Carl Victor Judd, 1st cousin 3x removed
In several posts I document receiving photographs from a new found "cousin" on Ancestry. Recently Steve posted this photograph of Carl V. Judd in uniform. Neither of us were sure what the uniform represented and needed to conduct further research.
Steve enlarged the photograph to see if he could garner clues. Focusing on the buttons he was almost certain they were not military issue.
Locating Carl's obituary in a California newspaper gave a missing piece to our puzzle. There we discovered Carl was a retired railway conductor residing in Los Angeles, California. The 1910 Census shows his occupation as conductor on the street railway.
It has been fun solving this mystery with a fellow researcher. The next step is to locate a photograph of a railway conductor uniform or railway expert.
On YouTube I discovered this amazing footage from the time frame my ancestor was a conductor. Watching the video you realize how difficult this job must have been in the cities. People, cars, and animals all casually walking directly in the path of oncoming trains! The video is a bit bumpy at points and may cause a wee bit of discomfort.
Further reading on the electric street railway:
Images of the Rail : Los Angeles Railway Yellow Cars by Jim Walker, published 2007
Images of Rail : Pacific Electric Red Cars by Jim Walker, published 2006
Jamestown Street Railway : Western New York Railroad Archive
Rails West: Street Railways Enable City Growth
A Short History of the Pacific Electric
The Street Railway History of Lost Angeles : The Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California
Jamestown Street Railway : Western New York Railroad Archive
Rails West: Street Railways Enable City Growth
A Short History of the Pacific Electric
The Street Railway History of Lost Angeles : The Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California
All aboard!
Wow, the people in the video could benefit from a good traffic light! I'm amazed anyone survived their shopping trip downtown. Great photo of your ancestor, BTW!
ReplyDeleteDeb, try contacting the Seashore Trolley Museum (www.trolleymuseum.org). My family and I go there every year. They are located in Kennebunk, ME, but they have trolleys from all over the world. The place has great volunteers who are really, really into trolleys. They also have a great gift shop with books about trolleys from all over the world. I bet someone there would be happy to help you out.
Deb, What fun to be able to put the pieces of the story together! I recently transcribed the journal of a woman living in LA in 1910 - she tells of falling in the muddy street one day when the car started moving before she had completed disembarked. She didn't mention the name of the conductor!
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