Laurel Raymond VanBibber

     Laurel Raymond VanBibber was born on 15 January 1899. He was the son of Isaac Franklin VanBibber and Louisa Ellen Sharp. Laurel Raymond VanBibber married, at age 20, Faye Zola Gallentine, age 20 on Saturday, 3 January 1920. Laurel Raymond VanBibber died on 22 May 1979 at Kansas at age 80 years, 4 months and 7 days.
     From Gary R. Hawpe, ed. and Earl Quintrell, comp., 'Final Run On U. P. For L. R. VanBibber,' Van Bibber Pioneers E-Newsletter, Vol. 5 No. 12 (October 2002), pp. 3 - 4.

FINAL RUN ON U. P. FOR L. R. VAN BIBBER

When L. R. Van Bibber, 1404 Walnut Street, stepped down from the cab of a Union Pacific diesel engine on an eastbound Union Pacific freight train in the yards here yesterday morning he concluded 45 years of service with railroads.

His first railroad service was as a fireman with the Norfolk and Western railroad on a run between Roanoke, Va., and Crewe, Va. in 1917.

Cut off service a year later, he became employed in 1919 as fireman with the Chicago, Burlington Quincy on the run between St. Joseph, Mo., and Lincoln, Neb.

Leaving the Burlington railroad, in November 1921 he sought employment with the St. Joseph and Grande Island railroad (now the Union Pacific) also in the role of fireman. Until his retirement yesterday he has been with the same line ever since.

In 1929 he was promoted from fireman to engineer and saw many of his years of service with steam locomotives as well as diesels.

On his first pay run Van Bibber experienced his only train wreck during all his years of service. He was firing a Norfolk and Western mallet, a large locomotive on that line, and the train was moving downgrade on the east side of the Blue Ridge mountains. Suddenly a wheel broke on the trucks on the second car behind the engine. Forty-eight cars piled up, but nobody was hurt. The train was loaded with beef, and other materials enroute to France for allied help in World War I.

After he became engineer on the St. Joseph and Grande Island, Van Bibber recalls a narrow escape he, and James Cromer, fireman, had when the cowcatcher sheared of the rear end of a loaded gasoline truck in Hawatha. 'I had the engine shut down, and no gasoline fumes were sucked into the firebox, otherwise, I believe we would have had a terrible explosion or fire,' he said.

Van Bibber recalled a near tragedy which occurred about four months ago to his train on the west end of the line between Marysville and Hastings, Neb. He said all his 7,000 ton freight train was loaded with four diesel units, and consisted of 123 cars. As the train rounded the Davenport hill on the track ahead Van Bibber saw a large caterpillar tractor moving across the tracks. The tractor cleared the track, but the driver did not have time to remove the creosote bridge planks he has used 'to bridge' the rails.

'We hit the planks. They slid long the track since they were slick, and the trucks sawed them in two. They dropped on the ties. That was a close one,' Van Bibber recalled.

A native of Leona, the retiring railroad man went into railroading through influence his brother, C. E. Van Bibber who was employed with the Bayside Industrial Works, Bay City, Michigan. C. E. Van Bibber was sent to the Norfolk and Western railroad company to demonstrate a pile driver which the Bayside company manufactured. He informed his brother, L. R. of the good wages he could make railroading.

'So I headed for Virginia,' Van Bibber said.

While in employment of the railroad Van Bibber was division secretary of the Locomotive Engineers of local No. 224 for 10 years. He also was state representative for all Kansas railroad engineers from 1951 until 1960. He made many trips to Cleveland, Ohio, and Washington, D.C. At the latter place he became personally acquainted with many senators and congressmen.

Many changes have come with railroading since he began, Mr. Van Bibber said. He recalled how he once worked straight through for 32 hours on the run from Crewe to Roanoke. Wage hour laws have discontinued such practice he said.

Through the years he has pulled the throttle on various sizes steam locomotives from the small class as that in the city park here to the Union Pacific's 9000's, 300's and 3900's.

Having had experience for several years with diesels, he opines. They took a lot out of railroading when they did away with steam.

Within a few days the retiring railroad engineer and his wife will be leaving for a vacation trip to Colorado.

'We will also do other traveling, and fishing, but one thing for sure, Marysville is going to remain our home,' he said.