# Famous People With Railroad Roots



## como (Oct 22, 2009)

I have a friend who is list/trivia freak. We email each other lists of people fitting different categories. We came up with a railroad related category and got stuck.

The question: Name people who worked on a railroad who are famous for things not related to the railroad.

I came up with two answers:

1. Malcolm X (El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz) sold sandwiches and newspapers on the New Haven Railroad in the 1940's He went on to become a leader In the Nation of Islam (Black Muslims) and was a big proponent of Pan Africanism.

2. Thomas Edison sold candy on a train. He went on to become an inventor...

Are there others?


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## George Harris (Oct 26, 2009)

Abrahan Linclon was a lawyer for the Chicago and Alton.


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## tp49 (Oct 27, 2009)

Leland Stanford (founder of Stanford University.)


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## Guest (Oct 27, 2009)

como said:


> I have a friend who is list/trivia freak. We email each other lists of people fitting different categories. We came up with a railroad related category and got stuck.
> The question: Name people who worked on a railroad who are famous for things not related to the railroad.
> 
> I came up with two answers:
> ...


Lots of the famous Robber Barons (Vanderbuilts,Astors, Harriman, Hill (Empire Builder/Great Northern) etc. etc. made fortunes in the Railroads!

Others like the Rockefellers/Carnegies?Fords etc. made fortunes investing in RR stock! It was a gold mine for those with money and political clout,

the government basically financed the railroads which was an early form of socialism that the wing nuts love to yell about!


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## Phila 30th St (Oct 27, 2009)

Guest said:


> como said:
> 
> 
> > I have a friend who is list/trivia freak. We email each other lists of people fitting different categories. We came up with a railroad related category and got stuck.
> ...


I think what the OP is asking for are people who were famous for things not related to their railroad work.


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## George Harris (Oct 27, 2009)

Guest said:


> It was a gold mine for those with money and political clout, the government basically financed the railroads which was an early form of socialism that the wing nuts love to yell about!


If you are taking about the land grants, that was the best deal the government ever made. Just in reduced freight rates for for government cargos they were repaid several times over.


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## como (Oct 28, 2009)

Phila 30th St said:


> Guest said:
> 
> 
> > como said:
> ...


Thanks, I was thinking about people who where famous for their non-railroad work. Lincoln would be a good example.


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## jis (Oct 28, 2009)

Famous British Pop Singer Sir Cliff Richards, was born in a railroading family. His dad worked for the East Indian Railway, first in Lucknow and then in Howrah (Calcutta) before they migrated to England after 1947.


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