Collection Dates: 1883 -- 1966
7 linear ft.
This document describes a collection of materials held
by the
Special Collections Department
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1420
Phone: 319-335-5921
Fax: 319-335-5900
e-mail: lib-spec@uiowa.edu
Posted to Internet: January 1998
B. R. Dew. (The Rocket, Vol. 21:No.4 (July-August, 1962)
Acquisition
Note: The
B.R. Dew Collection was donated in 1997 by Robert, Lynn, and Elizabeth Dew
in memory of William R. Dew.
Access
and Restrictions:
Digital Surrogates: Except where indicated, this document describes but
does not reproduce the actual text, images and objects which make up this
collection. Materials are available only in the Special Collections
Department.
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The University of Iowa Libraries' statement on "Property Rights, Copyright Law, and Permissions to Use Unpublished
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Use of Collections: The University of Iowa Libraries supports access to the materials, published and unpublished, in its collections. Nonetheless, access to some items may be restricted by their fragile condition or by contractual agreement with donors, and it may not be possible at all times to provide appropriate machinery for reading, viewing or accessing non-paper-based materials. Please read our Use of Manuscripts Statement.
Table of Contents
I. Series One -- Publications
Boxes 1 -- 2
II. Series Two -- Notebooks
Boxes 3 -- 4
III. Series Three -- Oversized Material
Oversize Boxes 1 -- 3
IV. Series Four -- Artifacts
V. Series Five --
Audio cassette tapes
Biographical
Note
Birchel Raymond Dew was born in Corning, Ohio, on September 19, 1901. In 1920 he began working for the Missouri Pacific Railroad and continued working there as a brakeman and conductor until 1936. Very early in his career he began collecting railroad memorabilia, saving items he personally used and adding other pieces of historical value.
In 1935 he married Irene Mitchell of Hoisington, Kansas. They had two sons, William Ray and Birchel Robert. In 1936 Birchel Raymond, or B.R. as he was known to most, joined the Rock Island Railroad as a trainmaster in Dalhart, Texas. It was there where his son, William, was born in 1937. B.R. was Superintendent in several Midwestern areas and was the Assistant General Manager of the Rock Island Railroad in El Reno, Kansas City, and Des Moines. He and his family moved at least thirteen times while he worked on the Rock Island, but the railroad memorabilia was always packed up and moved along to the next home. B.R. retired in 1965. He died on March 17, 1973 of a heart attack at Iowa Lutheran Hospital in Des Moines.
His railroad collection
was inherited by his son William. William Ray Dew was born on March 3, 1937,
in Dalhart, Texas. B.R. passed the love and excitement of railroading on to
Bill and also his younger brother, Bob. Bill worked for the Rock Island himself
during his high school and college years. He graduated from Shawnee Mission
High School in Kansas City in 1955. In 1960 he married Lynn France. They both
graduated from the University of Iowa with Bill obtaining a Juris Doctor degree
in 1966. Then they moved to Ottumwa, Iowa, where Bill practiced law in the Griffin,
Dew & Kintigh law firm and Lynn taught third grade. In 1972 a daughter,
Eilizabeth Anne was born. William Ray Dew died on June 2, 1996 at the age of
fifty-nine in a plane crash in Minnesota while returning from a fishing trip
in Canada with three friends.
The B.R. Dew Collection
of Railroadiana, 7 linear feet, includes publications, photographs, newspaper
clippings, scrapbooks, artifacts, and other similar material dating from about
1883 until 1966. Publications include booklets of rules and regulations, public
and employee timetables, and passes and tickets, mostly relating to the Chicago,
Rock Island & Pacific Railway. There is also material on other railroads,
including the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railway; the Chicago,
Burlington & Quincy Railroad; the Missouri Pacific Railroad; and the Union
Pacific Railroad. There is information on such subjects as railroad accidents,
natural disasters (snow removal), and railroad wages.
Box 1
American Railway Association -- United States Safety Appliances for All Classes of Cars and Locomotives (1928)
Arkansas & Memphis Railway Bridge and Terminal Company -- Special Instructions No. 2 (1941)
Association of American Railroads -- Recommended Rules for the Receipt, Stowing, Handling and Delivery of Less-Than-Carload Freight (1938)
Baldwin Locomotive Works -- Locomotive Data (1914)
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen -- Arbitration Award and Vacation Agreement (1944)
Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railroad -- Historical information, etc.
Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railroad -- Official List of Officers, Agents and Stations (1898)
Burlington Route -- General Rules (1900)
Burlington Route -- Rules of the Transportation Dept (1891)
Burlington Route -- Train Rules, Operating Dept (1900)
Conductor’s Pocket Book and Cutter (1902)
Davenport, Rock Island and Northwestern Railway Co -- Rules of the Operating Dept (1930)
Denver & Rio Grande -- Rules and Regulations of the Operating Dept (1906)
El Paso & Southwestern--Rules and Instructions, Maintenance of Way Dept (1917)
Flood Disaster, Kansas City (1951)
Freight Conductors Wheel Reports (1924)
Frisco playing cards
Keokuk, Fort Des Moines & Minnesota Rail Road, the Des Moines Valley Rail Road -- Historical information
Missouri Pacific -- Conductors Memorandum Transportation, Etc. (1931)
Missouri Pacific Hospital Association -- Constitution and By-Laws (1945)
Public Time Tables
Big Four Route, 1899Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern, 1899
Chicago Great Western, 1898
Colorado Midland, 1905
Denver & Rio Grande, 1905
Dixie Flyer Route, 1904
Erie, 1905
Frisco, 1905
Grand Trunk, 1898
Great Northern, 1904
Illinois Central, 1898, 1964 (2 items)
Iron Mountain Route, 1899
Kansas City Southern, 1905
Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway, 1899 (2 items)
Lehigh Valley, 1898, 1918 (2 items)
Missouri, Kansas & Texas, 1899
Mexican Central, 1898
Minneapolis & St. Louis, 1905
Missouri Pacific, 1898, 1899, 1965 (3 items)
Nickel Plate Road, 1904
Northern Pacific, 1898
Northwestern, 1898
Port Arthur Route, 1898
Queen and Crescent Route, 1905
Rock Island, 1899, 1922, 1943, 1952 (4 items)
Santa Fe, 1905, 1966, 1967 (3 items)
Union Pacific, 1898, 1899, 1964 (3 items)
Wabash, 1899
Rock Island
Analysis of Equipment (Locomotives, Freight Train Cars, Passenger Train Cars), 1925Catalogue of Blanks, Books, Envelopes, Letter and Memorandum Heads and Stationery, 1903
Des Moines Division -- General Notices, 1966
Diagrams of Steam Locomotives, 1943
Disbursement Accounts, 1902
Distance Tables, 1887
Employee Timetables, 1940-1968, 55
Rock Island, cont.
Employees Hospital Association Constitution and By-Laws, 1930Freight Tariffs, 1888, 1890 (3 items)
General Roster of Officers, Agents, Attorneys, Surgeons, Stations, Structures, Mileage, Connections, Clearances, Equipment, etc., 1929
Historical Accounts
Indenture Between Des Moines & Fort Dodge Railroad Company and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Co., 1904
Instructions to Freight Agents, 1890
Labor Agreements, 1907, 1922, 1938, 1947 ( 4 items)
Leavenworth Joint Terminal Agreement, 1894
List of Officers, Station Agents, 1903
Local Passenger Tariff, 1907, 1921 (2 items)
Pension System, 1910
Questions and Answers for Examination on Rules and Regulations for Maintenance of Way and Structures, 1951
Rules and Instructions Governing Employees in the Operation of Train Air Brakes and Air Signal, 1939
Rules and Instructions Governing the Operation and Maintenance of Automatic Train Control, 1926
Rules and Instructions Governing the Operations of Railroad Radio Communication System, 1956
Rules and Rates of Pay for Locomotive Engineers, 1907, 1911, 1917, 1922, 1925 (5 items)
Rules and Rates of Pay for Trainmen, 1924, 1929, 1943 (3 items)
Rules and Rates of Pay for Telegraphers, 1910, 1920, 1924, 1928 (4 items)
Rules and Regulations for Conductors and Collectors, 1906, 1919, 1924, 1929 (4 items)
Rules and Regulations for Maintenance of Way and Structures, 1901, 1940, 1951 (3 items)
Rules and Regulations for the Baggage Department, 1905, 1911 (2 items)
Rules and Regulations Operating Department, 1897, 1904, 1930, 1967 (4 items)
Rules and Specifications for Standard Uniforms, 1925
Rules and Working Conditions for Signalmen, 1923
Rules for Care and Operation of Maintenance Motor Cars, 1929
Rules for Clerks, Freight Handlers, Station and Storehouse Employees, 1922, 1931 (2 items)
Rules for Rates of Pay for Switchmen, 1919, 1924 (2 items)
Rules for Train Dispatchers, 1926, 1950 (2 items)
Rules Relating to the Car Service Dept, 1906
Rules 1 to 5 Compilation and Maintenance, 1937
Seal Record, 1895 -- 1896
Speed Restrictions and Special Instructions, 1958, 1967 (3 items)
Standard Practices Adopted by the System Loss and Damage Committee, 1914
Telegraphic Code, 1897
Time Freight Schedules, 1924
Time Role of Iowa City, 1901 -- 1903
Uniform Code of Operating Rules, 1950, 1968 (4 items)
Various pamphlets, 1919 -- 1934 (5 items)
Rules and Rates of Pay in Train and Yard Service on the Principal Railroads of the United States, Canada, and Mexico, 1900
Saddler’s Railroad Time Book, 1926
Santa Fe Rules and Regulations -- Operating Department, 1909, 1911 (2 items)
Southern Pacific Desk Map, 1929
Union Pacific (Eastern & South-Central Districts) Rules and Instructions of the Transportation Dept, 1940
Union Pacific -- Examination of Conductors and Engineers and Train Dispatchers on Operating Rules, 1954
Union Pacific -- Memorandum of What Constitutes Proper Observance of Signal Tests, 1940
The Western Settler,
Vol 1, No. 1 (Feb 15, 1893), published by the Rock Island
Clippings, photos, forms
Forms
Derailments, floods, washouts, snow plows, clippings and photos
Locomotives, old and new, clippings and photos
Old forms, letters, etc.
Old newspaper clippings
Old records
Old station records, letters, tariffs (3 folders)
Old tickets and passes
Old waybills, messages,
records, etc. (2 folders)
Photographs, miscellaneous
Photographs of snow storms
Pictures, retirement parties
Train orders
SERIES III: OVERSIZED MATERIAL
Oversize Box 1
Rock Island Employee
Time Tables, 1883 -- 1916
Rock Island Employee
Time Tables, 1916 -- 1939
Assorted printed
and manuscript material mostly pertaining to the Rock Island
Flimsy/Train order hoop
Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern framed poster
Flagman’s flag with torpedo space
Rock Island oiler
SERIES V: AUDIO CASSETTE TAPES
Box 5
History of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
Side 1
Birth in Corning Ohio
Boyhood in Ohion
School Days
Jobs as a Boy
Riding a Train
Ice Cream
New [Bohelers]
Side 2
Railroad rules exam
Tales of Ed Heathooker
Tales of Red Taylor
Tales of Joe Whaton
Silk Train
Army Worms
Jack Rabbits
Pheasants in Kansas
Hot Boxes on Cars
Take Water and Coal on Engines
Local Freight Trains
Engine Thru Rd House Topeka
Side 3
Dust storms in 1930s
Cabooses
YMCAs
Water at Horace, Arkansas
St. Joe Run, 1921
Switchman K & MR Roak
Olmitz, Kansas
N Moorehead
Reversing Steam Engine
Side 4
Water Engine
Hand Brakes, Couplers on Cars
Train Chains
C.J. Frown, Scrap Program
Break in Enginese
Passenger Conductor 1931
Work Traims
Flood, Pueblo, Colo 1921
Getting off your cars engines
Local Chairman, 192[9?]
Supt. H.E. McMullen
Side 5
JCE Trains
D. Sullivan
Collision Hogan, New Mexico 1937
Deraliment Middlewater, Texas 1938
ACR Line, Liberal to Amarillo
Morse Line Dolhart to Morse, Texas
Passenger Trains
Son Bill Born at Dolhart, 1937
Side 6
Hay Fever
Herington, Kanses, 1937
Operation Railroad
Circus Train, Salinas LIne 1937
Rocket Trains 1938
Rocket Train Belleville Line, 1938
Train Order Singed McFarland 1937
Switching Engines
Track Maintenance
Steam Heat Trains.
Side 7
Dress of Railroad Men
Eng 1864 Turned o/ CC Line 41
Engs Swenson Hits Bull C Chic
Derail Inspection Coe CC Line
Derailment CC Line 1941
Shooting Track
44 Ton Engine Derails, Aububon, Iowa
Big Liars
Carson Branch
Lose Engr on Montezuma Line
Meet B. F. Wells
Coal Freeze in Coal Chute
Side 8
Winterset/New Line, Atlantic
Bridge Ratings
Rateing [sic]of Superintendents
Steam Engines vs Diesel Engines
Turn Tables
J. W. McNulty
Handling Snow Plows
Coldest Day I Ever Worked
Side 9
J.W. McNulty, continued
Blizzard of 1947
Steam Engines Freeze to Rail
Running [F Hangers?]
Cleaning Switches
Moveing [sic] Bad Order Cars
Moveing [sic] Cars After Snow Storms
C. P. Trachia
Diesel Engines in Snow
Orvel Spray
K.O. Thomas
O. A. Johnson
Side 10
Positive [Bhart?] Operation
Snow Storn 1964
Snow Storm 1965
Side 11
Snow Storm 1965, continued from side 10
Pulling Cars, Manly Snow
Plow Snow off Track, Manly
Halley's Comet
Five Days a Week vs 7 Days Ago
Blood Test Brakeman 1938
Put Steam Engine on Blocks
Steam Eng Power on One Side
R E Mechanical Failure
Derailment at Hampton, Iowa
Derailment at Cambridge, Iowa
Charline Corimm Death
B.R. Dew Personal View on Drink and Where Lived in DM
Side 12
Nevada Derailments
Food Stamps in WWII
Derailment in Northfield,Minn
Char. El. Farley M. Meehanie
Farley and I @ Watertown Line
Camp Car Haywood, Okla
Cafe @ McFarland, Kansas
Woody Kay Mill & Filmor Smith
George Green Goes to Memphis
R.W. Gravy Vest Lucas
Side 25
Sect Forman [sic] gives e a sack of Potatoes (4-57 -- 28-139) [2699@129]
Flood at Louisville, Nebr 1960 (140-348)
Joe Shives, hells Iowa (349) CTC
West Liberty, Iowa (374 -506)
Chgs Main Line Double Track
Derailment at West Branch, Iowa
Jack Denniger (507-614)
J. Toler (615-666) Agent
J. T. Monig 667-709 Agt
SW Eng @ Newton 710-746
Side 26
Switch Eng cont'd (11-74)
Kellogg Iowa Toy (?) Washington Line (74-173)
Derailment @ End of Lake Park Iowa (174-536)
Passenger Car Radio (537-581)
Fruit Car Lossed [sic] w/o Knowledge by the Crew (582-611)
Poor Segment of Rail, Oxford to Iowa City, Derailment #14 and #8 (612-651)
Engineer Coggart or Scrap Iron
Unauthorized Trips @ Derailment Incident (652-746)
Note:Tapes from here to end are not assigned numbers
Mr. Fred B. Huffman, Eng. with Ia CRIP RR
General discussion on class of steam engines that he ran and fired by # class (345), Discussed the West Iowa Railroad, Carson, Harhan, Guthrie Center, and Griswold Branches. Discussed the Atlantic Cutoff & Segment Between Adair and Casey Iowa
Mr. B. R. Dew. Recorded February 13, 1973. 2 tapes
Charles Grimes, Roadmaster
Three tapes without notes. Tape on the covers are marked
13-13 1/2. J Windsor 2/14/73
14 -14 1/2
15-16. J. Windsor 2/14/72
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