M. J. "John" Reitan
Cheif Dispatcher
M&StL Railroad

On May 8, 2003 a group consisting of Len Vick, Joe Binish, Wade Monn, Hal Reitan and Myself paid a visit to M.J.R. (as the other dispatchers refer to him) in New Hope. Len Vick supplied a telegraph key and interpreted the Morse code for us. After 20 years without a key M.J.R. proved that he still has what it takes to "pound brass".

The evening before our visit I went through the file cabinet to find some train orders for him to tap out on the key and to my surprise there were about 30 train orders given by him in 1957. The old flimsies brought back memories of how the railroad operated. I video taped our visit of about an hour and a half and hope to add an audio clip to this web site so you can see how well he did.

M.J.R. told us stories of how he learned telegraphy and how hard the dray line operators worked (they had muscles and ate very well). He demonstrated an amazing ability to remember train numbers and the parts of the railroad they served. Our small group even got to hear the circumstances that led to his being the highest officer of the railroad on it's last day before the C&NW took over.

One of my favorite comments came after reliving the many memories of his life in service to the railroad when Wade, a Minnesota Commercial conductor, said "We sure have seen big changes in the way railroads operate over the years" to which M.J.R. replied "And we'll see many more".

Cash Groth 5/9/2003

Manford J. (John) Reitan Railroad career path and other tidbits.

"John" helped his father with his Dray Line business during World War I. This consisted of hauling coal and other commodities to customers and local businesses in the Boyd, Minnesota area. The freight business in those days was a horse and a wagon and lots of muscle power. One of the wholesale brokers who shipped chickens via the M&StL was a man by the name of H.N. Borgeson. Borgeson took a liking to John and showed him how to fill out freight bills. He also talked about the dominance of railroads in the transportation industry. This intrigued John and he today credits Borgeson with instilling in him the ambition to pursue a career in railroading.

As a twelve year old, John had a keen interest to learn all he could. He keeps this interest to this day.

Through his freight pick ups at the Boyd M&StL depot, he became acquainted with Mary D. Rutsen, station agent. She saw how he soaked up knowledge of anything to do with railroading and began teaching him the morse code and how to "pound brass" otherwise known as a telegraph key. He became adapt at telegraphy and she was soon getting him involved helping her with the expensing of RR freight bills and other station agent responsibilities.

When he reached the age of 15, Mary recommended him to the order of telegraph operators, he joined the union and went on the M&StL Telegraph Operator extra board in 1918 at age 16. He then began a series of filling in at the surrounding towns as needed, learning all he could through his experience at each station he was assigned to, and from books he read. He worked most of the stations on the Western line as an extra. His first stop was Dawson, MN, then Clarkfield, Hazel Run, Hanly Falls and on until he reached Watertown, SD. He became 3rd trick telegraph operator and assistant station agent in Albert Lea in 1929, the next year he was appointed station agent at Otisco. He moved up to Dispatcher in the Cedar Lake Office in 1939. He worked third trick starting as a sidewire operator and train dispatcher. He became Night Chief Dispatcher in 1945. He later was appointed Chief Dispatcher, a position he held until the CNW acquired the M&StL.

An interesting twist of this is that for a few hours, he was the CEO of the M&StL during this transition. M&StL Officers had to resign from the M&StL before they could be hired by the CNW. During those few hours, he was the senior ranking official of the M&StL.;

He finished his railroad career in Mason City, Iowa, as Chief Dispatcher with the CNW, retiring in 1966.

Manford J. Reitan's railroad "handle" was John Reitan. He is now 98 years young and resides at North Ridge Masonic Home in New Hope, MN.

Information provided by Hal Reitan 8/24/2002

M&StL
  Locomotives
  Freight Cars
  M.O.W.
  Passenger
  Blueprints
  Iowa Central

M&StL
  Depots
  Towns
  History
  Timetables
  Annual Reports  Employees
  Events

C&NW
  Locomotives
  C&NW Notes
  Photos
  C&NW Pioneer
  Northwestern Lines

Modeling
  M&StL Decals
  M&StL Modeling
  Clark Propst Models
  HO Layout

Other
  Photos
  Company Store
  RR Links
  Railfan pages
  Wanted Items
  Railroadiana