COLLECTION NAME:
NNRy and KCC NMD Employee Profiles
Record
Employee Name:
Thomas Jefferson Duddleson
Profile Number:
EP-01-0013
Primary Job Title:
Superintendent
Division:
Nevada Northern Railway
Years Worked:
1907-1931
Description:
Taking over fireman responsibilities for a grown man who left to fight in the Civil War, T.J. Duddleson's railroad career began at age 13 on a wood burning locomotive in Ohio in 1861. On the 1870 census he is listed as a brakeman in Galion, Ohio most likely working on the Atlantic & Great Western (later the Erie) or Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railway (later the New York Central).
Heading west, Mr. Duddleson worked the Denver & Rio Grande Railway on Colorado lines to Creede and Silverton, then moved to Utah and the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railway, where he served in capacities including train dispatcher and acting assistant superintendent until early 1888.
Moving to Southern California, Mr. Duddleson worked for the Santa Fe as a conductor from March 1888 until April 1899. Immediately thereafter, he was noted in the Salt Lake newspapers as being in conversations with the Oregon Short Line, later being assigned as trainmaster in Idaho and eventually service as superintendent of all four divisions out of Pocatello at various times. He was also involved in the Yellowstone Park Railroad Company.
He left the OSL in September 1906 to take on the role of superintendent on the newly formed Nevada Northern Railway, a position he held until his death at 82 years of age.
Heading west, Mr. Duddleson worked the Denver & Rio Grande Railway on Colorado lines to Creede and Silverton, then moved to Utah and the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railway, where he served in capacities including train dispatcher and acting assistant superintendent until early 1888.
Moving to Southern California, Mr. Duddleson worked for the Santa Fe as a conductor from March 1888 until April 1899. Immediately thereafter, he was noted in the Salt Lake newspapers as being in conversations with the Oregon Short Line, later being assigned as trainmaster in Idaho and eventually service as superintendent of all four divisions out of Pocatello at various times. He was also involved in the Yellowstone Park Railroad Company.
He left the OSL in September 1906 to take on the role of superintendent on the newly formed Nevada Northern Railway, a position he held until his death at 82 years of age.
Born:
December 21, 1848
Died:
November 30, 1931
Hometown:
Upper Sandusky, Ohio
Burial Place:
Inglewood, Los Angeles, CA
Personal Biography:
Born in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, Thomas Jefferson Duddleson lived a railroad centered life from his early teens until his death in Ely, Nevada in 1931. He married and had five children, four of whole lived to adulthood and one of whom earned a Purple Heart in World War I. From Ohio, Mr. Duddleson's railroad career took him to Colorado, Utah, California, Idaho and lastly Nevada. He was an accomplished trap shooter, fisherman and a member of the Masonic Order for more than 50 years.
Thomas Jefferson Duddleson
