Person:William Robinson (115)

Robinson is Proud of "Cleanest Rail Station"

NEWSPAPER: Des Moines Tribune, 3 Feb. 1949
This Veteran Railroader Is a Convention Fixture

By Herb Owens (Tribune Staff Writer)

Collins, IA-- More than 53 years ago, William Henry Robinson, 19-year-old telegraph operator, went to Perry to take a test on more than 300 rules governing the manual block system used by the Milwaukee railroad.

Robinson was an experienced hand, even then. He'd worked more than two years as a station agent of the former Iowa Central road at Pickering, sound of Marshalltown. He got $40 a month.

He Passed.
The Milwaukee offered me $45 a month to start-- if I could pass their test," says Robinson. "I did-- and was assigned for one month as night operator at Dunbar. Then I had a short stay at State Center Junction before going to Newhall, east of Tama, for a year.

"I really got into something when I went to Ferguson, a busy junction-- so busy that all an operator did all day was copy train orders, that is, taking orders off the wire and writing them out. I was at erguson for 15 years."

36 Years.
Robinson came to collins on July 10, 1912-- more than 36 years ago-- and has been here ever since. What's more, he now has two sons who are telegraph operators for the Milwaukee.

William H., jr., agent at Waucoma, has been on since 1939, except for time out with the navy in the south seas. Berle M. Robinson, who started in 1941, took time out to fly more than 30 missions over Germany as a radio operator in the air force. He now is night operator-- the relief shift for his father here.

A daughter, Mrs. William Atwood, lives on a nearby farm.

Not Oldest.
Believe it or not, Robinsons's 55 or years of railroading doesn't give him seniority among Iowa's railroad telegraph operators.

"Nope, I'm not the oldest--quite," he says. "M. A. Devoe, operator at Fayette, has been in the business since 1891 and still is working. He's got a grandson who's an operator at Manilla.

"However, Devoe's on another division, so I have seniority in the Iowa and Des Moines divisions," he said, with a grin.

Robinson, a jovial, friendly fellow, knows right to the day how his seniority runs, too. He's general secretary -treasurer and local chairman (divisional head) of the Order of Railroad Telegraphers. In a rolltop desk, almost within reach of his telegraph key, he has lists of every telegrapher in the order-- with the date they started service.

What's more, Robinson knows all the members personally-- very personally, since he calls on them during an annual trip on which he collects dues and signs up new members.

He's been a delegate to each of the 16 nation conventions, held in all corners of the nation and Canada, since it was organized in 1902-- with "Bill" as a charter member.

"Cleanest Station"
Of course, Robinson has a reputation for another thing-- a reputation which spreads over the agents on other railroads. He's know as having "the cleanest station on the road"-- and you can bet it is. The old wooden floors in his station were there when he came, and they haven't been scrubbed in those 36 years.

"I've only oiled them, using a combination of linseed oil and machine oil, pretty regularly-- and then I use an old oily mop to rub it up every day," he said.

"It's a little darker than it used to be-- but that's because the quality of linseed oil has changed," he said.

The floor in Robinson's station shines--all the time--like a newly varnished surface. And the rest of the station is kept as orderly, neat, and clean.

Bill has had agents from other railroads stop in-- just to see his station because they'd heard of its cleanliness.

"Shucks, I thought they'd come to see me-- and all they want is to see how clean it is," said Robinson, laughing.

A native of Steamboat Rock who lived five years of childhood in Nebraska, Robinson became a very active citizen in Collins. He was a member of the school board for 12 years, was a member of the town council for 20 years previous to the last election, when he refused to run again.

A past master of the Masonic lodge, he's also active in the Order of Eastern Star and Mehtodist church. His wife, too, is active in lodge and church work.

"Now, of course, I've got my sights set on the next national O.R.T. (telegraphers) convention next May in Tampa, Fla. I've never been to Florida, although I've traveled all over the United States during vacations.

"To be a delegate for the convention, I have to be elected yet. I'm hoping I make it," he said. Actually, Robinson--with a paid-up life certificate in the order for more than 45 years' membership-- has only two opponents for the chairmanship since he first got it in 1912. The opponents never had a chance.

"Railroading isn't the best job in the world-- but it's far from the worst," he said.

Article from the Des Moines Tribune, 3 Feb. 1949

Bottom half of Des Moines Tribune article, 3 Feb. 1949