Cerro Gordo County Iowa
Part of the IaGenWeb Project
Compiled by several volunteers May - Sept 2009 Thank you, Volunteers!!
| C G W R R ~ Chicago Great Western Railroad | C M St P Ry ~ Chicago Milwaukee St. Paul Railroad |
| C & N W Ry ~ Chicago & North Western Railroad | Lehigh P C Co. ~ Lehigh Portland Cement Co. |
| M C ~ Mason City | M C Brk & T Co. ~ Mason City Brick & Tile Co. |
| M C & C L R R ~ Mason City & Clear Lake Railway | M & St. L R ~ Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad |
| N W Ry ~ North Western Railroad | N W S P C Co ~ Northwestern States Portland Cement Co. |
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Below is an excerpt from the Evansville Courier & Press
article of August 30, 2011, describing the job of 'fire knocker.' Several men in this directory were 'fire knockers.' Jerry EVANS responded to a "Good Morning" column about difficult jobs. "I was 18-years-old, and my first real job was ... painful, dangerous, sweat-soaked and very dirty ... I lasted one week. "I was a fire knocker for the L&N Railroad. When the engines returned from a run, it was my job to shake down the clunkers in the fire pit and leave a nice bed of hot coal before the engine could be parked inside the roundhouse. "The tool to smooth the hot bed of coal was about 15 feet long. Very heavy, and it came out hot. "My dad could never understand why I quit such a great entry job with the railroad." Article contributed by Richard Harrison, March of 2011
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