Ceremony Honors Three Inductees
Three inductees to the National Railroad Hall of Fame were honored at a ceremony in Galesburg on June 27th. The honorees include George M. Pullman, Stephen A. Douglas, and the Citizens of Nashville and West Nashville. |
The event, scheduled to coincide with Galesburg’s Railroad Days festival, was the first local induction ceremony the Hall of Fame has conducted, according to Founder and President Emeritus Bob Bondi. “We enjoyed welcoming these honored guests to our community and launching an event that will grow into a rich, annual tradition.” |
The Induction Ceremony was held in the Seymour Library at Knox College and was open to the public. |
Pictured from left to right: Hall of Fame Executive Director, Julie King,
George Buss, Phillip Miller, Terry Coats, and Bob Bondi, Founder and President Emeritus
Inductee George M. Pullman is best known as inventor of the Pullman Sleeping Car. Introduced in 1864, the cars gained national attention when one was used in the funeral train transporting President Lincoln’s body from Washington, DC, to Springfield, Illinois. Pullman was represented at the induction ceremony by his great-grandson Phillip L. Miller. Miller is a life board member and President Emeritus of the George M. Pullman Educational Foundation.
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Inductee Stephen A. Douglas was a champion of railroad construction in Illinois and an early advocate of the transcontinental railroad. In 1850, he successfully called on the federal government to make a land grant to the State of Illinois to fund the proposed Illinois Central Railroad, the longest railroad in the world at the time of its completion. Douglas was represented at the induction ceremony by George Buss, President of the Stephen A. Douglas Association. |
The Citizens of Nashville and West Nashville were represented by Terry L. Coats, President of the Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railway Preservation Society. The induction honors the valiant participation of Nashville’s citizens in the rescue of passengers and railroad employees injured in the head-on collision of two NC&StL passenger trains at Dutchman’s Curve on July 9, 1918. The collision was the worst in U.S. railroad history.
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