Monon Engineer Clarence J. Slathour

[George Lortz]

I found this photo of Clarence J. Slathour on eBay today.  He worked for the Monon for 50 years.  There was no information about the second person in the photo.

George L.

[Ron Marquardt]

Good find George.  I have photos of both these men in the archives but never knew either name.  Which man in the photo do you suppose is Mr. Slathour?  / Ron

[Eric Reinert]

Ron,

Looks like Clarence is the Engineer in this photo according to the Monon employee listing.
I found him in the 1920 Lafayette city directory living at 1303 North 13th Street. It also has him listed as an Engineer for the Monon. 
I also found him listed on the WWII "old man's draft" listing that lists his Middle name: James, born 1883.

http://archive.org/stream/lafayetteindiana19202polk/lafayetteindiana19202polk_djvu.txt

http://www.fold3.com/browsemore/h8cJ-LB2XyCE4x-AaA8fArOOVVKK_jAms_-1/201_220/

Eric Reinert

[Ron Marquardt]

Well, Clarence may have been "an" engineer, but how do we know he is "the" engineer in this picture?  He may be the fellow standing in the gangway, and some other engineer on the seat box.  I'd just like to know who is who in the picture.  Both these guys are in other pictures but have never been identified.  / Ron

[George Lortz]

Ron,

Good question.  Based on the other material in the eBay auction, I'd guess Clarence is sitting at the controls.  There are several memorabilia items for sale in addition to the photo.  Here is the URL for the ebay auction.

http://www.ebay.com/dsc/i.html?_sadis=200&_ipg=50&LH_SALE_CURRENCY=0&LH_TitleDesc=1&_sacat=0&_samihi=&_samilow=&_fpos=&_ftrt=901&_udhi=&_oexkw=&_sabdhi=&_udlo=&_ftrv=1&_sabdlo=&_adv=1&_sop=12&_dmd=1&_okw=&_fsct=&_nkw=monon+clarence&_in_kw=1&_ex_kw=

George L.

[Ken Weller]

Mr Slathour was featured in one of the "spokes" series of ads in 1951.
Attached is the ad image I have - sure wish I could find a larger image of this!

[Ron Marquardt]

I think that's the gentleman in the engineers seat Ken.  A 1945 engineers seniority roster shows him to be fourth from the top, so he was undoubtedly "the" engineer when that picture was taken.  A note of special interest though.  I believe the picture on Ebay was taken by our own Monon photographer  Mr. Joe Bennett.  I have another picture of the same two men, obviously taken the same day, among the Joe Bennett pictures in our archives.

Mr. Slathour was a Southern Division engineer so he would have been working into and out of Bloomington.  / Ron

PS, would those of you who used the mispelled name in the Su[not allowed]ect line go back in and modify it to get it correct?  Eric and I have already done that in our postings?