Occasionally I run across a reference to an occupation that I am not familiar with. The obituary of George W. Lovern in the Montgomery News (Montgomery County, Virginia) in 1928 lists George’s occupation as wreck car master. After checking out several sites on historic occupations and railroad occupations, I had no luck finding out more about this occupation. However, I finally found the answer from Kenneth Miller of the Norfolk and Western Historical Society. He explained the term as follows:
The term “wreck car master” is fairly old, more recently it is called “wreck master.” This referred to the man who was in charge of the wreck crane and was responsible for leading the clean-up of a train wreck. The term “wreck car” is, I believe, singularly Norfolk and Western, as I’ve never heard it used on other roads. The wreck master knew how to lift things, move damaged equipment safely and in the most expedient manner, as getting the railroad back in service quickly was vitally important. It was quite a position of respect of the man’s knowledge. On the Norfolk and Western in West Virginia, I think the main places they kept wreck cars were Williamson and Bluefield.
If you are interested in trains and train occupations, here are some links you might be interested in:
Union Pacific page for Past and Present Railroad Job Descriptions – https://www.up.com/aboutup/history/past-present_jobs/index.htm,
A glossary of railroad lingo at http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/glossry1.Html
Norfolk and Western Historical Society – http://www.nwhs.org/index.php
