The March 1927 issue of the Frisco Employees Magazine (FEM) has a one page article about the duties of a water service pumper. The article contains a small photo of a pump house, which I presume was taken by the author of the article, one Mr. Albert Phillips, of Tuttle, OK. It's nothing too detailed, but it gives a nice look at one of the many jobs required to keep things moving on the Frisco. The issue also contains an article about the new Springfield depot. http://thelibrary.org/lochist/frisco/magazines/fem_1927_03/fem_1927_03.pdf The FEM's are always worth a look!
This one has escaped my eye. Very well written and a good description of the work. I'm struck by how much pride of ownership that various Frisco employees took in their grounds, and Mr. Phillips is no exception, especially with flower beds around the pump house! Best Regards,
I realize I've got to clean up around my Brownwood water tank and pump house. Hmmmm, I never imagined a flower bed.
Maybe this is more historical than modeling but the small towns included state of the art railroad personnel, e.g. telegraphers, section crew foremen and pumpers. These were well respected positions. Many of the pumpers were stationary engineers and as such operated steam powered water pumps and steam powered coal handling equipment. My grandfather's brother, Denzil Madden, was a pumper at Williford, AR and is shown in the 1920 & 1930 census's as stationary engineer. A family picture shows them operating a steam farm tractor pulling stumps on a farm. He was also a Deputy Sheriff in Sharpe County, AR. Joe
