Worked at Haas-Aquila, Omaha NE from April 1 1946 until Oct 15, 1964

Winnie's SSN 505-30-006533

Started working on Union Pacific RR on Sept 9, 1905. Fireman from 9/1905 until Sep 1912, then promoted to Locomotive Engineer.29

Retired Aug 17, 1947 as Engineer of the "Challenger" series of engines. He has the best safety record in the North Platte Division of the RR. The engine was on display in a park in Council Bluffs IA at least through the mid 1960s He left the farm at about 14. Before working on the RR, he and brother Oley worked arround Lincoln and Bennet NE, painting houses and farm buildings. 4

"Pop" considered himself to be Welsh, with some Irish and "Pennsylvania Dutch" mixed in, as I recall.  He was firmly Catholic in his religious identity, although not practicing for a number of years, I believe
because of his divorce of  his second wife Rose (Uncle Jack's mother) and subsequent remarriage to Winnie.  At the time of his death, he was reconciled with the Catholic Church.
30

I will try to answer your questions as well as my memory permits.
 
Your recollection about walking from Grandpa's house to the main road with a bridge over the tracks is correct.  That was 24th Street and the bridge, of course, was the 24th Street viaduct.  The corner tavern was at 24th & Hickory Streets; it was operated first by Jimmy Fadden and later by Frank Vondrasek.  There was a neighborhhood grocery store next door, first operated by Jimmy's brother Hi.  Mr. Vondrasek took over the grocery store at the same time as he did the tavern.  The tavern was one of Grandpa's favorite hang-outs.  He would take our dog to the tavern and play pitch with his cronies while the dog sat on the floor next to him; he also loved to watch boxing on TV (Friday Night  Fights) and since we did not yet have a TV he would go to the tavern to watch.  Whether Gramps stopped there on the way home from work...well, stranger things have happened.
 
Until now, I have never contemplated how Gramps got back and forth to work during the time they didn't have a car ('42-'47).
Grandpa and Winnie had a '36 Ford sedan, then in '41 Gramps traded that for a new Ford coupe.  When WW2 started and the government was going to begin rationing fuel and tires, he decided that he didn't want any part of that, and sold his car.
When they did have a car, Winnie may have driven him to Omaha Union Station where he would catch a railroad motor car (self-propelled railroad car) to the roundhouse in Council Bluffs; otherwise, he would have had to walk about two miles to Union Station.  Another option would be to ride the streetcar to Union Station,  a trip of about five miles.  When walking, he may have known a way through the rail yard to his house, but I really don't know.  On his return, when they had a car,  Winnie would drive to Council Bluffs to pick him up at the roundhouse, or sometimes he would take the motor car to Union Station, and Winnie would pick him up there.
 
With regard to the "day's work," I can only speculate that this is connected first with the fact that the railroad's main business was hauling freight, not passengers.  Freight trains handled much more tonnage and were quite a bit slower; in the days when the rules were promulgated, steam locomotive technology was comparatively primitive.  Secondly, the steam locomotives required frequent replenishment of their water and fuel (wood, coal, oil) supplies.  Crew-change points would have been set up to satisfiy both requirements.  I think the "day's work" rule shows us how union agreements can stifle progress.
 
Granpa Scogin was certainly not one of the last steam engineers.   Steam locomotives were still in service into the '50's.  In one of my early positions on the railroad, I was involved in preparing work orders for the retirement of most of UP's steam locomotives; this would have been 1957 and forward.  There is still one 800-series locomotive in UP's inventory, No. 844, which is used extensively for public-relations purposes.  When I worked in Cheyenne, Wyoming, my office was in the roundhouse which housed #844.
 
One of my most vivid memories is that, when Gramps moved his train out of the depot and began his departrure from town, as he approached the 24th Street viaduct he would sound his whistle and wave at us standing on the back porch of the house.  We would wave back with dish towels.
 
Hope this is helpful to you.
 
Lynn 

Harry was the engineer on FEF-class locomotives build by ALCO in Schenectady, NY. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Pacific_FEF_Series
We have family photos of Harry and engine 815. He said that he regularly drove 814, which is in the Council Bluffs, IOWA transportation museum.
— Pat Farrell, 8 Feb 2016


 
As info about the locomotives, there were many 800-series locos which were assigned to passenger-train service;  Grandpa Scogin didn't necesssarily operate the same one all the time.  The 815 was the one he operated on his final run from Grand Island to Council Bluffs (year 1947?).  So, he probably operated many of the 800-series locomotives.  I believe that some confusion was caused by the fact that the passenger train he operated was called the "Challenger" while there was another series of locomotives called "Challenger." which were not assigned to the "Challenger" passenger trains.  Some in the family thought that he ran the "Challenger" locomotives, but I think that was not the case.  Challenging, isn't it?
 
Lynn

Pat:
 
Grandpa Scogin retired at age 65, August 1947.  With regard to his locomotives, they were assigned to a Division of the railroad; the Nebraska Division, for example, stretched from Council Bluffs, Iowa to Cheyenne, Wyoming.  There were several crew-change points along the Division, one of which was at Grand Island.  In those days, the distance between crew-change points was regarded as a "day's work" for the engine crew, so they would have to lay over for a specified rest period, then catch a run back to their home terminal.  Grandpa ran his trains from Council Bluffs to Grand Island, rested at Grand Island, then caught another run back to Council Bluffs.  His locomotive, however, continued on through several crew changes until it reached Cheyenne, where it was serviced and readied for the trip eastward to Council Bluffs.  So there was a continous rotation of locomotives, and it was the luck of the draw as to which one Grandpa would get on his next run. 
 
Lynn
31

Harry was a very good pool player. He said that he perfered billiards, butI have no first hand experience watching him play billiards. He said that he learned to play during layovers on the railroad. He would leave Omaha, drive the train west to North Platte NE, and then spend the night. He played a lot of pool to kill time. 32

Harry's SSN 712-07-413229

Pure speculation: Harry would take his steam locomotive from Omaha (or maybe Council Bluffs Iowa) out west to Grand Island NE, where he would spend the night. The next day, he would take over an east-bound train and drive it back to Omaha/Council Bluffs.

When his first wife (Sarah Lyons) died, he married Rose Meskill. There has been speculation that Harry had been seeing Rose before Sarah died. Just as a sailor has a girl in every port, a railroad man could easily have one at each end of the line.

There is no proof to this allegation.

It was well reported to me that the children of Harry’s first wife hated Rose, and that the feeling was mutual.

— Pat Farrell, 2 jan 201631

There is a Union Pacific 800-series steam locomotive located as an exhibit in Council Bluffs Iowa. https://www.uprrmuseum.org/uprrm/ As mentioned in Lynn Freer’s note in another note here, Harry drove a variety of locomotives, they were in a rotation controlled by the railroad. They were numbered in the low 800, there are photos of Harry with #814, #815 and #816.

On this topic, the family folklore was at least fancifully enhanced. I was told when I visited the Concil Bluffs museaun that the engine on display, #815, was retired with Harry driving it on his last day before retirement. This is simply not true. Harry retired when he turned 65 in 1947. The UP ran steam engines into the mid-1950s. Specifically, #816 was retired and placed on display in 1955.