The Great Northern Railway in Northwest Montana 1951

1951, 05 January: G. N. Vice President Speaker At Chamber Dinner
Tickets for the annual banquet of the Chamber of Commerce to be held Wednesday, January 10, are now on sale at $1.75 each at the office of the organization under the First National Bank and may also be purchased from A. F. Evey, chairman of the ticket sales.
Speaker of the evening will be John M. Budd, operating vice president of the Great Northern Railway and former division superintendent here. The title of Mr. Budd's address is "It Doesn't Make Sense." The dinner will be held at seven o'clock at the Moose Hall, L. E. Scott, Oscar Knutson and Roy Arnold are in charge of dinner arrangements. The program has been planned by Shirley Lincoln, newly elected president of the Chamber, and H. B. Markus.
Mr. Budd began his railroading career with Great Northern in 1930 and, except for three years in the Military Railway service during World War II, served with this company until becoming president of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois, with headquarters in Chicago.
Starting in 1930 with Great Northern as assistant to the electrical engineer, Mr. Budd became assistant trainmaster at Wilmar, Minn., in 1933 and trainmaster there in 1934.
Two years later he was appointed trainmaster on the Spokane division and in 1940 superintendent of the Klamath division in Oregon. In early 1942 he became superintendent of the Kalispell division and in late 1942 entered the army.
He went into the Military Railway Service with the 704th Railway Grand Division, made up of Great Northern personnel, and later shifted to the 727th Railway Operating Battalion. He served in the European Theater of operations and gained the rank of colonel.
In late 1945 Mr. Budd returned to Great Northern as assistant general manager of lines east of Williston, N. D.
When named president of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois on June 1, 1947, at the age of 39, he became the youngest president of a Class 1 railway in the country.
On June 1, 1949, Mr. Budd became Great Northern's operating vice president, succeeding the late Thomas F. Dixon.

William Hay --Educator, researcher, national and international railroad expert

By Professor Emeritus W. J. Hall and Assoc. Professor C. Barkan

Photograph of William HayHay graduated from Carnegie-Mellon University with a B.S. in Management Engineering in 1931. This was followed with interspersed work on the Pennsylvania Railroad and in a chemical plant, after which he took advanced coursework on railway operations at Yale University in 1932-33. Subsequently during the Depression he held a succession of positions with railroads and rapid transit lines, such as the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Long Island Railroad, the 8th Ave. subway, and the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad. He garnered priceless experience along the way.

As WWII developed Hay was called to service with the Military Railway Service, rising in rank from 1st Lieutenant to Lieutenant Colonel. He served first in responsible positions in the European Theater of Operations, then moved to the Pacific, ending up in Korea where he was Chief Engineer of Korean Railways. After the war he undertook further study in transportation at Yale University and in economics at New York University, followed by a post on the Reading Railroad. He joined the faculty of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in February 1947 as an Assistant Professor of Railway Civil Engineering, rose through the ranks rapidly to Professor of Railway Civil Engineering in 1956, receiving along the way an M.S. degree in 1948, and a Ph.D. in 1956, both from Illinois. He retired in 1977 with the rank of Professor Emeritus of Railway Civil Engineering.

During his career at Illinois, Hay was adviser (and mentor) to more than 72 railroad engineering majors and taught railway engineering to more than 600 students. After WWII, Illinois was the only major institution providing instruction in railroad engineering. Many of the senior personnel in the railroad industry today studied under Hay; 64 of his former students are known to have (or have had) wide-ranging positions of influence and responsibility in railroad engineering and management throughout the world. Examples include: Mostafa Khalil Mostafa, who later became Prime Minister of Egypt under President Anwar Sadat, and Ian Campbell who became vice-chairman of the British Railways Board, Chairman of Transmark, and a President of the Institution of Civil Engineers of Great Britain. The list goes on.
Hay was an active member of many professional organizations, including the American Railway Engineering Association (board member, committee chairman and committee member of numerous committees), Roadmasters and Maintenance-of-Way Association (Board of Directors), American Railway Engineering Association (Chairman and Director for multiple terms). National committee and council memberships included the National Research Council (Task Force on National Policy for Transportation Research and Development, and member of the Track Research Compendium Committee), U.S. Department of Commerce Panel on High Speed Ground Transportation, and many significant assignments. In his later years Hay carried major responsibility as a member of the National Council of Engineering Examiners.
During his career Hay served as a consultant to many groups and railroads throughout the world, including the Illinois High Speed Rail Transit Commission, and railroads in many of the United States, Canada, Southern Africa and South America.
As a part of his career at the University of Illinois, Hay wrote two highly successful texts, namely Railroad Engineering (1953, updated 1982) and An Introduction to Transportation Engineering (1961, updated 1977). Both of these texts are still in current use and referenced heavily. In addition he is the author of numerous journal articles, chapters in books and professional manuals and reports of wide distribution.

Hay received many professional honors. In March 1979 he was made an Honorary Member of the American Railway Engineering Association, and in that same year received the Alumni Merit award from his Alma Mater, Carnegie-Mellon University. In 1985 he was elected to Honorary Member of the Roadmasters and Maintenance-of-Way Association of America.
As the unquestioned academic leader in his profession for more than 25 years, and a highly respected faculty member in the department, Hay's efforts have helped immeasurably in maintaining the position of the railroad as a vital component in the world's economy and brought distinction to himself, his students and the institutions he has served. He was, and is, truly revered by his former students and colleagues.
Hay married Mary Clark Hubley in Harrisburg, Penn., on February 20, 1943. They had two children: a son, William Walter Hay Jr., and a daughter, Mary Elizabeth Hay. Hay passed away March 26, 1998. His wife, Mary, died on March 22, 2004.

Locomotive engineers journal, Volume 52 Draft Law Military Railway Service 1918

Defense Special Trains 1941

They were special Red, White & Blue painted trains that visited manufacturers across the U.S. in 1941 to encourage and locate war suppliers and help with war build up .
Thanks to C Buss for bringing it to my attention. She says "My father, George k. Culbertson, was with the signal corps display on the Defense Special Train going west in 1941, starting in Washington, D.C., and stopping in Denver, Seattle, Spokane, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Antonio

This is what I found about it so far and would love to know more !

Defense Special Train Articles

War Mobilization and the Use of Small Manufacturers

762 nd RSB Brief History

762 nd RSB Brief History

Yankee Boomer Vol.2 No.38 June 14, 1945 Photo edition

Yankee Boomer 1945 Photo v2... by Nancy

Reading Railroad Magazine 1945

rdgrrmag1045

3rd TMRS Major Shingler Award

3rd shingler by cunningb

Troops and Trains rolls into Strasburg Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania

Troops and Trains rolls into Strasburg

Boston to Maine Railroad WWII Magazine ad

729th Railkway Operating Battalion 25th reunion gift

US Army locomotive #1681

724th Railway Operating Battalion Company "A" Photo and Roster Camp Shelby, MS July 1944


Click to enlarge or right click to save to your computer.
Thanks very much to Bill Varner !

724 Railway Operating Battalion Roster

724th Railway Operating Battalion Roster by cunningb

Photo and roster of Company A of the 728th Railway Operating Battalion

Thanks to Steve Newton for this great photo. This is Company A of the 728th. It was a L&N railroad sponsored company. His Dad, Roy K. Newton served in this unit. (He is standing on the back row, 8th person from the left.)



Great photos of Roy Newton !