Person:John Sakers (11)

J.W. Sakers, train museum official. J. Wilbur "Bill" Sakers, who built and operated model train layouts for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and was supervisor of the carrier's museum where one of his models is displayed, died Sunday at Union Memorial Hospital of liver and kidney failure. He was 88 and lived in Govans in Northeast Baltimore. He retired in 1970 after having worked for B&O for nearly 50 years, starting as an apprentice electrician. He also drove steam and diesel locomotive replicas mounted on truck frames that the railroad provided for parades. He was transferred from the electrical department to B&O's public relations department and continued working on models. The models included a large O gauge layout that was displayed in the lobby of the Cincinnati utility company each Christmas and a portable HO gauge layout, that was, in 1951, the largest in existence. The 2-ton HO gauge display had its own freight car and took three days to set up and three to disassemble. With a working railroad yard and other features, it included 8,000 feet of electric wire and 85 relays. In 1951, he told a reporter of the work on the huge traveling exhibit, "It took us three months of work in the Mount Clare shops to make this layout," Mr. Sakers said. "And from the moment we started, I was glad I spent 20 years around actual railroad yards and on trains. That taught me how a railroad works -- an important thing with this layout which we tried to get as close to the real thing as possible." Mr. Sakers also did the wiring for the displays at the B&O Railroad Museum, 901 W. Pratt St. in Baltimore. A native of the Baltimore area, he attended Polytechnic Institute before going to work for the railroad. Services were planned for 10:30 a.m. today at Mitchell-Wiedefeld Funeral Home, 6500 York Road, Rodgers Forge. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, the former Elizabeth Hayes; a daughter, Amy Elizabeth Sakers Curry of Bowie; a son, J. Lowell Sakers of Long Green; and four grandchildren. Mr. Sakers worked at several B&O rail yards in the Baltimore area and at the Mount Clare Shops before he began working on the carrier's model railroad exhibits that were taken on tour and displayed at department stores, museums, hospitals and elsewhere.
- by DeWitt Bliss, Sun Staff Writer -

Year: 1910; Census Place: Baltimore Ward 13, Baltimore (Independent City), Maryland; Roll: T624_557; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 0217; FHL microfilm: 1374570
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Street: 5th Ave Or St
House Number: 1009

Household Members: Name Age Birthplace Father's Birthplace Mother's Birthplace
John H Sakers 38 MD MD MD Overseer, Cotton Mill, owns home, can read & write, married 11y
Mary M Sakers 33 MD MD MD Wife, married 11y, 3 children/3 living, can read & write
Francis M Sakers 10 MD MD MD Daughter, attends school, can read & write
Helen B Sakers 7 MD MD MD Daughter, attends school, can read & write
John W Sakers 4 MD MD MD Son, not in school, can't read or write

Year: 1920; Census Place: Baltimore Ward 13, Baltimore (Independent City), Maryland; Roll: T625_659; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 221; Image: 468
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Street: W 38th St
House Number: 1009

Household Members:
John H Sakers 48 MD MD MD Head, Overseer, Cotton Mill
Marie Sakers 42 MD MD MD Wife
Helen Sakers 17 MD MD MD Daughter, single, Stenographer, RR Office
Wilbur Sakers 14 MD MD MD Son, single, attends school
Ira L Beall 40 MD MD MD Boarder, married, Machinist Cotton Mill
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[cos1776 Note: Ira Beall is the brother of Marie (Beall) Sakers.]

Year: 1930; Census Place: Baltimore, Baltimore (Independent City), Maryland; Roll: 856; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 0584; Image: 1048.0; FHL microfilm: 2340591
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Street address: Thirty-Eighth Street
Block: 70
House Number in Cities or Towns: 1009
Dwelling Number: 55
Family Number: 62

Household Members:
John H Sakers 57 MD MD MD Head, owns home, $3500 value, has a radio set, Foreman, Cotton Mills
Mary M Sakers 53 MD MD MD Wife
John W Sakers 24 MD MD MD Son, single, Electric Apprentice, Railroad

"United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K7XY-91F : accessed 3 January 2017), John W Sakers, Ward 27, Baltimore City, Baltimore City, Baltimore City, Maryland, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 4-788, sheet 14B, line 72, family 335, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 1539.
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Address: 617 Tunbridge Rd

Household Role Gender Age Bplace Occupation/RE/value/education/income
John W Sakers Head M 34 MD Electrical, Steam Railroad/owns home/$3900 value/
completed 9th grade/$1800 yearly income
Elizabeth Sakers Wife F 33 MD Teacher, Public School/
completed 2 yrs college/$1800 yearly income