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Boyd M. Cheatham
Assistant Superintendent
Biography
Boyd M. Cheatham resigned his post as assistant superintendent on the Edgefield and Kentucky Railroad in about October 1868.
Herman Peter Claussen , II
Founder
Biography
Herman Peter “Pete” Claussen II learned to love railroads thanks to his German grandfather, who couldn’t speak English but who connected with his young grandson by taking him to a park near their New Jersey home to watch for trains that passed on adjacent tracks.
His first career as a lawyer laid the groundwork for a successful career in railroading. His experiences at the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Knoxville International Energy Expo, which organized the 1982 World’s Fair, provided connections leading to a role as President of the South Central Tennessee Railway in 1983.
The passage of the Staggers Rail Act in 1980 allowed enterprising individuals to purchase small railroads from bigger companies, and Claussen decided he wanted to take a similar chance. He founded Gulf & Ohio Railways Inc. (G&O) and on Dec. 31, 1985, Claussen’s first railroad, one of more than 18 that he would purchase, the Mississippi Delta, ran its first train.
Today, G&O, of which Claussen is chair, operates four short line freight railroads in Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina and one tourist excursion operation in Tennessee. The company also owns Knoxville Locomotive Works, a locomotive remanufacturing company that is making a name for itself developing environmentally friendly low-emission locomotive engines.
Over the years, Claussen’s passion for trains has converged with his interest in studying history and preserving historical artifacts. From finding and restoring locomotives to being active in the preservation of culture, animal habitats and parkland, Claussen has preserved history for the next generations.
Visitors to Washington, D.C. can visit the Linda and Pete Claussen Hall of Democracy in the National Museum of American History or the National Museum of African American History and Culture, where they will see another of Claussen’s contributions, a Jim Crow-era segregated railroad car that serves as one of the featured items in the museum’s Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom exhibition.
He has been chair of ASLRRA’s Legislative Policy Committee and served on the Association’s board and Executive Committee.
David B. Cliffe
Receiver
Biography
David B. Cliffe served as receiver of the Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville Railroad from January 22, 1868, until November 30, 1869. He earned an annual salary of $5,000 until July 14, 1868, and an annual salary of $3,000 until November 30, 1869.
Robert Linah Cobb
Assistant Engineer
Biography
Robert Linah Cobb was born March 5, 1840, in Cumberland Iron Works, Tennessee.
He was educated in the local schools and at Stewart College. After completing his studies, he became a rodman on the Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville Railroad. He soon became Assistant Engineer on this road, and in 1859 and 1860, was the city engineer of Clarksville, Tennessee.
He served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War and was ordered to Fort Donelson. After the fort’s surrender, he reported to General Johnson at Nashville.
After the war, he became division engineer of the Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville Railroad, and in 1867 was appointed Chief Engineer of the Winchester and Alabama Railroad. Two years later, he became assistant engineer of the Memphis and Ohio Railroad, from which he went in 1869 as a division engineer to the Memphis and Little Rock Railroad, where he remained until 1872, serving part of the time as acting chief engineer.
In 1881 and 1882, he was the chief engineer of the Texas and St. Louis Railway, now the St. Louis, Arkansas and Texas. After four years in manufacturing machinery in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1886, he was appointed chief engineer of the Indiana, Alabama and Texas Railroad, and upon the absorption of that line in 1887 by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.
In 1890, he was appointed the chief engineer of the Clarksville Mineral Railroad, and in 1892 went to Ohio as the Chief Engineer of the Ohio Southern Railroad.
Based on the “Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers Volume 22” by the American Society of Civil Engineers (1896).
Mirabeau Lamar Collier
Master Machinist
Biography
Mirabeau L. Collier worked for the Western & Atlantic Railroad for more than 50 years and was the railroad’s long-time master mechanic.
He was born in Decatur in 1844, and his family moved to Atlanta in about 1848. He was raised and educated in Atlanta.
Collier began working in the railroad’s Atlanta shops in 1856 or 1858, depending on the source. He served a five-year apprenticeship in the machinist’s trade, working in the boiler shop, blacksmith shop, and brass foundry. He moved through the railroad’s ranks — from locomotive fireman to engineer, a role he held for three years.
After stepping away from the engineer’s seat, Collier was appointed foreman of the company’s roundhouse in Atlanta. He was further promoted to general foreman and to the position of master mechanic — a role he held for more than 40 years.
In late 1861, Collier, a committed Democrat, enlisted in the Confederate Army, becoming a sergeant in the Ninth Georgia Battalion of Artillery under General Longstreet’s command. He was responsible for two artillery pieces and participated in major battles, including Chickamauga, Knoxville, Lynchburg, Shepherdstown, Chapin’s Farm, and the Valley Campaign. He emerged from the war without injury and was present at Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox.
He completed 50 years of continuous service with the Western & Atlantic Railroad as of February 8, 1906. As of 1906, he had never been reprimanded, was never involved in legal disputes, and was widely respected for his professionalism.
Collier retired from the railroad in about 1914 and died in 1917.