With over 6,500 different railroads and railways it is a large undertaking and I will likely never finish, but I’ll start with the largest and most famous railroads and then go from there. If you have information you would like to submit about a railroad please feel free to Contact Us and we will try to update the page. Some nick names go by railroad as well. Durango railroad names its first female conductor Kylah Thompson earned her way to top position on trains. Engineers got the name skillet heads after a conductor cooking breakfast got a good jolt in the waycar spilling his eggs and the like. He is determined to get to the North Pole on time and usually finds Hero Boy at the heart of every problem. He was immortalized as an American folk hero with the release of … Conductor Despite the image of the eagle-eyed engineer with his hand on the throttle, the conductor is the boss of a train crew. Many conductors on the first American railroads in the 1830s had been steamboat or coastal packet captains. Conductor William Westfall was killed in the process. He was both portrayed in motion capture and voiced by Tom Hanks who also voiced Woody from the Toy Story franchise. The first four descriptions of a train crew’s duties are based on the Pennsylvania Railroad’s “Rules for Conducting Transportation” of Oct. 28, 1956. The Most Famous Trains in the World 20th Century Limited The United States had several famous trains during its long history of railroad transport, but none received more attention and popularity than the 20th Century Limited – an express passenger train that ran the route between New York City and Chicago from 1902 to 1967. In the 1920s, the Pullman Company was the largest single employer of African American men. Learn some train lingo or brush up on some old terms. If the conductor doesn’t slow the train and turn off the alarm within 30 seconds, the train will start braking and come to a stop on its own. The Conductor is the unnamed conductor ofthe Polar Express. FIRST READER—Conductor's train book. The crime created a sensation in the press. On the evening of July 15, 1881, the gang struck near the whistle stop at Winston. This glossary of railroad slang is sure to keep you informed, whether you’re in the industry or not. On the old BN you had Snakes and Skilletheads.Snakes were switchmen cause they looked like snakes weaving in and out of the yard switches. Pullman Porter. Casey Jones was a railroad engineer known for his speed who died in 1900, when he collided with another train. It was later said that Westfall had been on the train that took Pinkerton detectives on their 1875 raid on the James farm, but this was apparently not known at the time. The term is sometimes used to mean death or the railroader's Heaven. ... (Does not refer to the former twenty-one-mile railroad of that name between Paxton and Engels, Calif.) Boomers resigning or being fired would say they were going to the Indian Valley. The conductor’s role as chief of the train came from maritime tradition.