Southern Railroad Man

Book excerpt: Nimrod J. Bell worked as a conductor for several southern railroads in their formative period, from 1857 to 1894. After his career was cut short by an accident, he wrote his memoirs detailing his first glimpses of some of the earliest trains in the South and his thirty-eight years as a conductor. Published in Atlanta in 1896, his book offers a first-hand account of working conditions on the railroads, operational procedures, wartime railroading, and passenger travel during Reconstruction. Full of stories about colorful characters who rode the trains - from Confederate troops to train robbers - Southern Railroad Man is a rich source on late nineteenth-century southern culture, tradition, and travel. Perhaps because Bell worked as a conductor, some of his most interesting observations pertain to the people he encountered. Unintentionally, he also provides insights into race relations in a time of transition as he recalls his interactions with blacks as slaves, laborers, and patrons. Written in the language of the ordinary worker, Bell's narrative is a veritable treasure trove of information on southern railroads and their operations. Among the roads he traveled were several in the Carolinas, the Western & Atlantic, the East Tennessee & Georgia, the Alabama & Chattanooga, the South & North Alabama, and the East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia. Many of the railroads for which Bell worked were eventually incorporated into the Southern Railway. A rare account of early railroading, Southern Railroad Man is edited by James A. Ward, who provides notes and an introduction that places Bell's story in historical context. This unique book will appeal to anyone interested in railroad history, the history of industrialization, the Civil War, and the culture of the South in the late nineteenth century.