The Autobiography of Wilhite Nusz

Wilhite Nusz (1882-1968) was a civil engineer with the Illinois Central Railroad, and during his long career he rose to the position of Office Engineer with the Chicago Division.  After his retirement he wrote a long and very detailed autobiography, which has now been donated to IRM by his great-nephew.  This will be delivered to the Strahorn, but first I thought you might want to see some of the material.

The narrative includes amazing detail, with descriptions of people he worked with and conditions at the various locations, and is quite well written.  And fortunately it was all typed up, so we don't have to try to read his microscopic handwriting!   At the bottom of this post I have included a brief sample of the narrative.

Mr. Nusz worked on several major projects over the years, such as relocation of the main line from Nashville to Chattanooga, grade separation at Mattoon, and construction of several branchlines.  But probably the most important part of his career was that he was largely responsible for drafting many of the engineering details in the Chicago Lake Front Ordinance, or Electrification Ordinance of 1919 which led to the electrification of suburban service and made possible the development of a large part of Chicago's modern lakefront.  He was also responsible for constructing the original IC part of the railroad hall at MSI, although this has now been replaced.

Another amusing section of the narrative tells how he was asked to make a study of the Chicago Tunnel.  He quickly decided that the entire project had been a foolish mistake -- if they had built a tunnel that could handle standard freight cars it might have been profitable, but as it was, the investment was nearly a dead loss.

On June 15, 1951, the IC held a huge luncheon in the Red Lacquer Room at the Palmer House to celebrate the many employees who had worked for the company for fifty years or more.  And Mr. Nusz is seen here sitting front and center.  

Of course, not everyone in this picture was actually a 50-year veteran.  But those who were had worked during a tremendous change in the railroading industry.

And for his retirement in 1952, he was presented with a Television Set, a big deal in those days:

The set is not pictured, but lots of friends were there.

IRM's collection of Illinois Central equipment helps illustrate many aspects of the company's history in which he had a hand, including steam and Diesel locomotives, passenger cars, and the electrification.  And for that matter, even the tunnel cars!  Our Museum is always glad to receive historic materials such as this, and we thank Leverett Nelson for donating it to us.

Sample of the Narrative