY into a GP-8 and renumbered IC 7973. It was sold to Steel Processing on May 26, 1993, and presumably scrapped. 

 Reprinted from the June, 2009 Memphis Buff

Note: The above photo of IC 8963 is available as a post card in the Museum's gift shop. 

FEMA Evacuation Trains at Memphis Tennessee August 2008

FEMA's Evacuation Trains

By Tom Parker

History

In the aftermath of Katrina, governmental agencies, particularly FEMA, stung by criticism for by their response both prior to and after the storm, went back to the drawing board and formulated new plans for future emergencies.

At issue was the failure to utilize Amtrak in the evacuation effort and reports of Amtrak trains leaving New Orleans empty.

In 2006, FEMA entered into a $700,000 per year year with Amtrak to provide emergency railroad transportation services for evacuating persons from New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. This contract provided for 24 rail cars with stored equipment, food and provisions, an equipment mobilization plan, refrigerated rail cars, staff mobilization plans, insurance, and standby costs. The plan called for transportation 6000 evacuees by rail from New Orleans' Union Passenger Terminal to the Memphis, Tennesssee “Rail Depot” using two 24 car trains, with each train having a capacity of 1500 persons. Both trains were to make two trips within a forty eight hour window. One of the considerations in selection of a destination was “that arrival locations are suitable for a safe unloading operation and that arrangements are in place to care for the evacuees”.

In December 2007, the lease for the storage of these cars in New Orleans (and presumably the contract) expired and the cars were removed to Delaware. On August 1^st and 2^nd, 2008, 10 ex Connecticut Department of Transportation (CDOT) cars were moved to New Orleans on the Crescent for “hurricane storage”.

Preparations for Gustav

In anticipation of hurricane Gustav hitting New Orleans, Amtrak ran five locomotives to New Orleans on train #59 from Chicago on August 28^th. AMTK 122 was in the lead with engines 87, 115, 139 and 63 trailing. The additional power was for use on evacuation trains out of New Orleans.⁶

On August 29^th, with hurricane Gustav projected to make landfall on September 1^st, Amtrak announced suspension of service for the three trains serving New Orleans; the Sunset Limited was stopped at San Antonio, the Crescent at Atlanta and the City of New Orleans from Chicago was cancelled. ⁷

Using the Amtrak equipment on hand in New Orleans and the 10 CDOT commuter cars, two evacuation trains were assembled, designated by railfans as FEMA-1 and FEMA-2

Evacuation

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagen announced the mandatory evacuation of residents of the West Bank starting at 8:00 AM, Sunday, August 31^st with evacuation of the rest of the city to begin four hours later at noon.

Under plans developed post Katrina, residents with no other means to leave the city were to call 311 and register for pick up at one of 17 designated spots around the city. They would then be transported to Union Passenger Terminal where they would be evacuated from the city by bus and train.

FEMA-1, departed New Orleans Union Terminal at 11:30 AM, August 31^st , with 1024 mostly elderly and disabled evacuees . FEMA-2 followed at 3:00 PM ⁴ with 876 evacuees. Upon arrival in Memphis early Sunday morning each train was met by 20 to 25 MATA buses and about a half dozen ambulances. Evacuees were taken to the National Guard Armory on Democrat Road where they were processed and transferred to one of ten shelters in West Tennessee

After the trains delivered the first group of evacuees, they returned to New Orleans for an anticipated additional 1676 passengers. However, when FEMA-1 returned to Memphis at 3:30 Sunday morning there were only 101 evacuees on board. FEMA-2 evidently returned to Memphis empty, although there was one report that the evacuees on FEMA-2's second trip detrained at Jackson, MS.

FEMA trains 1 & 2 through Hammond en route to Memphis on August 30, 2008. Photos copyright by Shawn Levy and used with permission (See Shawn's photos at: http://www.artwanted.com/artist.cfm?ArtID=19450, Train photos at http://shadow_warrior_usmc.rrpicturearchives.net/)ption

The same procedure was followed the next day. 853 evacuees³ boarded FEMA-1, which was minus sufficient Superliner cars and power for a northbound City of New Orleans from Memphis scheduled to leave from Central Station at its usual time of 10:40 PM that same night.With FEMA-1 at Central Station, FEMA-2 was held at Memphis' North Yard. On Wednesday, September 3^rd, FEMA-1 was relocated to North Yard and by Thursday afternoon, FEMA-2 had been spotted at Central Station. An estimated 1000 evacuees from the Jackson, TN, area began boarding the train for their return to New Orleans with departure “sometime after 8:00PM”

Track damage along Lake Ponchartrain by hurricane Gustav necessitated that the two FEMA trains be detoured.

The CN McComb Sub had a large section of track washed out in the vicinity of the Bonnet Carre' spillway and the returning trains were rerouted via the Canadian National to Hattiesburg, MS and then via the Norfolk Southern to New Orleans.

City of New Orleans Returns To Central Station

By Tom Parker

The City of New Orleans had it a little tougher than norm for nearly a month as a result of hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

On August 29^th Amtrak suspended train 58 and 59 for their entire route due to the approaching Gustav. It was not until a week later, on Friday, September 5^th that service was restored between Memphis and Chicago. Service south of Memphis remained suspended due to a washout along Lake Ponchartrain. For a very brief period, from the night of September 5^th through September 8^th, regular passenger service returned to Central Station after an absence of over four months.

When srvice over the entire route was restored from Chicago on Monday, September 8^th and from New Orleans on Tuesday, September 9^th, Amtrak again started bypassing Central Station and using the temporary facility near Johnston Yard.

FEMA-1 at Central Station 9/1/08 Tom Parker Photo

FEMA-1 looking south from Nettleton Avenue 9/1/08 Tom Parker Photo

  Mother nature would not go down without a fight, however. On September 11^th, winds from approaching hurricane Ike again drove Lake Ponchatrain water over the newly repaired track. #58 managed to get out of New Orleans before the track was closed, but a late running #59 was stopped at McComb, MS. GP38-2 GTW 5813 was coupled to the north end of the train and it was run north from the next day as #58.

It was over a week before the track was repaired and train service was restored. In the interim, buses service was substituted between McComb and New Orleans.

Finally, on September 20^th the “City” again rolled into New Orleans. The first northbound train departed New Orleans the following day. 

FEMA-2 at North Yard (Looking South) 9/2/08 Tom Parker Photo

FEMA-2 at North Yard (Looking North) 9/2/08. Don't know where the reefer came from, perhaps they picked it up on the second trip. It probably made the move from Woodstock interesting! Tom Parker Photo

We will be open tomorrow, Easter Sunday, from noon until 5 PM. Come by and see us after church.

1888 Map of Memphis

1888 Map of Memphis Tennessee showing rail connections in North Memphis. The full map is online at : http://www.loc.gov/item/2012593690/

Broadway - An Early History

Broadway's Early History

Map of Fort Pickering Area 1858 (http://www.loc.gov/item/2012586237/)

In 1823, Andrew Jackson, one of Memphis' founders, sold his one eighth interest in Memphis to John Christmas McLemore. McLemore named the tract Fort Pickering,¹ after a United States Army fort established in the area in 1801 by General James Wilkinson. The fort was named after Secretary of War Timothy Pickering². It remained as an Indian trading post until after the end of the War of 1812.³

McLemore saw Ft. Pickering as a rival to Memphis. In pursuit of this dream, he reached an agreement with Judge John Overton, another one of Memphis' founders, to establish a ferry landing in Ft. Pickering in competition with Memphis ferries.⁴

He deeded 208 acres of his property to the La Grange and Memphis Railroad with the understanding that the railroad would lay out a town on the land. One entire block 300 by 400 feet was set aside and designated as the site for a depot. A street one hundred feet wide running from the depot to the river on the west and Bayou Gayoso on the east was named “Broadway”.⁵ Broadway east of the depot was intended to be a street and a railroad right of way combined.⁶

McLemore also owned the land east of Bayou Gayoso and granted the railroad a “right of way” (later to be judged an easement) over this property to connect with the railroad at the point where the railroad diverged toward Memphis⁷ (KC Junction)

No work was ever done on the right of way by the La Grange & Memphis with the exception of some grading on the right of way and for the most part the land remained vacant and unimproved until 1871 when the Selma, Marion and Memphis Railroad Company did work preparing it for laying railroad track. This company failed and in 1881 the Memphis, Selma and Brunswick took up the task of preparing the right of way for track and in 1882, the Kansas City, Ft. Scott and Memphis, successor to the Memphis, Selma and Brunswick, finally laid track the length of the right of way.⁸

The authority for occupying Broadway by the Selma, Marion & Memphis, the Memphis, Selma & Brunswick and the Kansas City, Ft Scott & Memphis railroads was presumably granted by the City of Memphis or the the Taxing District of Shelby County by agreements similar to one dated December 5, 1881, between the Taxing District of Shelby County and the Springfield & Memphis Railroad Company⁹ The Taxing District of Shelby County was the governing body for Memphis from January 29, 1879 until April 9, 1891, Memphis' charter having been revoked as a result of the yellow fever epidemic.¹⁰

By virtue of the agreement between John C. McLemore and the La Grange and Memphis Railroad, the Memphis & Charleston Railroad claimed ownership of Broadway and sued the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis. The suit was settled with the Memphis & Charleston acquiring one half of the right of way.¹¹ The City of Memphis, however, held that Broadway was a dedicated street and was owned by the City of Memphis. On January 31, 1890, an agreement was reached between the City of Memphis, the Memphis and Charleston and the Kansas City, Ft. Scott and Memphis/Kansas City, Memphis and Birmingham (called the “Kansas City Companies” in the agreement) as to the division of Broadway. The southern 25% was “quit claimed” to the Kansas City Companies, the center 50% was “quit claimed” to the City of Memphis and the northern 25% was “quit claimed” to the Memphis and Charleston. Interestingly, none of the parties waived their claim to the ownership of Broadway, calling the agreement a “compromise adjustment of differences.”¹²

1 History of the City of Memphis, Tennessee by John M. Keating, page 124.

2 Standard History of Memphis by A.R. James, Page 50.

3 History of the City of Memphis, Tennessee by John M. Keating, page 102.

4 History of the City of Memphis Tennessee by John Keating, page 186

5 The Southwestern Reporter, Volume 69, page 339, West Publishing Company, 1902

6 IBID Page 341

7 IBID Page 339

8 IBID Page 340

9 Digest of the Acts Repealing the Charters of Certain Municipal Corporations" ,Appendix, Page 62, S. C. Toof & Co, 1898

10 Ibid, Page 1

11 A History of the Legal Development of the Southern Railway Company, Felix Harrison, Page 728, 1901

12 Digest of the Acts Repealing the Charters of Certain Municipal Corporations" ,Appendix, Page 251, S. C. Toof & Co, 1898

Free admission today & Tomorrow (Oct 25th & 26th) due to River Arts Fest. If you're not interested in the Arts Fest, you can enter through the Amtrak ticket office upstairs and use the museum side door. Be advised that parking is limited. http://riverartsmemphis.org/