I have a watch with a presentation from the International and Great Northern Railroad that I would like to research. Am interested in finding out more about the recipient and what he did in Dec. 1906.

Any help in how to proceed with researching information on the recipient and his act of bravery would be appreciated.

Rhett Lucke

Rhett I found the following information on your Railroad Presentation Watch, in my library of Locomotive Engineers Journals. Here is the story:

LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEER' S MONTHLY JOURNAL

Brother Lyne Given a Watch for Bravery
PALESTINE, TEXAS MAY 22, 1907

EDITOR JOURNAL
"Peace has her heros, no less renowned than those of war"

The enclosed photograph is a faithful likeness of Brother William Lyne, a member of Subdivision 194, who on the night of December 9, 1906, by rare presence on mind, grit and determination, averted what might have been the destruction of one of the finest trains in the Southwest, the "St. Louis-Mexico Special" while speeding along at the speed of between 40 and 50 miles per hour, a cab bracket stud broke off flush with the boiler plate, filling the cab with steam to such an extent as to compel Brother Lyne and his fireman leave the engine, but not before Brother Lyne had brought his train to a complete stop. Immediately after the stop the cab became enveloped in flames, caused by the excessive flow of the oil through the burner. Something had to be done, and immediate action was called for. Brother Lyne proved himself equal to the emergency by placing a cloth over his head and climbing into the cab and cutting off regulation valve and other service appliances to the oil-burner apparatus. He proved himself a hero and is deserving of much credit for his action. The company bestowed its commendation by rewarding him in a substantial way. It gave him a watch, the finest the jeweler's art could produce, a watch whose golden lids will ever open and shut with a ring of duty done, a watch in whose lid shines out in bold relief a diamond, in whose "rarest rays serene" will be found the incentive for renewed effort to give the same faithful service in the future as have been given in the past, and the following words within the case will forever be indelibly printed upon the hearts of his friends as a recognition of duty faithfully performed:

"Presented by the I.N.G.R.R.. To William Lyne, engineer, in appreciation of great faithfulness and bravery in discharge of his duty on "St. Louis-Mexico Special" December 9, 1906."

We are glad to have such an honor bestowed upon one of our number, pleased to know that we have such a man as Brother Lyne among us and we feel proud of his achievement.
May peace, happiness and prosperity ever fall to the lot of William Lyne and his old gray-haired mother; may her declining years continue to be blessed with the love and solicitude that the son continually bestows upon her.
S.E. Burkhead, First Assistant Engineer Division 194

It's quite an interesting story about an interesting pocket watch. Could you post some more pictures of the Watch Rhett?

Larry Buchan
"Buchaneer"

IHC Charter Member 28
IHC Life Member (L7)

BRAVO !!! (applause here)

Thanks Larry for researching this... Wonderful story!

And what a watch!!!

Well done Larry for tracking down the story behind this one and congrats Rhett on a truly exceptional piece of RR history!

Fred

That's a great piece of railroad history to go with that fine watch.

Frank Juchniewicz

Larry,

A huge thanks for your help. This is definately more information than I thought I would get on the first pass (or second, third, etc...). I would be very appreciative if you would be kind enough to let me know the issue of the journal you referenced.

As for the watch, it's a Hamilton 941, Mermod Jaccard, Paragon Timekeeper. The case is also marked Mermod Jaccard and is 14K.

As I only have a scanner, posting photo's of the complete watch is difficult. Will try to get some scans of the dial and movement later this week.

Rhett

Rhett Lucke

Excellant job Larry.
The story and the watch came together beautifully.
Brian C.

pwpartsetc@pwatch.com

Buchaneer,you're the best! Thanks for that bit of history.

Sam Williamson
NAWCC 154312
IHC Charter Member 14
Member Chapters 96 and 185

Rhett:

The Article on William Lyne appeared in the July 1907 Issue of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Monthly Journal. If you are interested I could mail you photocopies of the original article. On the Internet I found the following information on the; I & GN by S. G. Reed

The International and Great Northern Railroad was formed on February 19, 1872 by the merger of the International Railroad Company and the Houston & Great Northern. "Nicknamed the Jenny", it quickly became one of the largest independent railroad companies in the State of Texas. Its main lines eventually formed a giant "X" with the cities of Fort Worth, Longview, Freeport and Laredo at the points. At it's peak, in 1903 the I & GN owned 1,111 miles of track, making it the third-largest railroad in Texas. The I & GN spent more time in receivership then independent operation, which explains why it desired to be purchased by another railroad system. The last reorganization in 1922 caused the name designation to the changed to I-GN removing the "&" the Missouri Pacific acquired control of the International-Great Northern on June 24, 1924, but the I-GN was operated under it's own name on until 1956. In that year, the Missouri Pacific consolidated all of it's holdings in Texas under it's own name.

Larry Buchan
"Buchaneer"

IHC Charter Member 28
IHC Life Member (L7)

If we ever had a "thread of the month" award, this would win! Just a wonderful piece of history.

Larry

IHC Member 25
IHC Life Member (L6)

I second that, Larry! High regards. Mark

NAWCC Member 157508
NAWCC-IHC Member 163

Excellent work. Very enjoyable reading!

Thanks!!

Tom Seymour
NAWCC# 41293
IHC Executive V.P.

Wonderful story and what a keeper!!

John D. Duvall
Vice President, Education

This story is exactly what my watch collecting is to me. I am constantly trying to put the pieces together to find out the history of my favorite pieces. Yes, this thread is more than deserving of "Topic Of the Year".
Rhett and Larry, you have come together with an award winning watch, and the history that goes with it. That's one out of a million for sure. Can you imagine how many stories are out there about watches and their owners that never surface. Lost forever.
Congratulations, Rhett, you own it, and Larry, you found it.
How great can it get. Ed, don't you think this deserves to be in the "Railroaders Corner?
Regards and thanks, Jack

Jack Goldstein
NAWCC 0152932
IHC 185 #274
http://www.ball-rr-pocketwatches.com

More background,

I purchased this watch last year from a long time collector who had owned it for many decades. Unfortunately all he remembers about it's history is that he bought it somewhere in the Southern U.S.

I was very pleased to get the watch as my main interest lies in unusual RR marked watches and Hamilton's. I first heard about the watch from a good friend who had been interested in the watch for a number of years. Fortunately, when the watch finally came up for sale - my friend decided that it would be a better fit for my collection and told the owner to contact me. A few month's later, I was able to get the watch bought.

After purchasing the watch, curiousity about what prompted the presentation led me to ask the initial question which started this thread. As time permits, I hope to find out more about Mr. Lyne and his life.

Rhett

Rhett Lucke