DG 'Rusty' Alderson,
TOAST President
Mostly 1830 -1930
Rusty's
All American
Stories
Not an official Metra Site
Gilded Age & Train Historian
Train Railfan
Historical Characters, Lincoln Family,
Frontier Arizona, Early Railroads
TOAST email: GAstorybook@gmail.com
tap for video
Feb/March Edition
Thank you for taking time tol isten to one or more of my stories.
This website provides the opportunity to access more of my stories.
Tap underlined text and/or buttonfor one or more storiesMore stories are available upon request.
Check back weekly for updates on
'Track Anxiety'
Coming in April Edition
Geneva & St Charles' Lost Railroads
JJ Keigley, Mike Best, and Roger Wilhelmi, W. Chicago, Batavia, and Geneva residents, share their stories and experiences from their combined 135 years of working on the railroad. Be ready for an entertaining and informative session and for Mark Ilanuza's photo.
At the end of the video, JJ Keigley, an immensely popular Metra conductor for 17 years, is shown being honored on ABC 7 Chicago’s program, Windy City Live, “Chicagoans you need to Know”. Metra honors JJ by naming the UP West Corridor the “JJ Keigley Corridor” - a very moving ceremony.
Gilded Age
Historian & Train Buff
Rail Tours - Virtual & "on the train"
History Lite Stories
INDEX
SCROLL DOWN
1830 - 1930
Chicagoland Popular Stories
Bertha Palmer, Queen of Chicago Society and wife of a famous hotel owner Potter Palmer, asked the hotel chef to create a special treat for her society friends
to take to World's Columbian Exposition (Chicago World's Fair) of 1893. This treat is still being served at the hotel.
How St. Charles
Got It's Money
Source of wealth in 1920’s
John Gates made his fortune in barbed wire, steel, and oil (Texaco). His brother-in-law Edward Baker and Dellora Angell Gate's wife's niece, inherited his multi-million dollar estate.
Dellora married her childhood sweetheart Lester Norris. All three became philanthropists providing St. Charles with Hotel Baker, Arcada Theatre, Baker Center, St Charles Municipal Center, St Charles East H.S.,and Norris Center just to name a few.
GENEVA
ST CHARLES
BATAVIA
About Batavia
MOOSEHEART SCHOOL
(south of Batavia on Rt 31)
school for needy children
AREA RAILS
Geneva/St Charles
Geneva to Chicago
on the
Electric Train
Three local RR retires tell their stories
Oh, What a Ride on the Rails
FOX RIVER DAMS
Stories when America Grew Up
Featuring stories of
historical characters ,
including Lincoln's family,
who lived before, during, and after
the Gilded Age (1830 - 1930).
Little known characters and many
amazing women are also included.
This story can't be told without railroad
and stories from frontier Arizona.
Arguably, the most fascinating 100 years in America's history.
Overview
Frontier Arizona
The West generated many
interesting and little known stories. Even today, the West still brings interest.
Choo Choo Stories
Those Railroad Barons, those
who made them rich, those
who loved them & more
provide some entertaining stories.
Historical
Characterss
Their stories are fascinating
and sometimes almost unbelievable
A. Lincoln's Family
Most people are unaware of Lincoln's oldest son.
Robert's decision led eventually to his father's
presidential nomination
Places & Events
Coming Soon
Podcast
Print Version
Rock Island, Illinois was the site of a stand off between the Chicago & Rock Island Railroad and St. Louis’s steam boat interests. The steam boat interests said we were here first and any type of bridge should not impede our barges. The railroad responded: “Your argument doesn’t hold water”. What happened next involved Abraham Lincoln both as a railroad lawyer and U.S. President
Podcast
Print Version
It was love at first sight. General William Jackson Palmer, the dashing owner of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, while riding a train outside of St. Louis, met the beautiful Queen Mellon. By the time the train reached Cincinnati, they were making marriage plans. Queen was 19; Palmer was 34 yrs old.
Postcast
Print Version
OK, who among us didn’t think that our high school was a prison? In Yuma Arizona, high school students actually tooktheir classes in a prison! Yes. The former Yuma Territorial Prison that had openedin 1876 and closed in 1909. Prisoners were moved to Florence AZ. High school students were now 'criminals'.
STORIES by REQUEST
FUNNY
UNION PACIFIC'S PARTY ON PRAIRIE
RR MAKES PRIEST PRESIDENT FOR A DAY
HOW HARVE, MT ACQUIRED ITS NAME
MOFFAT TUNNEL CELEBRATION
COYOTE SCOTTY’S TRAIN RIDE
INDIAN “SINGING WIRE” JEWELRY
RAILROAD PRESIDENT - KIDNAPPED IN UTAH
HOBO FARES IN CALIFORNIA
GOULD/VANDERBILT -$1 CATTLEGIRLS
FAMOUS DOCTOR: SURPRISING CAUSE OF STRESS
HAPPY
LINCOLN'S FIRST DANCE WITH MARY TODD
WHY LINCOLN’S HAS A BEARD
LINCOLN'S SON WITH A. LINCOLN II AT DEDICATION
RTL SAVED BY A BOOTH
GEORGE BOLDT'S LOVE STORY CREATES SALAD DRESSING
US ARMY SONS VS INDIAN SONS
SURPRISING
LINCOLN'S SON CHANGES HISTORY
WHAT IF MARY TODD CHOOSE WASHINGTON DC OVER IL
BOAT RAMS RR BRIDGE, THEN SUES RAILROAD
ROBERT LINCOLN'S FRIENDSHIP WITH GEORGE PULLMAN
LELAND STANFORD & MOTION PHOTO
WHY HARVARD'S SNUB LED TO STANFORD UNIVERSITY
MARY TODD: LINCOLN OR DOUGLAS FOR HER HUSBAND
LAKE TAHOE - SAVED IRRIGATION LAKE
TEDDY ROOSEVELT - OFFER VP TO LEAVE NY; LEADS TO PRESIDENCY ARABELLA MARRIED TWO RR BARONS - LEADS TO FAMOUS MUSUEM
A. PHILLIP RANDOLPH PULLMAN PORTER LEADER'S LEGACY
SAD
TEDDY ROOSEVELT'S WIFE
LELAND STANFORD JR & ABRAHAM LINCOLN II.
JANE STANFORD’S DEATH
ARIZONA'S LACRENA PENNINGTON
COLORADO'S QUEEN PALMER
NEW YORK JAMES FISK RELATIONSHIP WITH JOSIE MANSFIELD
IF YOU MADE IT THIS FAR, YOU ARE PROBABLY A DIE HARD HISTORY BUFF.
RUSTY WILL BE HAPPY TO SHARE THE ABOVE STORIES.
Rusty, the multi-faced historian and story teller
Know a good story that happened between
1830 & 1930?
Call Rusty
(224) 449 - 1420
