Erie Railroad Biography - Charles Henkel


From the November, 1914 issue of Erie Railroad Magazine:
Charles Henkel was one of 42 engineers invited to a chicken dinner given at Galion, OH by Cincinnati Division engineer John Cronenwett for those Division engineers who did not move from Galion, OH to Marion, OH when the Division headquarters were moved there beginning in 1912. Unfortunately, Engineer Henkel had to work and could not attend.




From the March, 1917 issue of Erie Railroad Magazine:
Excerpt from "Old Times on the Erie," by "M.E.S."
Along about this time I was promoted to dispatcher myself at Galion, and one night an amusing thing happened on the Third Division. Engineer Charley Henkle was coming out of Kent on No. 81 with some merchandise and the train had gotten as far as Tallmadge when the dispatcher on duty on the Kent end received the "book report" or consist of the train from "Breakneck Yard" and which showed that No. 81 had two dead engines in its train.

Now it was customary in those days to give all trains with dead engines a "31" order to run 18 miles per hour, and this was done.

Charley, you all know, was noted for his droll jokes, but I do not think that anyone expected what he sprung the next evening when he sauntered in the office for a little chat.

He walked over to the dispatcher then on duty and inquired who it was that had given him the order to run 18 miles per hour on No. 81 the night before. "I did," said the dispatcher on duty. "Well," said Charley, "That's the first time I ever got an order to run 18 miles an hour with dead engines when they were loaded on flat cars!"

The report out of Kent should have read "one car, engines:" Anyway, nothing was said about it and nobody was jacked up.




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