The St. Louis Post-Dispatch obituaries for August 26th, 2010 has the death notice of Mr. Billy D. Fulton, retired conductor. I worked with Billy and his brother Lloyd during the 60s. As I remember, Billy worked at the St. Louis Zoo as an engineer of their train that ran in the Kids Section of the Zoo. I had great respect for both Billy and Lloyd and am sorry to hear of his passing. Graveside Service is scheduled for Friday, August 27th at the Roach Cemetery in Doolittle, Missouri.
Very sorry to hear of Billy's passing. One of the VERY NEAT things about the St Louis Zoo Line (which runs around the total St Louis Zoo area, not just the children's zoo) is that they have long favored using retired St Louis area railroad people to serve as Zoo Line operators. I'm glad to hear that Billy was one of those - I'm sure he had a grand time serving on the Zoo Line. Back when the Zoo Line first opened (1961-62?), my mom and dad took me and my sister Lynn to the Zoo for a day's outing, and we rode behind a Wabash engineer and a Wabash conductor for our first Zoo Line ride. They very proudly announced their Wabash affiliation while we rode along the circuit, as I'm sure the the Frisco people did as well. Ken
I just stumbled across this site today and signed up. Billy D Fulton is my Dad. I was surprised to see his Death Notification here, but he would be proud his fellow railroaders remember him. If you dont know, Dad worked 41+ years on the railroad (Frisco, but retiring from Burlington Northern after the takeover). He followed in his Dad's footsteps, the late Charlie Fulton, who was an engineer on the 1522. His brother, the late Lloyd Fulton, was also a retired conductor from the Frisco. After retiring, Dad did work approximately 7 years on the Zoo Line RR at Forest Park. He really enjoyed working there along side some of his fellow retirees. Thanks for remembering Dad. He was a great man. Dana Fulton.
That's the cool thing about this site, lots of caring people that will take time to help and recognize our own. Welcome Aboard, Dana. Hope you find things of interest here for you. Don't be hesitant to ask questions - that's how we all learn.
Yeah, Possum was Dad's nickname in Newburg. Not really sure how he got it, but I head it a few times growing up. I like the site, really neat to see all the old pictures. I have a couple myself I can post as soon as I get them scanned. Thanks for the welcome. While I didnt follow in Dad's footsteps, I grew up around trains. We lived across the street from the Lindenwood yard and I spent a lot of time over there, as well as going to work with Dad when he switched at the Chrysler plant (cant get away with that these days I'm sure) I would just ride in the switch engine all day, and learned a lot from the engineer (Walter).
I pretty much grew up in the Lindenwood roundhouse and was devastated when the railroad dieselized. My Dad hired out in engine service in 1916 and was still working in 1964 when he died in an auto accident. My Brother in Law, Ed Wofford, held down the Chrysler job in his last years with the Frisco as engineer. He hired out in the early '40s, was gone in the military in WWII in the Transportation Corps in the Paciific and worked hand firing on the Salem Branch in the late '40s-early '50s when he moved to St. Louis. I had an Uncle who was a hostler at Lindenwood back in the '20s-'30s also. I took the physical and written tests to go firing in 1958, but they started cutting firemen off about that time and I didn't end up on the Frisco. Had the same experience on the MP at that time. Took a different route in life including 3 years in the Army and spent my working days in the machine tool business with Sunnen Products in Maplewood for 27 years, then worked 10 years for a company in Kirkwood. Started at Sunnen at shop entry level and worked my way up through Tool and Die maker and wound up in Supervision. Worked as a shop supervisor at the Kirkwood company and retired in '03. I remember a lot of the names from hearing my Dad talk about them. He liked railroading in steam and didn't like diesels. I've inherited that from him.
