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These are the Norfolk and Western Caboose and freight cars.
Leonard Kelley’s nickname was booger. He worked with his father on the railroad as a railroad engineer. The steam engine ran on coal and water. At that time, engineers were steering the train, their job was to throttle, speed and braking, direct the track.
Arthritis affected them. There was the steep climb of engine, and the harsh metal to climb on. They had to be athletic.
Two Kelleys worked on the railroad, another Kelley who worked on the railroad , though there may be more. Cristin Kelley's husband worked there too. Due to working conditions and payscape, it became apparent no adequate working conditions then there would be a strike from the workers. They had to shovel coal to keep the fire running, though they later switched to diesel. . During childhood, he had a serious strike for months, so they had to take other jobs in order to support other families. Union wasn’t in charge of railroad (they had a CEO) The were like the president (officer). If the officer wasn’t providing proper conditions then union could support the employees. If the officer wasn’t providing adequate payings then Union would help. The railroad payed better than blue collar jobs. When they got called for extra, it was paid every hour. There were young boys called call boys who would go to homes to railroad men to let them know they were called to go on a run. Railroad men would work until retirement age.
Leonard Daniel Kelly worked at the Norfolk and Western railway, which acted as a way to transport black diamonds from mines located in southern West Virginia and Southwestern Virginia. He worked as a yard engineer who moved tracks to keep trains running on schedule. He usually worked 8 hours but sometimes got called back and had to work 12 hours. The job was very tiring but paid good. It was the highest paying blue collar job at that time.
Before expanding rapidly after the late 1950’s, the old Norfolk and Western network contained only slightly more than 2,000 route miles connecting Norfolk, Cincinnati, and Columbus. Historically, the railroad is remembered for many things ranging from its staunch support of the steam locomotive, to photographer O. Winston Link captured its final days of steam in black and white photography. The origins of the mighty Norfolk & Western began in far eastern Virginia when the General Assembly chartered the City Point Railroad during early 1836. The early industry was still learning its trade and steam power was rudimentary. However, railroads were proving their worth up and down the east coast from the South Carolina Canal & Rail Road Company serving Charleston, South Carolina to the Baltimore, & Ohio linking Baltimore, Maryland.
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