Bamford J. Dodge Interview, May 22, 1987

Bamford Dodge discusses working for the Northern Pacific Railroad during the 1920s and 1930s in Minnesota. He talks about the 1922 strike in the mechanical car department in 1922, and how it affected railroad unions. Dodge shares his experience getting laid off from the railroad as a result of the Great Depression and then riding the rails looking for work and staying in hobo camps. Dodge mentions women working office jobs for the railroad during the 1920s and what people did for entertainment during the Depression. He also describes the railroad during World War Two and racial tensions among railroad employees. Dodge reminisces about working for the railroad during Thomas Dewey’s presidential campaign. He also recalls the switch from coal as fuel for train engines to diesel talks about dieselizing engines, and moving to Missoula where he worked as a diesel supervisor for the railroad.https://scholarworks.umt.edu/depressioninmissoula_oralhistory/1005/thumbnail.jp