William Oliver Gibson

Journal of a Santa Fe Wire Twister is Mr. Gibson’s account of his life working as an electrician for the Santa Fe Railroad between 1929 and 1974. His journal is just that, a description of the places along the line where he worked, details with respect to the kind of work done and problems encountered, and interesting descriptions of all aspects of railroad life as he observed it. His opening two chapters gives the circumstances of his growing up in a railroad family (his father was a manager in charge of the Santa Fe’s lines of communication) and provides the reader with some very interesting descriptions of his youthful impressions of traveling on the railroad and the events he witnessed.

With the exception of the last chapter, the remainder of the journal is a chronological chronicle of his life and his experiences working on the AT&SF. He describes his on again off again employment experience with the Santa Fe during the depression, the beginnings of his full time employment on the railroad in the late 1930’s, wartime railroad experiences, and the technology transition he witnessed (and photographed) with the advent of the arrival of the diesel locomotives and the end of steam.

His writing style is conversational and he paints very good word pictures, not only of events witnessed and experienced but also of the work he performed. He introduces the reader to the technology of railroad communication systems and the problems faced and overcome. The only shortcoming is that, while he provides a very good photograph of a relay rack ( a centerpiece of the communication network) he does not give a reader, who might be unfamiliar with electrical equipment, a glossary that defines the various pieces of equipment. Fortunately, today we have Google, so it is very easy for a reader to overcome this deficiency.

Mr. Gibson concludes his journal with a final chapter which is a brief overview of his family’s history and their long association with the railroad and railroad work. Overall, I think the journal is well written, it keeps the readers interest, and it is the only book on railroad life of which I’m aware which details this aspect of railroad work. See common knowledge for an example of the writing style

(Text Length - 135 pages, including many pictures and diagrams. Also has an additional fold out map of the Santa Fe railroad system) (Book Dimensions inches LxWxH - 8 3/8 x 3/8 x 10 7/8)… (plus d'informations)