FRANK LYONS, Rochester, New York.
The diversified experiences of Frank Lyons have but served to make him better fitted for the position he holds as engineer on the Erie's combination passenger and freight, running out of Rochester. Mr. Lyons was born in Avon, New York, on March 8, 1846, and is the son of Patrick Lyons, a farmer, now deceased. After leaving school Mr. Lyons farmed for three years and then went west, engaging in the summer of 1862 as a chain boy for a surveying crew on the Chicago & North Western Railroad. He worked in this capacity for nine months in the vicinity of Fremont, Nebraska, beginning to fire on the C.& N.W. in 1863. He ran for three months between Chicago and Fulton, Illinois, when he returned east, and for two months worked as a brakeman on the Rochester Division of the Erie. In 1864 he went south and fired an engine between Chattanooga and Nashville for the government, returning north in 1865. For a period of eight months he fired an engine on the Oil Creek Railroad, and then for a year and a half ran a stationary engine in the oil country. In 1869 he went to Canada and worked in the oil section there for eight months, returning to Rochester the same year. He secured a position as engine wiper on the Erie and in December was advanced to fireman, in which capacity he served on the Rochester Division until 1882, when he was promoted to engineer and is now considered one of the best and most reliable on the Division, having had his present run for the past three years. Mr. Lyons is affiliated with Lodge No. 10, B. of L.E., and the C.M.B.A. of Avon. He lives in a brick residence at 80 Glasgow street, and is highly regarded by his fellow citizens and many acquaintances.


Excerpted from: "American Locomotive Engineers, Erie Railway Edition," H.R. Romans Editor; Crawford-Adsit Company Publishers, Chicago, IL 1899.