1904 HANDWRITTEN MANUSCRIPT DIARY OF A NEW YORK RAILROAD WORKER AND THE STATE OF AMERICA AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 20TH CENTURY

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On offer is the handwritten manuscript diary of an unidentified worker for the New York Central Railroad in 1904. He worked in the West Albany New York City shops and he lived some distance from the yard, as he writes of walking home for the weekend. He boards during the week, and often mentions the Y.M.C.A. and the boarding house. He writes every day of his activities, both personal and at work, until the end of October when he just stops. He seems to work at various jobs in the shops - the paint shop, the steam track, different sections. He also makes repairs as a general mechanic. The cold weather is a big factor, and he dreads having to work outside in the winter. He tells of one day when it was so cold, most of the men left. The author also makes some interesting observations: Mar 2 I have bin working on one of the cars that are to go to the World's Fare. The company are to send two trains, the DeWitt, Clinton and three coaches and an enjine, a comp----(?) , a kitchen car, and a coach. We start on nine hours today and work at that til further orders. Mar 21......We helped to load the little train on the DeWitt Clinton for the World's Fare.They have her painted. The body part is straw color trimmed with light brown and the running part is olive with black springs. The enjine is olive and black. Apr 7 This morning there was a man struck when coming to work by the Twentieth Century Limited. The same crossing where Angus Brown was killed. The road could be straightened there and it would have a good many axcidents. Apr 11.......I saw the new enjine that is to go to St. Louis. It is No 3000. She is a dandy. Apr 21.......We have been nearly all day on Senator DePews private car No 100. She is a beauty. We finished off with mahogany inside and lit with electricity. It costs something to build a car like that. Apr 27.......It rained just enough in the night to make it bad walking this morning and I was late in starting so had t hurry up and when I got there I found that Section C had burned down clean. There were 14 cars in the section and 404 was in the sealer (?) and that was burned. She was all ready to go away. She was worth about 14000. They had quite a loss. Came near loosing my tools. On May 7th, the author writes that the NYC started their half-holiday and he was laid off. He goes on to write about various other jobs he holds in the Albany area - stables, buildings, homes. Throughout the diary, he also writes about his family, friends, a trip to Round Lake and mentions many names. This is a large diary, measuring 7" x 4". It is written in pencil, is legible and overall G+. ; 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall; VADE MECUM, RAIL, RAILROADS, ALBANY, HANDWRITTEN, MANUSCRIPT, DOCUMENT, LETTER, AUTOGRAPH, DIARY, JOURNAL, LOG, KEEPSAKE, WRITER, HAND WRITTEN, DOCUMENTS, SIGNED, LETTERS, MANUSCRIPTS, HISTORICAL, HOLOGRAPH, WRITERS, DIARIES, JOURNALS, LOGS, AUTOGRAPHS, PERSONAL, MEMOIR, MEMORIAL, PERSONAL HISTORY, MECHANICS, ENGINEER, ENGINEERING, TRAINS, TRAIN, RAILROAD, AMERICANA, Show more