President's Wire By John Baesch

The B&O Railroad is justifiably called the “Road of Presidents” because Washington, DC, was a major passenger terminal and the line linked the capital to the Northeast and the Midwest.  President Andrew Jackson was the first President of the United States to ride the B&O and every President from Andrew Jackson to Dwight Eisenhower rode the B&O at some time and, sometimes, they rode frequently.

The “golden age” of Presidential travel by train would have been the administrations of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry S Truman, and Dwight David Eisenhower. Presidential trains were essentially military moves since they carried the Commander In Chief.  They were all assigned Military Authorization Identification Numbers (or MAIN) as any other organized troop movement.  In that golden age, much of the logistical support and direction came from the Army; and it is that government organization, known as the “mother of acronyms”, to which I credit the origin of the term POTUS, for President of the United States.

This issue of News & Notes has several fascinating stories about POTUS trains from several different authors whose age and memories go back to the golden age of POTUS trains and come forward to the campaign trains and whistle stops Presidents and presidential candidates use today.  After all, it worked for Harry Truman.  His whistle-stop tour of the Midwest and West helped win him the election of 1948, while in that same campaign Gov. Thomas E. Dewey’s disparaging remarks on the train-handling skills of his train’s engineer probably cost him a couple million votes.  Harry Eck takes us back to those days by revisiting the “Instructions for Handling of Train at the Disposal of The President of the United States”, dated November 1, 1947.

One instruction was for “One of the operating officers will accompany the train over each division—preferably the Superintendent.”  As I have fulfilled that office once or twice in my Amtrak career, I can tell you that most of the instructions Harry details are pretty much in force to this day.

The last great presidential move was the Dwight Eisenhower Funeral Train (MAIN 200) that took the former President and his family from Washington, DC, to Abilene, Kansas, for burial.  My good friend, Bill Howes, fulfilled the office of accompanying the train over the various C&O/ B&O divisions.  At the start of my railroad career, when I was just out of the Army, I would often try to steer Bill’s conversation to the stories of the Eisenhower Funeral Train.  This was not a difficult task but all the details of both the military and railroad protocol kept me fascinated every time the subject came up.  Bill has just given a terrific presentation on this topic to RABO (Jacksonville Division) on June 22nd.  Bill’s story appears in this issue for all of us to enjoy.

Stories of modern campaign trains and a delightful story of the Roosevelt years by Herb Harwood, whose father was often “one of the …officers who will accompany the train” during his time with the New York Central Railroad, round out the POTUS coverage.

There are other Presidents, however.  Railroad companies usually come equipped with at least one and several RABO members have contributed recollections of railroad Presidents from John W. Barriger to Jervis Langdon to Hays Watkins.

All told, this issue marks another major milestone of journalistic excellence.  The contributors and editors of News & Notes deserve our thanks and praise.

RABO as an organization goes forward.  Elsewhere in this issue, we will honor and remember RABO members whose markers we have observed; but we will also welcome aboard seven new RABO members this quarter from the Jacksonville area and other points on the system who will help us keep green the spirit of fellowship and support that was the cornerstone of RABO’s founding in Baltimore in 1965.

This year, both the Jacksonville Division and the Baltimore Division have heard from Michelle Mullen of CSX Benefits regarding the delivery of CSX’s healthcare benefits through Extend Health.  Our thanks go out to her and the whole Benefits Department for their efforts to de-mystify, explain and help us through the process.

We were delighted to have Sharon Beischer talk at the Baltimore Division luncheon on the life and career of Olive Dennis, a B&O design engineer who made Daniel Willard’s trains worth advertising again.  She was an early success story for women in transportation.  We can  also thank Olive Dennis for the famous dining car blue china.

I’d like to mention two recent social events in Maryland.  On June 3rd, 26 of us took a ride on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad from Cumberland, Maryland, to Frostburg, Maryland, along the old Western Maryland line.  It was a great day for all and an enjoyable “railroad man’s holiday”.  The best part was the night before the trip when local RABO members were given the chance to join us for dinner.

In keeping with the Presidential theme of this issue, on June 9th, 17 members of the RABO family from Baltimore attended a luncheon at the Baltimore Museum of Industry where CSX Chairman, President and CEO Michael Ward was honored as the “Industrialist of the Year”, an  award named for William Donald Schaefer, former Mayor of Baltimore and Governor of Maryland.

The officers of RABO join me in wishing all of you and your families a happy and safe summer.

“Stay Alert!   Don’t Get Hurt!”

“Keep it safe. Keep it cool.”